A CLOSER LOOK AT BLINN CHANCELLOR’S CONTRACT, SALARY
(Blinn College)
The compensation package of Blinn Chancellor Dr. Mary Hensley is among the highest when compared to other junior colleges in Texas.
A Higher Education Administrative Accountability Report from the Legislative Budget Board details the salaries and total compensation packages of leadership positions at junior colleges across the state.
Out of the 50 junior colleges listed in the report, the presidents or chancellors of 10 other institutions had total compensation packages higher than Dr. Hensley’s, as of September 1, 2020.
According to the report, Dr. Hensley’s salary for the 2020-21 Fiscal Year, prior to her recent raise, was $367,319. In addition, her contract granted $14,400 for automobile expenses, $10,000 in business-related expenses and a $2,400 communication allowance. This brought her total compensation package to $394,119.
In June, Blinn’s Board of Trustees approved a 3 percent pay raise for Dr. Hensley, bringing her base salary to $378,338. The board also approved an additional $10,000 in compensation in accordance with a section of her contract titled “Annual Priorities – Additional Compensation.”
According to Dr. Hensley’s contract, the board determines whether to provide additional compensation to the chancellor if certain annual goals have been satisfied. Annual goals, according to the contract, can include “increasing enrollment, improving graduation rates, promoting sound fiscal management of the College’s budget, and managing the administration.”
Dr. Hensley’s contract runs through June 30, 2024.
KWHI submitted an open records request last week for further details on Dr. Hensley’s contract, and received documents related to the request on Wednesday.
You can read the accountability report, along with Dr. Hensley’s contract documents, below.
Click here to read Dr. Hensley's original employment contract.
Click here to read an amendment to Dr. Hensley's contract dated June 19, 2018.
Click here to read an amendment to Dr. Hensley's contract dated June 15, 2021.
And don’t forget that a portion of everyone’s real estate taxes goes to Blinn.
There are 11 full time Faculty positions open, and 56 Part time faculty positions advertised – this is at bryan and brenham locations. No kidding how do you get by with this? For very long time most faculty positions are only part time positions – these are teaching positions that require at a minimum a Masters Degree in the teaching field. The base salary posted on their site is about $45,000 for full time and a range of 45 -68K. Value all the employees of Blinn!
Below is from Blinn site.
While Blinn provides services to a 13-county area, only Washington County resides within the College’s taxing district.
Property tax revenue pays for approximately one-third of the Blinn-Brenham Campus’s maintenance and operations costs, with Brenham Campus student tuition and fee revenues funding the remaining costs. By law, property tax revenue cannot be utilized to fund campuses outside of the taxing district.
So only Washington County residents pay taxes for Blinn based on your property tax assessment. The President of Blinn or Chancellor at 370,000 base a year is obscene. And word she has a retirement income from the state on top of her small Blinn salary, so good for her. Not so much for the Blinn regular employees.
So the president of our little junior college is indeed paid more than the President of the United States…..you must be kidding me. I continue to be shocked that our elected officials that are also tax paying citizens think stuff like this is OK. When do these people start to represent us? It is time for some accountability at all level of local government that seems to be completely missing.
Ya know, I would Love nothing better than to do mediocre work in my low totem pole position I’m in….BUT, I didn’t build myself that way. Take care of those that do more for the college than that being Faculty and Staff. We are the All hands on deck folks and this is another slap in the face of working for Blinn.
Does she not have a Blinn car and cell phone and internet that blinn is paying for. $14,000 car expense $2,400 communications expense. That is crazy, at the same time the working staff are the ones making Blinn a good college. Business expense related is a little high, does she have a credit card that is on Blinn account????? Are all those increases over and above what Blinn pay for?
Yes, she has a Blinn Cadillac not purchased locally, a gas card, credit card, any expenses are reimbursed from traveling or meals, and Country Club membership all paid for by our taxes.
I am curious if KWHI has reached out to the Board or Dr. Hensley for comment. If so, did any respond? If not, can KWHI make that happen? I think quite a few of us would love to know why these salaries are so astronomically high.
Sooooo….what’s the big deal? It clearly says her annual goals are “….increasing enrollment, improving graduation rates…”
There are stories posted here quite often about the number of students graduating from a certain program or scoring high on placement exams, etc.,etc., so it sounds to me like she’s earning her money.
Are you kidding me? You have to ask? Do you think that if things were “bad” she would “allow” that to be posted? If you do, please wake up because you are DREAMING! Numbers have been down. Not sure what articles you have read. Also, she has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with placement exams. Blinn is a Community College with Open Admissions. Why do you think KWHI had to do Open Records? There are tons of dirty little secrets that she would NEVER want out.
Yes I’m sure she has sooooooo much to do with the nursing program! She may not even know ray Blinn has a nursing program! C’mon man!
I think that the stories that KWHI and the Banner Press carry are less news stories and more akin to advertising/propaganda. The author of the stories is always Richard Bray, and he worked for the newspaper years ago. The numerous police calls and drug issues that Blinn deals with on a weekly basis are never reported, as they would take away from the “news” and image that the college wants known. I’ve often thought that when the title ‘President’ was replaced with ‘Chancellor’ for the leader of Blinn College, that it seemed like a repeat of what happened in Germany in 1934; Hindenburg was out and that crazy little wallpaper hanger was in. Take it a step further and Bray might be a modern Goebbels.
Goodwin’s law.
And still the workers that really make all those increases work only get 2%, and no compensation and very low pay, lower than most all other businesses/colleges. Things need to change all over board, president and VC’s. Glad at least KWHI is looking into this since no one at college is able to say anything in jeopardy of losing their jobs!
Agree!