Dozens of miles from Ohio University’s Athens campus, the Board of Trustees unanimously agreed on several topics: increasing pay for President Roderick McDavis and OU faculty and staff, as well as considering taking out $100 million in debt over five years to fund construction projects.
Salary Increases
Without previously outlining it in the agenda, the board unanimously voted to raise McDavis’ salary by 2.89 percent — increasing his base pay to $427,000. McDavis will also receive a one-time, 15 percent bonus based on his base pay for the 2012-13 school year, totaling $62,250.
“Overall, we are very pleased with his performance. We believe Ohio University is very well positioned for the future,” said Board Chairwoman Sandra Anderson.
McDavis received two other bonuses in 2009 and 2012. The most recent was approved the same school year as OU’s second consecutive tuition increase.
This raise cements McDavis’ spot as the second-lowest-compensated Ohio public university president. Only Mary Ellen Mazey, president of Bowling Green, makes less, at $427,637, based on the 2012 fiscal year — the most recent data available.
“I’m pretty upset,” said Student Senate President Nick Southall. “This is why it’s so important that students deserve a vote and a say at the table.”
OU’s student trustees, Amanda Roden and Keith Wilbur, don’t have voting rights. Wilbur has previously stated that he supports voting rights; Roden has stated that she doesn’t think OU student trustees need them.
“The board had talked about it, and we came to the decision that it was a good idea to reward President McDavis for his hard work and what he has done,” said Wilbur, a first-year trustee and junior studying political science and economics. “It has been a great year for our university… I have really seen McDavis’ passion...I think it was warranted.”
Roden echoed Wilbur’s feelings about McDavis’ raise.
“I think in accordance of what he has done…this was appropriate. In the way that his contract was written, he went above and beyond his expectation,” said Roden, a senior studying Spanish.
McDavis was originally hired in July 2004 with a base salary of $380,000. He is the second longest-serving public university president in Ohio. McDavis signed a five-year contract extension last September.
OU Student Union will ask students to “donate” their debt to McDavis to raise awareness of his bonus, said Jacob Chaffin, spokesman for the group.
The board also unanimously approved to increase the faculty and classified staff salary pool by 1 percent. The money will be pulled from state-shared instruction and tuition.
Faculty members were given a 2 percent salary increase at the June 2012 board meeting because “OU exceeded its goals for recruitment and retention,” McDavis said.
When the Budget Planning Council began discussing an additional raise in the spring, Vice President for Finance and Administration Stephen Golding said members originally presented the increase to the president without including classified staff because they were unsure if they would generate enough income before knowing enrollment rates.
After initial head counts suggested record-breaking enrollment numbers, McDavis said he decided it was necessary to include classified staff in the increase.
Golding and Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit will determine how the raise will be allocated.
“The goals for recruiting do not just include faculty. They include a number of staff,” Golding said.
Resolutions
The board also approved naming buildings and establishing new funding sources for scholarships, in addition to deciding to develop improvements to Alden’s HVAC system — a $1.75 million cost — and a new $575,000 elevator for Haning Hall to be purchased with state appropriations.
The board also approved giving Benoit and Golding the green light to dip into OU’s reserves and allocate $25 million for scholarships.
OU plans to raise $50 million in the coming years to match that money, McDavis said.
Recommendations
OU’s campus will roll out a tobacco-free policy over the next three years, as Vice President for Student Affairs Ryan Lombardi suggested to the board.
The board also discussed a new approach to pay for deferred maintenance projects.
Under the Capital Improvement Plan, OU will issue $100 million in debt to cover deferred maintenance projects — including the Alden Library renovations — but OU will take it out over five years.
The debt would be issued every 18 months in order to minimize damage the debt could cause to the university’s credit rating.
— Olivia Hitchcock contributed to this report.
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