Lt. Gen. Ronald Bailey

I’m excited to announce that retired Lt. Gen. Ronald Bailey, former deputy commandant for Plans, Polies and Operations for the U.S. Marine Corps, is joining Austin Peay’s senior leadership team as vice president for external affairs. He will oversee the University’s office of advancement, communication and strategic initiatives.

Lt. Gen. Bailey grew up in a family that valued education, with his father working as a math teacher, football coach and, later, as an assistant principle. Lt. Gen. Bailey left his home in Florida in the mid-1970s to attend and play football at Austin Peay. Shortly after he graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in biology, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Lt. Gen. Bailey is one of the most dynamic, service-oriented leaders I’ve ever met, and he has the credentials to prove it. Throughout his distinguished military career, he was routinely tapped for increasingly challenging assignments. He always achieved success because of his leadership abilities and his skills as a strategic planner and communicator.

During his military career, Lt. Gen. Bailey oversaw the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, and he served as commanding general of the First Marine Division, as commanding general of the Third Marine Expeditionary Brigade and as deputy director for operations of the Joint Staff. He also was a Military National Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

While rising through the ranks of the U.S. Marine Corps, he maintained a passion for his alma mater, placing it at the top of his list of achievements. I am confident he’ll serve our students and this University with all the energy he has, making Austin Peay’s success his next important mission.

He will begin his new role at Austin Peay on Aug. 1. Please join me in welcoming Lt. Gen. Bailey to Austin Peay State University.

Kristopher Phillips’ promotion

Kristopher Phillips (’91), Austin Peay State University’s executive director for University Advancement, has been promoted to assistant vice president for the same office, the institution announced on Friday.

The announcement follows an extraordinary year for Phillips and his team, which led the University to the second-highest fundraising total in APSU history, bringing in $9.85 million.

“Kris and his team have had profound success in ensuring our students have the resources and the opportunities to succeed and to lead,” Derek van der Merwe, APSU vice president of Advancement, Communication and Strategic Initiatives, said. “He has been a keystone for us in reaching the five goals of our strategic plan: growing enrollment, enhancing student success, sustaining University growth, expanding diversity and broadening communication.

“I’m proud of him,” van der Merwe added.

Phillips has been responsible for all University engagement and fundraising activities since March 2016, when he returned to Austin Peay after serving 16 years in high-ranking alumni relations and fundraising roles with the University of Tennessee system.

“It’s my pleasure to lead a team of professionals that love Austin Peay as much as I do,” Phillips said. “I appreciate the confidence President White and Derek have in my leadership abilities.

“Each day is an opportunity for our team to facilitate the investment so many APSU alumni and friends are making in the lives of our students,” he added. “I am so glad to be a Governor!”

In addition to to bringing in nearly $10 million in the last fiscal year, Phillips and his team have launched new initiatives at Austin Peay, including:

• A new, state-of-the-art customer relationship management system and best-practice online giving technologies.
• Govs Give, an online giving initiative that has brought in $325,000 and 250 new donors.
• Govs Gatherings, University-hosted alumni events. The next one is hosted by President White and football head coach Will Healy July 9 in Chattanooga.
• Restructuring the advancement office to increase staff and resources.
• Increasing stewardship activities.
• Implementing scholarship compliance processes.
• An enhanced APSU investment strategy to increase endowment returns.
• Implementing an inaugural senior class gift campaign.
• Planning the University’s next comprehensive fundraising campaign.
• And raising the most money ever at this year’s Candlelight Ball, APSU’s signature annual fundraising event benefitting student scholarships.

During his initial tenure at APSU prior to 2000, Phillips served as an admissions counselor, an admissions manager, assistant director of development and director of alumni and annual giving. He identified and cultivated several major gifts, developed a comprehensive annual giving programs and managed the overall operations of the 24,000-member National Alumni Association.

Phillips began his new role at APSU on July 1.

He and his wife, Tammy, have two sons, Brayden and Parker. Parker is a junior first baseman for the Govs baseball team. He led the team with 19 home runs last season.

Salary and benefit adjustments

In the last two years, Austin Peay State University allocated more than $6.6 million for salary adjustments and benefits. Today, I’m pleased to announce that we’ve budgeted $3.3 million for additional salary increases, effective July 1, 2018.

One of the goals of Austin Peay’s strategic plan, Leading Through Excellence, calls for bringing faculty and staff salaries up to their median market point, and as a result, the Ad Hoc Compensation Committee recommended an aggressive compensation plan for the University. Since then, we’ve worked hard to make salaries more competitive, and today, I’m happy to announce another step in that direction.

Upon the recommendation of Austin Peay’s Ad Hoc Staff Allocation Task Force and the President’s Council, all regular full-time and part-time staff members will receive a 2% performance adjustment to their base salary or $1,000, whichever is greater. Some additional funds may be allocated for market adjustments. In order to distribute as many of the funds as possible to as many employees as possible, salary increases that an employee may receive will be capped at $10,000 or 10%, whichever amount is less.

Staff members who are eligible for raises and whose salaries are below 90% of their market median point will receive raises to bring them up to a minimum of 90% of their market median point if they had a satisfactory performance evaluation for the 2016-17 year.

Austin Peay’s Ad Hoc Faculty Salary Allocation Task Force and the President’s Council recommended that all regular full-time faculty members receive a 2% performance adjustment to their base salary or $1,000, whichever is greater. Some additional funds may be allocated for market adjustments and merit. In order to distribute as many of the funds as possible, salary increases that an employee may receive will be capped at $10,000 or 10%, whichever amount is less.

Faculty members who are eligible for raises and whose salaries are below 90% of their market median point will receive raises to bring them up to a minimum of 90% of their market median point.

Austin Peay faculty and staff on an annual year contract will receive this increase, effective July 1, 2018. Faculty and staff members on an academic year contract will receive this increase, effective August 1, 2018.

All salary increases are subject to a satisfactory performance evaluation for the 2017-18 year.