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sign our petition to save dropped OU sports. Click
here. If
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OU'S FINANCES
From the NCAA
Division One Manual, page 5 (large pdf file 476 pages long)
"2.16 The Principle Governing The Economy of Athletics
Program Operation [*]
Intercollegiate athletics programs shall be administered in
keeping with prudent management and fiscal practices to assure the financial
stability necessary for providing student-athletes with adequate opportunities
for athletics competition as an integral part of a quality educational
experience."
See also:
Different statements
and reports we've read as the dropped sports drama has unfolded allude to
"inherited problems" and other insinuations that the current
administration is dealing with problems left to it by prior management. If
this is true, has the full extent of the problems been made public?
The true extent of the problems alluded to and the possible consequences to
athletes have apparently been known by university insiders for years.
Shouldn't young people, whose decisions to attend a university rest not only on
academic considerations, but also on athletic programs for sports in which they have
spent years developing expertise and skills needed to compete successfully at
the national level, be fully informed about the possibility that their athletic
careers might be damaged before they make irreversible commitments?
One of
the teams has an Olympic hopeful. It would be a tragedy if that athlete's
Olympic dreams were shattered by dysfunctional university management.
Companies that induce people to invest their stock without "full
disclosure" of looming financial disasters face significant problems.
Public institutions claiming
to have the ability to prepare America's youth for leadership
should be above reproach in this regard. Is OU above reproach in this
regard? Read below:
Ongoing
Research into OU Finances
Keep
checking back.
"Institutional
Incompetence and Mismanagement"
"An
Examination of the Financial Affairs of the Ohio University Athletic Department
and the Impact on Title IX Compliance"
(A
pdf file)
A
document presented to the Ohio University Board of Trustees on February 15,
2007, compiled by alumni
and parents supporting sports teams eliminated by OU
NOTE:
This document is being formatted for presentation on this website and will be
available soon.
Information
found so far on faculty, athletic, and upper administration salaries and raises
- Click Here.
McDavis presents fiscal plan to budget council
Laura Bernheim / Staff Writer / lb174804@ohiou.edu
Although Ohio University President Roderick McDavis
supported employee and faculty raises, his recommended budget proposes shifting
$1.5 million in health care costs to employees.
McDavis, who was not available for comment, presented a
budget for the 2008 fiscal year to the Budget Planning Council Friday morning,
reacting to Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed higher education compact. He will
also take it to the April 19 meeting of the Board of Trustee's Finance
Committee.
The 15-member BPC, which is expected to fix OU's $8.55
million budget deficit, meets biweekly. BPC meetings - which are co-chaired by
Provost Kathy Krendl and William Decatur, vice president for Finance and
Administration - are not open to the public.
Under McDavis' new plan, employees would pay 18 to 19
percent of health care costs - about a 2 to 3 percent increase - compared to a
30 percent national average.
BPC's proposal to keep health care costs the same was met
with a split vote.
"Not shifting any of the cost would lead to deeper
cuts," Decatur said. "Given the 3 percent and $1.2 million
investments, we felt this was the time to possibly change health care."
Administrative units would face an average reduction of
3.6 percent, while academic units would see average base budget cuts of 1.6
percent, both of which would result in $4.8 million for reallocation.
Athens campus revenue is expected to increase $1.68
million but costs are assumed to grow $10.23 million, leaving a budget deficit
of $8.55 million.
McDavis proposed a tuition increase last quarter to help
offset the budget deficit, but Strickland's higher education compact calls for
tuition freezes in exchange for additional state aid.
"With Vision Ohio funds and reallocation, we could
close the budget gap entirely," Decatur said. "But that would be
without (increasing faculty compensation, financial aid and strategic
investments). We're just not going to abandon those priorities."
McDavis also proposed a $2 million strategic investment
pool to fund information technology efforts and minimum wage increases. BPC
removed that from its tentative budget, Decatur said.
