University President Robert Easter received a contract extension and a performance-based salary bonus in July, as he was completing his first year as president. He will now oversee the University of Illinois campuses until mid-2015.

“I was humbled that the Board of Trustees asked me to continue for another year beyond my current contract,” Easter said in an email. “I have found the job to be intellectually challenging and rewarding, and I look forward to working with a very committed Board of Trustees for the next two years.”

The trustees approached Easter about extending his contract this summer. The board’s Executive Committee will evaluate the progress of established goals and will determine any additional compensation in September 2013. Though Easter’s base salary is $450,000 per year, it is expected to increase when employees receive salary bonuses in September.

“We … as a Board of Trustees (were) out speaking with important constituents. … Through those conversations and more broadly in the entire Illinois community, it became clear that there was enormous support to extend President Easter’s leadership,” board chairman Christopher Kennedy said after the July meeting.

Kennedy said there will be a comprehensive, national search for a new president about a year before Easter’s eventual retirement.

“A critical issue with the University is personnel attracting and retaining great leadership — and that great leadership needs to be led by a great leader,” Kennedy said.

He said Easter has gained support with both the Board of Trustees and other University executives with his actions this past year.

“A lot of people think of (Easter) as providing stable leadership — I would describe him as being a dynamic leader,” Kennedy said. “I think he’s been an extraordinary leader for the University of Illinois.”

Easter said his first goal as president this past year was to gain a more complete understanding of the campuses in Chicago and Springfield and to develop relationships with state leaders in both the public and private sectors of the University.

“(I wanted to) build the University of Illinois’ reputation as a top institution that provides transformative education to students and a place where innovative research is done that contributes substantially to the state’s economy,” Easter said. “I feel comfortable that we made a lot of progress in all of those areas.”

Although Easter has only been president for one year, he has worked at the University’s Urbana campus for most of his nearly 40-year career. He has served as a senior administrator, a faculty member, dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and interim chancellor.

“Each level of responsibility has involved a greater separation from the delivery of our primary teaching, research and public service missions, and there is some sense of sadness associated with that (because) I enjoy teaching and still give a few lectures,” Easter said. “On the other hand, this position creates the opportunity to engage more broadly in the state and beyond in important conversations about the future of higher education … that’s been exciting.”

Easter said he is now working on forming new goals for the 2013-2014 school year.

“The University of Illinois is a major player in health education nationally,” he said. “The rapidly changing nature of health-care delivery in the United States has caused us to reexamine the structure of our operation and the underlying mechanisms for financial sustainability.”

Healthcare discussions arose during a board retreat in July, and Easter said it will continue to be a topic of conversation among University leaders and faculty members, particularly on the Chicago campus.

Easter said he has spent a significant amount of time working with the two major research campuses, Urbana and Chicago, spending at least two days a week on each of the campuses. He said he has also been able to work with the leadership of the Springfield campus.

“I have discovered that we have three unique cultures, each very appropriate to the missions that those campuses have embraced,” he said.

Brittany can be reached at [email protected]