Former AU President Benjamin Ladner accepted a $950,000 settlement payment from the university today, along with a deferred compensation package which includes a life insurance policy of close to $1 million and about $1.75 million dollars from retirement accounts.
Acting board chair Thomas Gottschalk met with deans, faculty and student leaders Monday afternoon to explain some of the details of the settlement. The agreement released Ladner and his wife, Nancy Ladner, from any ties to AU. Ladner has 90 days to vacate his university-owned house and was given $20,000 to cover moving costs.
The academic deans of all five of AU's schools, as well as the Washington College of Law, condemned the board's decision. In a statement Monday night, the deans said they do not believe the board's governance to be "an appropriate way to manage the university."
Student leaders have not yet decided to take any action regarding the settlement, Student Government President Kyle Taylor said.
The formal audit into the travel and entertainment expenses of the former president, which began in April of this year, has officially concluded, Gottschalk said.
Trustees announced Oct 10. that Ladner would not return to AU as president, and authorized the university to report additional taxable income in the amount of $398,000 and to seek reimbursement from Ladner for certain personal expenses in the amount $125,000. Gottschalk said today that number has been adjusted to $134,000.
