Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology Executive Director Michael Carolina received a $34,000 salary increase, approved unanimously by the board of directors.
Public Information Office Steve Paris said Carolina’s salary increased from $96,027 to $130,000, a 35 percent increase. Paris said the board discussed the decision during executive session Tuesday.
The increase takes effect Dec. 1. In board member Hershel Lamirand’s motion for the salary change, he stated he wanted to “preface it somewhat by saying that when we looked at our CEO’s compensation, we looked at several things, not the least of which was what the industry standard is for like kinds of jobs; what our replacement values would be of our CEO in the industry for the same position; plus, we looked at a very important document from the Director and Secretary of Finance and Budget for the state, who is Gov. Fallin’s appointee.”
Lamirand said in evaluating all those pieces of information, he moved the board elevate Carolina’s salary to $130,000 per year. According to the report referenced by Lamirand, the minimum salary suggestion for OCAST is $87,212 and the maximum suggestion is $130,818.
Executive pay raises have drawn criticism, in part because of a lack of salary increases for other state employees.
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