WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Outgoing Gov. Mitch Daniels’ salary in his new job as president of Purdue University will rank no better than 10th among Big Ten peers, the school said Saturday.

The Purdue Board of Trustees on Saturday approved a contract that pays Daniels a base annual salary of $420,000 plus incentives that could increase his pay as high as $546,000, the school said.

April 2012 data shows Daniels’ potential salary would rank 10th among the 12 Big Ten university presidents, Purdue said.

Compensation for previous Purdue President France Cordova, including deferred compensation, was $555,000.

The five incentive areas are: student affordability, graduation and student achievement, philanthropic support, faculty excellence and recognition, and strategic program development with demonstrated student outcomes in knowledge and understanding, Purdue said. The goals and metrics for Daniels’ first year will be set in June.

Goals and weights will be revised each year and mutually agreed upon by Daniels and the board, Purdue said.

Daniels did not attend the trustees meeting — he was giving the winter commencement address at archrival Indiana University — but said in a statement released by the university that Purdue “is committed to ever-higher standards of teaching and valuable research, provided at a cost accessible to all qualified students.”

“As an institution we must embrace these goals and accountability for results in approaching them,” Daniels said. “This contract is designed to underscore the university’s commitments by aligning my priorities as its employee with the objectives of student success, student affordability, and institutional excellence and reputation.”

The contract covers five years and five months, and his start date will be Jan. 15, one day after his second term as governor ends.

Posted 12/17/2012