Al Rankins Jr. will continue leading Mississippi’s public university system for another four years under a new contract approved by the state’s college board.
The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees in August unanimously approved increasing Rankins’ annual salary by about 5% to $463,050. His last contract was approved by trustees October 2023, IHL spokesman John Sewell said.
The contract took effect Sept. 1 and ends Aug. 31, 2030.
IHL Board President Steve Cunningham said in an emailed statement that the trustees completed a formal performance evaluation of Rankins before voting to extend his contract. They did not publicly discuss the matter.
Sewell declined to answer questions from Mississippi Today about whether trustees conducted a salary comparison with higher education leaders in other states. IHL policy requires trustees to determine the commissioner’s pay annually. The policy also requires the commissioner to provide regional and national information about executive compensation to help the board make salary decisions.
Kim Hunter Reed, Louisiana’s commissioner of higher education, is paid $451,297 a year, according to the Louisiana Department of Administration website. Texas Higher Education Commissioner Wynn Rosser earns about $325,000 a year, according to a government salary database compiled by The Texas Tribune.
Rankins “has been a strong leader for our state’s university system since 2018 and we look forward to his continued leadership in the years to come,” Cunningham said through Sewell.
Rankins said, through Sewell, that under his’ leadership, the university system has maintained a strong credit rating, navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and secured funding to support operations.
Mississippi public universities also face challenges including financial pressures, changes tied to artificial intelligence and an expected decline in the number of high school graduates, Rankins said.
“I am working each day with our trustees and institutional executive officers to address these challenges while also continuing our efforts to create new opportunities that will have a positive influence on our state,” Rankins said.
The IHL board hired Rankins in 2018, making him the state’s first Black higher education commissioner. He succeeded Glenn Boyce, who is now chancellor of the University of Mississippi.
As commissioner, Rankins advises trustees on matters pertaining to Mississippi’s eight public universities and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He also supervises and evaluates the universities’ top leaders.
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