Limbaugh official appointment delayed

This chart compares the yearly salary of MSU-Northern's incoming chancellor Jim Limbaugh to other universities in Montana, and former Northern Chancellor Frank Trocki's salary.

The Montana Board of Regents did not do as much work relating to Montana State University-Northern as it was hoping, including formally approving Jim Limbaugh as the new chancellor, at last week's meeting in Bozeman.

MSU President Waded Cruzado announced the decision to hire Limbaugh last Wednesday, the day before the two-day regents meeting on Thursday and Friday.

According to Kevin McRae, associate regent in charge of Communications and Human Resources in the Montana University System, the announcement and the ensuing back-and-forth of finalizing the deal occurred less than 48-hours from the meeting, so it could not legally be placed on the agenda.

McRae said the formal approval would be made on the consent agenda of the next regents' meeting, on Jan. 19 and 20 in Helena, almost three weeks after Limbaugh's first day on the job, Jan. 1.

According to Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila Stearns, she and the board have already expressed their consent and composed a letter of support.

It's possible the approval will be made before Limbaugh starts, via a regents' conference call meeting, though there are not specific plans to do so yet.

According to McRae, when Limbaugh begins, he will receive a salary of $155,000, a nearly $15,000 bump from his predecessor Frank Trocki, who was paid $140,500.

MSU-Billings has more than three times the number of students Northern does and its chancellor, Rolf Groseth, makes $155,555.

Donald Blackketter, the head of Montana Tech in Butte which only has a few hundred more students than Northern, makes $197,000.

The closest school to Northern, enrollment-wise, is the University of Montana-Western in Dillon, whose chancellor, Richard Storey, earns $142,405.