Utah university presidents who resign while facing credible allegations of misconduct can no longer collect on a perk that had previously let them continue to receive their full salary for up to a year.
On Thursday, the Utah Board of Higher Education — which has hiring and firing authority over public college leaders in the state — updated its policy to now limit that benefit to only apply “if there are no findings of serious misconduct.”
The little-known perk for post-presidential pay has long been a part of the agreement for the state’s top officials in higher education. But it recently came under fire after the resignation of former Utah Tech University President Richard “Biff” Williams, who was under investigation for alleged sexual harassment and misconduct when he left.
Williams stepped down from his post in January after a decade at the helm of the St. George-based institution. For the next six months, he was still receiving paychecks at his annual salary rate of $357,000 — and allowed to stay in the campus presidential residence — until he started a new job as the president of Missouri State University in July.
The state policy calls that a “transition year” allowance for a former president who has served for at least three years if they chose to retire, return to a faculty position or until they find another job. It’s ultimately covered by taxpayers, who fund the state’s public schools.
The Salt Lake Tribune received through a public records request a copy of the voluntary separation agreement signed by Williams that confirms those terms for him.
But it wasn’t publicly known until a federal lawsuit was filed this month that Williams had been reported for inappropriate behavior shortly before he left his position and was still being investigated while receiving the transition money.
The lawsuit details an incident in November 2023 where Williams gave a vice president at the school a phallic gift that the former president has since said he thought was a “humorous gesture.” He left two eggplants and a zucchini arranged like male genitalia on the porch of the Cabinet member after the man had surgery.
Williams didn’t sign the note accompanying the gift with his name, according to the court filing. Instead, he signed it using the names of the staff members who are now suing — the university’s top attorney, its second-in-command attorney, and its Title IX coordinator, who is tasked with responding to complaints of sexual misconduct.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Then-Utah Tech President Richard Williams participates in a discussion at the Silicon Slopes Summit in Salt Lake City, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022.
Those three employees — Becky Broadbent, Jared Rasband and Hazel Sainsbury — say in their federal case that attributing the gift to them felt like payback for their efforts to clean up issues with harassment, misconduct and racism at Utah Tech University. They say the school has a toxic culture that stems from the top that was, at times, encouraged by Williams.
After the gag gift, they say, they faced retaliation for reporting it to the university’s human resources department and were mocked by other employees. They argue a “sham investigation” was done by the school and the governing Utah Board of Higher Education that served to protect the president after he announced he was leaving in January of this year.
Williams, who was inaugurated last month at Missouri State, apologized to his current school community for the attention the lawsuit has drawn there. He has acknowledged that he left the gift, but has denied other misconduct alleged in the lawsuit.
“I regret my lapse in judgment, and I accept this as a learning moment,” he said in the message.
Williams has not responded to requests for comment from The Tribune. Missouri State has also declined to answer questions.
Utah Tech University has not provided a copy of investigative findings to The Tribune because it argues the period for employees to appeal is ongoing. The news organization is appealing that decision to the Utah State Records Committee, which is currently unable to convene.
The Utah Board of Higher Education said the policy update approved Thursday is meant to “strengthen accountability” and allow board members to “address emerging challenges effectively.”
“The amendments clarify that reorientation leave and post-retirement benefits are privileges extended to presidents who serve with distinction,” the board said in a later statement.
There was no comment during the board’s meeting Thursday before members took a unanimous vote to approve the changes.
The policy was first put into place in 1976. Before Williams, it was most recently used by Noelle Cockett, when she stepped down as president of Utah State University in summer 2023.
Cockett resigned with a cloud of controversy hanging over the school’s football program, but no allegations of misconduct on a personal level. She returned to the faculty there, making $540,224 for her transition year, based on her presidential salary.
Geoff Landward, now the commissioner over higher education in the state, said at the time that the unique type of agreement is meant to encourage more applicants who are faculty to apply for president, knowing they can return to their positions and areas of expertise again after serving as an administrator.
It doesn’t come into play if a university president leaves the job to immediately accept a position elsewhere, which is why Williams collected the money for six months instead of a full year. And presidents can’t get it if they are involuntary terminated for cause.
The pay applies for all presidents of the state’s eight public colleges and universities, as well as the commissioner. Those individuals, according to the board, must be held to “the highest standards of service.”
A search is currently underway to select a new president at Utah Tech.
