Ohio University's Board of Trustees has voted to give OU President Roderick McDavis a raise of $33,730 and a bonus of $85,000, bringing his new base salary to $465,000.
Ohio University's Board of Trustees has voted to give OU President Roderick McDavis a raise of $33,730 and a bonus of $85,000, bringing his new base salary to $465,000. The unanimous vote came at the Board's August retreat near the university's new Dublin campus on Thursday.
The raise, of 7.8 percent, came in conjunction with the largest bonus he has ever received. Before retirement pay and other compensation, McDavis's total compensation for the 2014-15 year will be at least $550,000.
Deborah McDavis, the President's wife and the First Lady of OU, also received a pay raise to $35,000.
"We're all very happy with his performance this last year," said Sandra Anderson, a trustee and last year's Board chair, of why McDavis' deserved the increase.
"This really does reflect your work this year," said David Brightbill, this year's chair of the Board.
McDavis is the longest serving president at any public university in Ohio. He has been OU's president for more than a decade.
McDavis' pay raise comes after OU saw record enrollment this fall, with nearly 4,400 freshmen coming to campus. It also comes after OU reached its goal of raising $450 million in private donations for the Promise Lives Campaign more than a year ahead of schedule, and after OU announced major changes to and investments in scholarships. The trustees also cited McDavis' efforts devoted to implementing the guaranteed tuition model, which will hold student's costs-of-college constant for twelve consecutive semesters.
Student Senate President Megan Marzec opposed McDavis' bonus.
"This is what we have been fighting for years, and this is what students elected us to fight," she said. "It is clear to anyone that taking money from indebted students to give outrageous bonuses to millionaires is unjust. It is class war, and we intend to defend ourselves by organizing the student body against this."
For a live stream of the meeting, visit http://www.ohio.edu/mediaserver/live.cfm?videoid=3b97c3c207c4.
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