MSU President M. Peter McPherson is scheduled to receive his standard raise for the upcoming year, the Board of Trustees Finance Committee chairman said.

Trustee Don Nugent told The State News on Tuesday the board will likely extend a 3 percent raise which, like the president’s past increases, will be put into a deferred payment fund. The fund, worth more than $60,000 with this year’s boost, will be paid to McPherson if he stays at MSU until 2003.

He has pledged to remain here until at least 2005.

Nugent said the board, which is scheduled to act Friday, will keep the president’s base pay at $216,000 - a figure tucked in the middle of the pack when compared with Big Ten peers.

The board’s decision on compensation, which Nugent said was discussed briefly at the governing body’s summer retreat, comes a year after it chose controversially to up McPherson’s base pay $25,000.

That move was designed to put the president’s salary in line with other Big Ten chief executives. Previously, MSU had ranked near the bottom.

Amid last year’s controversy, McPherson - who has stood strong on his desire to receive minimal raises - donated the base-pay increase back to the university to fund a massive tree-planting project.

And although he will receive no such increase this year, Nugent said the president plans to again donate $25,000 to the university. Nugent said McPherson has already decided what the money will be put toward, but wouldn’t elaborate.

McPherson, in turn, said he’s still deciding what will be funded by the money that’s again being jointly donated by himself and first lady Joanne McPherson.

“Joanne and I are very strong supporters of the university and will continue to be,” said McPherson, who graduated from MSU in 1963.

It comes as little surprise the board opted against a similar increase to the sizable one put forth a year ago.

The state Legislature offered substantially less higher education funding increases than years past, spurring an 8.9 percent tuition hike. That seemingly put the president’s salary at the bottom of priority lists.

“Money is not important, but saving money is important to the president,” Trustee Dee Cook said. “Given the status of appropriations and increase of tuition, the president is concerned about that. He won’t say, ‘But yeah, I want mine.’”

Since being hired about eight years ago, McPherson has shied away from big increases.

He has regularly requested no more than 3 or 4 percent hikes - raises similar to those offered to other university employees.

This year, faculty members are receiving heftier raises.

The university increased faculty pay up to 5 percent for the third consecutive year - despite the smaller-than-normal state Legislature kitty that has MSU working to trim $5.5 million from its annual budget.

Those raises are also an attempt to bring university faculty pay in line with its Big Ten peers. MSU ranked at the bottom in the conference last year, but McPherson and trustees have said repeatedly ridding MSU of that statistic is a top priority.

But while faculty pay is rising, other university employees aren’t so comforted by MSU’s actions.

Barbara Reeves, president of the Clerical-Technical Union, said she’s “pleased” McPherson’s raise is minimal this year - compared with last.

Still the leader of campus’ largest employee union said it’s unsettling many of her members are receiving increases of only 1 percent.

“I don’t know how to price a job,” Reeves said. “I just know when you get a free house and a free car, it is hard to understand how others that work as your staff only get a 1 percent raise. Somewhere I believe the priorities are screwed up.”

Last year’s abnormal increase was seen as an attempt to bring the president’s pay up to a competitive nature - seemingly a sales pitch for when McPherson leaves MSU and the board is searching for his replacement.

Reeves says she understands such a move, but still wishes her union members would get their due.

“It may be difficult to get someone to be president of a place as expansive and complicated as MSU,” she said. “I wish there was more thought put to equity.