Correction appended
COLUMBUS - Ohio's university presidents and their senior advisers, who rank among the state's highest paid public employees, will not be asked by Gov. Ted Strickland to take the pay and benefits cuts he's asking most state employees to take.
Led by Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee, the highest paid public university president in America, the 154 individuals at Ohio's 14 four-year public institutions made a combined $35 million last year, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press.
Gee makes $775,008 a year before bonuses. The median salary for public university presidents in the state is $355,000, the data show.
Since July, at least 18 university presidents - including Miami University's David Hodge - have voluntarily given up raises or bonuses as their schools grapple with budget shortfalls.
Ohio University President Roderick McDavis has refused to answer questions twice about his $85,000 pay raise awarded over the summer and shows no signs of joining those other presidents. Like Hodge, who returned a $68,000 bonus after a budget deficit threatened the jobs of 100 employees, McDavis earns a $380,000 base salary.
Strickland seeks a 6 percent pay cut from unionized agency workers in the upcoming two-year budget. If such a cut were applied to all university presidents and their cabinets, it would amount to about $2.1 million in savings.
Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst said the governor's budget plan targets only state agencies over which he has direct authority for the pay and benefits concessions - which includes his own office. Along with the pay cut, he has asked state workers to assume 10 percent of their health insurance premiums to make ends meet.
Becky Watts, McDavis' chief of staff, emphasized the agencies targeted by the governor's pay cut are completely state funded, unlike Ohio's public universities, and each school has a distinctive regional mission in addition to an obligation to Ohio students.
But I also don't want people to think that we're not sensitive to what's going on at agencies that serve the people of Ohio
and we're paying close attention to that she said.
State funding accounts for 25 percent of OU's operating budget this year.
Daniel Bennett, administrative director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for College Affordability and Productivity, advocated paring back university salaries and all but educational programs during hard times.
Our view is that college presidents should be compensated for performance he said. So if they're doing a great job
then we don't necessarily mind that they're getting high pay. But there should be some objective measure of that
such as the job they do retaining students or their graduation rate.
Bruce Johnson, president of the Inter-University Council of Ohio, said colleges and universities have to spend what is necessary to attract talented people.
These are big places with
many times
hospitals and thousands of employees
he said. And generally
as compared to private sector jobs
the CEO is not overcompensated.
Bennett said his center, founded on the heels of the 2006 report of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, discourages the operation of research hospitals, dormitories and student recreational facilities by universities, viewing such endeavors as pushing up the overall costs of college to students and taxpayers.
Data collected from all 14 four-year universities in Ohio show 28 of the 154 administrators earn $300,000 or more per year. For 11, the figure includes a car allowance. The numbers don't include benefits or bonuses.
University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher is paid $418,789, the next highest president's salary under Gee's.
The state's four-year universities are: OU, Ohio State, University of Akron, University of Toledo, Kent State, Bowling Green, Central State, Cleveland State, Miami University, Cincinnati, Youngstown State, Wright State, Shawnee State and the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy.
The eight highest paid central office university administrators in the state work at Ohio State, according to salary information provided to the AP by the institutions.
The university aspires to be one of the Top 10 research universities in the country
and if you look at where we've come from in terms of our investment in the last 10 years or so
