When University of Connecticut President Radenka Maric was concerned about the growing protests on UConn’s campus in the spring of 2024, she reached out to her top safety officials, including Associate Vice President (AVP) of Public Safety Hans Rhynhart.
Rhynhart is technically retired and is receiving pension payments of more than $11,000 per month, according to state open records, while also working for UConn as an AVP, essentially part-time due to the State of Connecticut and UConn limitations on retiree reemployment.
Although Rhynhart is tasked with overseeing emergency dispatch, police, fire, and environmental compliance functions for UConn and UConn Health, Rhynhart’s employment is hourly, allowed up to 960 hours of employment per year, which can be divvied up whichever way necessary. For the full 960 hours, Rhynhart will receive $106,000 as AVP, according to UConn Spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz, putting his rate at roughly $110 per hour.
In January of 2024, for instance, Rhynhart was paid $1,438; in February 2024, after the spring semester had begun, he received $23,908. Thus far, during calendar year 2024, Rhynhart has received $92,476 for his work as AVP.
Rhynhart is also provided a take-home vehicle, like other top safety officials, because “The role requires him to be available around the clock to respond to any UConn campus statewide,” according to Reitz.
Rhynhart previously served as chief of police and director of public safety until 2017 when the position of AVP of Public Safety was “expanded significantly” by UConn to incorporate all emergency and safety services for both the university and UConn Health campuses. Rhynhart took over the position while simultaneously working as chief of police until 2021 when UConn hired a new chief.
Rhynhart retired in July of 2022, about a year after Gerald Lewis was hired as police chief. At the time, state records show Rhynhart made $216,466, a substantial bump from the roughly $180,000 listed in 2017.
However, Lewis announced he would be leaving just a month after Rhynhart’s retirement, so UConn asked him to “return temporarily as AVP, providing a stable transition while two deputy chiefs shared the interim chief position and plans were launched to fill it,” Reitz said.
Even after filling the police chief role in mid-2023, Rhynhart has stayed on as AVP “at UConn’s request” fielding requests from UConn’s president and coordinating with other campus safety officials, but it also means that AVP of Public Safety, at this point, is technically a part-time job.
Reitz says Rhynhart’s presence and expertise help ensure a smooth transition between police chiefs, but says they are looking for a permanent replacement.
“Chief Rhynhart was asked to continue serving temporarily as AVP after his retirement because he possesses unique, specialized knowledge and skills that UConn needs while working to recruit and hire a qualified replacement,” Reitz said in an email. “The position is scheduled to be posted soon.”
According to the state comptroller’s website, retirees can be reemployed for 120 days per year without any interruption to their pension payment. UConn’s policy says retirees rehired to the same position can receive up to 75 percent of their pre-retirement hourly pay.
“UConn is very grateful to Chief Rhynhart for repeatedly stepping up over the years when asked to provide the benefit of his extensive experience, including delaying his post-retirement plans with his family,” Reitz said. “He has served UConn with distinction for more than two decades, and our campus communities are the better for his efforts.”
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If UCONN is staying within budgetary restraints and continues to get the job done, it seems we are getting a bargain. He is doing the same job he was doing for approximately 37.5% of the income. I do have a problem with the take home car as I feel that no employee should have a take home car. Unless it’s a specialized vehicle such as an ambulance, or handicap transport vehicle, all employees should use their own vehicle and be compensated for the documented mileage.
No Robert, I do not agree. This man retired in July 2022. It is August 2024. Double-dipping at it’s finest. He is already receiving an $11,000/month pension check. That position should already have been filled. UConn should not be relying on multiple sources of part-time sources for public safety on its campus. Those kids deserve better than that. So do taxpayers.