The Indiana University Board of Trustees compensation committee unanimously approved a $250,000 bonus for IU President Pamela Whitten during a virtual meeting Tuesday.
Sage Steele is the committee chair, Mel Raines is vice chair, and the other committee members are Matt Ferguson, Steve Henke and David Hormuth.
The $250,000 bonus is the maximum bonus amount allowed through her contract, which is 25% of her salary. After receiving a $100,000 salary raise unanimously approved by the board in February, Whitten earns $1 million a year.
The board votes annually on giving the president a bonus and has regularly approved it, despite Whitten receiving a 93.1% no confidence vote from IU Bloomington faculty in 2024.
Her last bonus was approved at a June 2025 meeting, where the only dissenting vote came from then-student trustee Kyle Seibert.
During the short public section of Tuesday's meeting, trustees took the opportunity to commend Whitten, who began her current role in July 2021, on her service as president over the last five years.
During Whitten's tenure, students and faculty established an encampment in Dunn Meadow to protest the war in Gaza from April to August of 2024. In April, 57 protesters were arrested. In July of that year, IU established an expressive action policy banning expressive activity during certain hours, as well as other forms of protest, without approval.
In 2022, the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition organized a strike during April and May, calling for increased wages. In April 2024, the coalition organized a three-day strike calling for raises, starting just one day after Whitten received a no-confidence faculty vote.
Whitten's tenure is also notable for the IU Football national championship win during the 2025-26 school year. Head Coach Curt Cignetti has an eight-year contract worth $105.6 million. If Cignetti opts to leave the university for another coaching job, and Whitten has already left IU, his buyout would decrease by 50%.
IU's budget for the 2026 fiscal year increased by $133 million, although state and federal funding dropped, with the state cutting 5% of its funding and withholding another 5%.
The next scheduled Board of Trustees meeting is a Thursday, July 30, academic and student affairs committee virtual meeting. The next meeting open to the public is an annual organizational meeting Aug. 14 at IU Indianapolis.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of former student trustee Kyle Seibert. This story has also been updated to better reflect the timeline of the 2022 Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition strike and the 2024 Dunn Meadow encampment.
