Some of the lessons learned from the University of Hawai'i's expensive termination of Herman Frazier as athletic director are reflected in the contract of his successor, Jim Donovan.

The school fired Frazier Jan. 8, the day after head football coach June Jones announced a departure for Southern Methodist, and paid him $312,510 under terms of no-cause termination clause.

Yesterday, UH released Donovan's five-year, $240,000-a-year contract under provisions of the state's open records law and the 10-page document largely resembles the five-year, $250,000 agreement with Frazier with a few significant exceptions.

To buy out Donovan before the March 23, 2013 completion of the contract without cause, the maximum UH would have to pay is 14 months salary ($280,000), one month less that was called for under Frazier's contract.

Donovan may terminate the contract upon 60 days' notice without penalty. Frazier had a 90-day notice without penalty. Both are in contrast to Jones, who is in mediation with UH over terms that called for him to pay $400,004 in liquidated damages in the event he left before the June 30, 2008 expiration of his contract.

Frazier qualified for a $15,000 bonus if the athletic department operated "with a net increase in net assets for two consecutive years" and repaid a $1 million note to the university. The school essentially forgave the note in Frazier's tenure, according to UH officials, and he qualified for a bonus despite an accumulated net deficit that reached $4.4 million before his termination.

But Donovan, under the terms of his deal, would have to "operate two consecutive years with a net profit..." to earn the bonus. Something not likely to happen in at least the first four years under the current deficit budget situation, people familiar with the numbers have said.

Though Donovan was named athletic director on March 13, 2008, the contract was not signed by either party until this month. "I'm happy to be back at the university and I was never concerned about the contract situation," Donovan said. "We're working toward progress in both the budget and on the playing fields and in the arenas."

Donovan's contract allows him to reopen negotiations on his base salary in 2010 and 2012, subject to a "satisfactory performance evaluation" and "availability of funds." Frazier had a similar clause.

Donovan's other bonus opportunities mirror Frazier's and are capped at a maximum of three months' salary ($60,000). He may collect one month's bonus if the football team wins its conference; $7,500 if the football team appears in a bowl; one month's bonus if the men's basketball team is selected for the NCAA tournament; two weeks' bonus if it plays in the NIT, a bonus equal to one half of that of the men's basketball coach if the team appears in the Sweet 16; a bonus equal to one half of the coach's if the men's or women's volleyball teams participate in the championship tournament; a bonus of two weeks' salary if the baseball team plays in an (NCAA) regional; $10,000 if the baseball team goes to the College World Series; a bonus of two weeks' salary if any other UH team (beyond volleyball, football, baseball or men's basketball) wins a national championship; $5,000 for "exemplary performance of duties."