Nico Karagosian, newly appointed vice president for University Advancement and president and CEO of the Ohio University Foundation, will be paid $300,000 annually as an “unclassified contract administrator” at Ohio University.
Karagosian signed an agreement with OU on Feb. 7 and will join the university in March.
As vice president, Karagosian will be responsible for fundraising efforts, campaign operations and duties assigned by OU President Duane Nellis.
He will also establish yearly goals and be evaluated by Nellis for his performance in the position.
“It’s this position's role to start that (investment) committee and be diligent about the people who are on it," Karagosian said at his Jan. 30 public forum. "We need people who are patient. We need to look for people who listen and understand this is a huge financial responsibility that you're empowered with.”
Karagosian will be under Nellis' “general supervision” of Nellis. He will also report to and be supervised by the Board of Trustees of the OU Foundation, according to the contract.
The contract’s term is for five years and must be renewed in March 2022.
Karagosian’s term will begin March 19, and, during his first months, he plans to balance “listening and understanding the complexities and some of the issues,” he said Jan. 30.
OU increased the salary of the vice president for advancement by about $30,000 compared to Bryan Benchoff’s 2016-17 academic year salary of $265,385.
Benchoff announced in April that he would leave to work as the president and CEO of Louisiana State University Foundation and vice president of Institutional Advancement, according to a previous Post report.
Karagosian is the outgoing vice president of advancement and executive director at the University of Cincinnati, where he has been since 2014.
“I see my role as seeing we have the right people at the table, that we always keep the university’s best interest in mind (and) doing it in a transparent way,” he said.
