Ohio University has rescinded the salary increases for OU President Roderick McDavis and his wife, Deborah, after the Board of Trustees possibly inappropriately approved their new base salaries at its Friday meeting.
The McDavises’ raises were put on hold until the board could vote in a public meeting after an article published in The Columbus Dispatch claimed the pay increases were “illegal” because they were discussed in a closed door meeting and not publicly voted on.
A public body, such as a university’s board of trustees, is allowed to enter closed-door meetings to discuss the compensation of public employees but cannot hold official votes or make decisions while in those executive sessions.
Those discussions are also public record, according to the law.
Friday, Sandra Anderson, the board’s chairwoman, announced that Roderick and Deborah McDavis are eligible for the 1 percent increase for faculty and staff that was approved in a vote at its August board meeting.
McDavis suggested the board approve the pool at the August meeting after this academic year’s record enrollment numbers.
The board commonly discusses personnel matters in executive session.
Friday’s announcement only clarified the 1 percent increase applies to both of the McDavises, which did not require a formal vote, said Peter Mather, secretary to the board.
“However, to alleviate any concerns or misunderstanding, the board will not go forward with the 1 percent increase for the president and first lady until it has reconvened and had an opportunity to discuss and formally vote on a resolution in a public meeting,” Mather said, in a statement.
David Marburger, a partner in the Cleveland office of BakerHostetler law firm and an expert on the state’s Sunshine Law, believes the question is whether McDavis is considered a normal OU faculty and staff member to be eligible for the pool.
“Either (President McDavis) was initially in the (salary raise) pool or he wasn’t,” Marburger said. “If he wasn’t, then they’d have to vote separately to give him a raise.”
McDavis is classified as an administrator on the university’s official listing of salaries, which is defined as a “full-time contract employee of Ohio University who spends 50 percent or more of his/her time in administrative duties,” according to OU’s Office of Institutional Research.
Additionally, McDavis is listed as a “full-time tenured professor” in the Patton College of Education, thus a faculty member, according to his contract.
“Because (the board is) stupid, they had to clarify that faculty and staff included the university president,” Marburger said. “If that wasn’t the case, then the decision to give him a raise could be discussed in closed session but you’d have to vote on it separately.”
McDavis received a 2.89 percent increase in his base pay at the board’s August meeting. It’s not clear in the meeting’s minutes whether the board publicly voted on — or simply announced — the pay increase.
“In (the August board) meeting, the board reviewed in open session the board’s process for the president’s evaluation,” Mather said, in an email. “Details of the evaluation and the pay increase were announced (to the public).”
After both raises, McDavis was set to make $431,150, and his wife was set to earn $31,200.
dd195710@ohiou.edu
@WillDrabold
