The winningest coach in college hockey history is now the best paid.
The MSU Board of Trustees approved a 13 percent increase and extended head hockey coach Ron Mason’s contract through 2005. The increase makes him the highest paid hockey coach in the country.
“Ron Mason is a true icon at this university. He is recognized through out the country for his achievements, not only as a coach but as a leader,” MSU Trustee Robert Weiss said. “Michigan State is fortunate to have him and he deserves to be the top paid coach in the country.”
Mason, who is in his 23rd year as head hockey coach, now makes $173,215 per season. His contract, like other MSU coaches and assistants, includes incentives for such things as qualifying for the NCAA playoffs and advancing to the national semifinals. Mason accomplished both feats last year.
Weiss said the university slashing its budget by $5.5 million and the expectation that state appropriations will continue to be low, didn’t affect the board’s decision to recognize Mason with a heftier contract.
“We have top faculty people and we are compensating them accordingly” ” Weiss said. “They are compensated at the top of their level if they are at the top of their field
“It is not just athletics, it should happen across the board.”
The university’s highest governing body also voted to improve another sports legend on campus - Spartan Stadium.
The board approved a roughly $650,000 second phase of the field replacement project. The project will remove the existing field and prepare the pavement, utilities and irrigation system for the grass field to be installed next spring.
Trustee Donald Nugent said players and coaches prefer playing on natural grass.
The board received a preview of the new field, which will include grass grown on 4,800 plastic modules that can be removed to make way for other events.
“With this new design we can have (natural grass) and at the same time we can move the turf out and still have another hockey game or concert,” Nugent said.
In his statement to the board MSU President M. Peter McPherson announced MSU is launching a campuswide campaign promoting energy conservation. The university said it can save $1 million a year if it cuts energy usage by 5 percent - a significant savings when state appropriations only increased by 1.5 percent.
“(Turning off) lighting and computers are two big things almost anyone can do,” said Terry Link, director of the Office of Campus Sustainability. “I think, fairly quickly we can get a 5 percent reduction just by doing the simple stuff of cutting the waste.”
Students and staff will see messages posted in residence halls and in media outlets around campus.
In other decisions the board approved MSU’s 2002-03 state appropriation request that focused on bringing MSU up to the $9,100 per-student funding floor the state has set for research-level institutions. Also, the board approved the revised facility naming policy and reallocation of $15 million of MSU’s $500 million investment portfolio to Tudor Investment Corporation.s
