The following is an open letter to Ohio University President Roderick McDavis.
As a proud, two-time OU alumnus and former university employee, I have closely followed my alma mater since I left Athens last fall. When you succeeded former President Robert Glidden, I was excited for the change your hiring promised to bring to campus and the surrounding community.
Your passion for academics, athletics and creating the most diverse campus environment possible has been well documented. Your job from the start hasn't been easy: You were faced with spiraling costs, a large bureaucracy and an often-fractious town-gown relationship. But you've approached every challenge with the excitement only a fellow alumnus could have for seeing his alma mater succeed.
When I read recently, however, about your unprecedented performance bonus - the first in the university's 200-plus-year history - I was more than a little disappointed. The $41,250 bonus represents 15 percent of your $275,000 first-year salary. But, to me and to others, it represents far more.
Dr. McDavis, give back your bonus.
It was reported by The Post that the OU Board of Trustees unanimously approved your bonus because you met goals of enhancing the diversity of students
faculty and staff on campus and increased partnerships and research at the university and also for leading Vision Ohio, a strategic plan. The bonus - termed a reasonable mid-range number by board chairman R. Gregory Browning - came from the university's operating budget. The university's capital budget, meanwhile, is by your estimation $200 million in debt.
Do you see the irony your bonus presents? By the board's account, you did a wonderful job making your vision a reality. But don't you think your $41,250 could be far better spent further promoting those goals? Your pioneering Urban Scholars Program, for instance, could have supported nearly three new awards from your bonus alone. And imagine how the money could have helped the recently-expanded Gateway Award Program - a blend of merit-and need-based grants - which, in your own words, emphasizes Ohio University's commitment to helping prevent cost from becoming a barrier for students to attend the university and achieve a quality education.
Dr. McDavis, give back your bonus.
What message does your bonus send the parents of current and prospective Ohio students? Long before you took office, tuition - as has been the case nationwide - has been on the rise. This year, the average in-state Ohio student will pay more than $17,000, which counts tuition and fees, room, meal plan, books and supplies and insurance. What about an out-of-state student? More than $26,000. How will parents square the fact that you'll be pocketing nearly twice that despite the fact that their expenses will surely grow?
Though its operating budget might be balanced, the current state of the university remains in flux. Your recent decision to eliminate summer and holiday hours came without the input of those affected most, bucking the tradition of shared governance at the university. The research-heavy emphasis, coupled with unprecedented enrollment growth, is leaving many talented professors feeling overwhelmed.
The announced mid-year, 1 percent pay increase to administrative and classified staff - and select faculty members - seems meager compared to your bonus. In fact, $41,250 outpaces the yearly earnings of many of your talented and dedicated employees. Cuts have taken place across campus while three university vice president positions remain unfilled. Meanwhile, off-campus student unrest becomes a far-too-regular weekend occurrence at the school recently named the No. 2 party school in America.
I write to you not from anger, but from hope. Hope that you will recognize your regular salary as congratulations enough for a job well done. Hope that you will continue to lead our alma mater through challenging and interesting times. Hope that you will see the error in your ways and use your generous bonus to better pursue your agenda. We're paying for progress Browning said. But is this progress?
Dr. McDavis, give back your bonus.
- Joseph Hughes is a two-time OU grad (BSJ '01 and MS '03). Send him an e-mail at josephmhughes@gmail.com
17
Archives
Letter to the Editor
