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 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.

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 in million savings.

Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst says 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.

Daniel Bennett, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for College Affordability & Productivity, advocates 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 that 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: Ohio State, Ohio University, University of Akron, University of Toledo, Kent State, Bowling Green, Central State, Cleveland State, Miami University of Ohio, 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.

Ohio State spokeswoman Shelly Hoffman said the university annually benchmarks the salaries of its administrators and staff to national norms for major four-year research universities, and they are not out of line.

“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, clearly you can see those results,” she said.

Hoffman pointed out that 85 percent of Ohio State’s budget comes from non-public sources and that its research hospital is the fastest growing employer in the region.

According to the college affordability center, the ratio of administrators per 1,000 students grew from 9.22 in 2003 to 10.06 in 2007 at public, four-year colleges.

The median salary for those administrators rose by 4 percent during the 2007-2008 fiscal year, outpacing inflation for the eleventh consecutive year, according to a report released last year by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.

During that same time, university presidents and CEOs saw their pay rise 8 percent, like administrator’s outpacing inflation, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education’s annual salary survey.

Strickland’s budget continues a tuition freeze at 4-year institutions that has already been in place for two years. His proposed spending blueprint for the two years beginning July 1 calls for the freeze to continue for the first year and then rise by no more than 3.5 percent the following year.

Hoffman said the state’s share of Ohio State tuition is only 13 percent. She said it is the nation’s largest university and has an estimated $4 billion economic impact on the state’s economy each year.

The two highest-paid administrators at each of Ohio’s 4-year, public universities last year:

University of Akron:

Luis Proenza, president: $354,495

F. John Case, vice president, finance & administration/CFO: $242,625

Bowling Green:

Carol Cartwright, president: $375,000

Sherideen Stoll, chief financial officer: $230,000

Central State:

John Garland, president: $219,948

Terrance Glass, provost/vice president, academic affairs: $135,000

University of Cincinnati:

Nancy Zimpher, president: $418,789

Monica Rimai, senior vice president, administration & finance: $300,000

Cleveland State:

Michael Schwartz, president: $308,507

Mary Jane Saunders, provost/senior vice president, academic affairs: $234,758

Kent State:

Lester Lefton, president: $378,525

Robert Frank, provost/senior vice president: $267,800

Miami University:

David Hodge, president: $332,500

Roger Jenkins, dean, Farmer School of Business: $312,000

NEOUCOM:

Lois Nora, president/dean, College of Medicine: $320,000

David Allen, dean, College of Pharmacy: $224,933

Ohio State:

Gordon Gee, president: $775,008

Steven Gabbe, senior vice president, medicine administration: $750,000

Ohio University:

Roderick McDavis, president: $380,000

Kathy Krendl, provost/executive vice president: $254,921

Shawnee State:

Rita Morris, president: $191,758

David Todt, vice president, academic affairs: $128,000

University of Toledo:

Lloyd Jacobs, president: $392,700

Jeffrey Gold, provost/executive vice president, academic affairs: $362,457

Wright State:

David Hopkins, president: $344,448

Steven Angle, provost: $245,130

Youngstown State:

David Sweet, president: $239,358

Ikram Khawaja, provost/vice president, academic affairs: $170,500

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 4:34 pm and is filed under Breaking News, Community, Education.
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