While the state Board of Regents mull a possible bonus for UI President Sally Mason, other Big Ten institutions have already closed the issue.

Regents recently announced that Mason would not receive a pay raise for fiscal 2010 but would be eligible for incentive pay of up to $80,000.

Other Big Ten university officials, however, have either not been offered a bonus or declined possible incentive pay.

At Ohio State University, President E. Gordon Lee and his 18-member senior management council are eligible for salary increases or bonuses, but they voluntarily declined, said Shelly Hoffman, associate vice president of Media Relations.

Instead, the funds will be redirected to increase student scholarships, she said.

Michigan State University vice presidents and deans are following suit. And the school’s president, Lou Anna K. Simon, saw no salary increase in 2009.

Officials at other Big Ten universities — including Purdue University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Penn State, Indiana, Minnesota, and Illinois — said administrators have not received bonuses.

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman, who served as the UI president from 1995 to 2002, requested a pay freeze because of the economy.

Some Big Ten universities are not only experiencing salary freezes but pay reductions.

Dave Giroux, the executive director of communication and external relations for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, noted faculty, staff, deans and other employees are experiencing 5 percent reductions in pay.

The pay decrease is due to two legislative actions: a bill revoked a previously approved 2 percent pay increase for June, and the state imposed mandatory furloughs for all employees equal to a roughly 3 percent annual pay reduction for each of the next two years, Giroux said.

“The UW system does not have a ‘bonus’ system for the president, chancellors, or other executives,” Giroux wrote in an e-mail.

Former UI Provost Michael Hogan — a finalist for the UI presidency in 2006 — declined a $100,000 bonus at the University of Connecticut because of the state’s struggling economy.

In Iowa, presidents at all three regent universities — the UI, University of Northern Iowa, and Iowa State University — are eligible for incentive pay.

Mason was unavailable for comment on whether she would accept incentive pay if offered.

But UI spokesman Tom Moore noted asking officials on their response to something that may or may not happen in future months “seems a futile exercise.”

The regents have the right to withhold incentive payments, particularly if the current economic climate does not improve, Moore said.

Some Iowa Republican lawmakers said they do not believe presidents of state universities should be eligible to receive bonuses due to the current economic times.

But Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, said he supported the regents’ bonus plan.

“If they find out it’s inappropriate, they won’t spend the money,” Dvorsky said.

Regent President David Miles had no comment about the bonuses, said regent communications director Sheila Doyle.

The median pay for public-university presidents is $427,400, according to the Associated Press. Mason’s base pay is $450,000.