To strengthen the university's financial standing,
McDavis also suggested investing $1 million into a "rainy day fund."
"We're not expecting any dramatic improvements in
the budget landscape," Decatur said. "We feel we should build up our
reserves with the intention that we won't spend it unless it's raining."
The higher education compact, part of the state's budget,
would increase OU's state funding by $3.7 million in exchange for freezing
undergraduate tuition and fees. The state budget still needs to be approved by
legislature.
"One thing we can be sure of is changes,"
Decatur said. "Unless something dramatic happens at the House and Senate,
this is where President McDavis landed with regards to the budget."
OU
trustees discuss budget concerns
CASEY
S. ELLIOTT
Staff Writer
CHILLICOTHE - Ohio University's
trustees are calling on administrators to look down the road at the school's
financial picture beyond the next year's budget cycle.
The trustees tabled making a decision that would have authorized the
construction of a new addition to Porter Hall at their Friday meeting, citing
concerns about the university's financial future and ability to make payments on
that project.
OU administrators announced this month that the university is facing between a
$6 million and an $11 million budget shortfall for the Athens campus for fiscal
year 2008. The administration has yet to look at the regional campus budgets.
Options to shrink that deficit could include tuition increases.
Trustees from the university's Audit, Finance, Facilities and Investment
Committee asked the administration to look even farther into the future, since
budget shortfalls seem to be an annual occurrence.
"When we look at this, nothing is fundamentally changing," said
Trustee C. Robert Kidder. "Is there anything we can do to break us out of
this spiral? What can we do to keep us from having this same discussion next
year? Should we be merging with Kent State? Where does it end?"
OU President Roderick McDavis said administrators are asking themselves these
same questions, and attempting to come up with some ideas for the long-term
financial health of the institution.
But Trustee C. Daniel DeLawder, chairman of the audit and finance committee,
cautioned the administration that time is running out to come up with ideas.
"The clock is ticking," he said.
Provost Kathy Krendl said some things that may change the university's budget
picture are already in the works. She said administration officials have been
conducting a review of the university as a whole, evaluating productivity to see
where cuts may be made. Also, administrators are discussing the potential for
outreach and partnerships with other institutions, which will help them provide
education while saving on some of the costs.
Vice
President for Finance and Administration William Decatur said 85 percent of the
university's budget goes toward salaries and benefits for employees. In
addition, Krendl said one of the university's priorities is to increase faculty
compensation so it is more in-line with peer institutions over the next five
years.
Last year, the university realigned its budget and ended up with a $6.2 million
budget surplus by cutting costs, providing an early retirement plan for some
employees and raising tuition. Some of that surplus may be used to balance out
fiscal year 2008's budget, but decisions have not been made and most likely will
not be made until Gov. Ted Strickland releases his budget for the state in
March.
The trustees decided to table the authorization of construction for the Porter
Hall addition until a future meeting, when they have a better idea of what funds
are available and if the university can realistically support the debt payments
on the construction. The project, estimated to cost $7.2 million, would demolish
and replace Anderson Hall, add to Porter Hall and add an access roadway to the
new Baker Center.
Although capital improvements such as the Porter Hall addition come from a
different pool of money than operating costs for the university as a whole,
Trustees Chairman R. Gregory Browning said the university would still have to
find money in the budget to pay for the debt service on the construction.
Browning said the trustees are unwilling to do that without a clearer financial
picture for the future.
celliott@athensmessenger.com
[Bold type emphasis, except for paragraph headings, inserted by
SaveOUSports.Org]
JUST IN: OU budget woes 'an absolute disaster,' faculty say
[This was the original headline for this article on "The Post
Online's" website. It has since been changed online to "Budget,
workload worry faculty."]
Laura Bernheim / Staff Writer / lb174804@ohiou.edu
A year ago, Ohio University administrators told Faculty Senate that OU was
fiscally sound – but after university officials recently projected a potential
$11 million budget deficit, senators are wondering where all the money went.
“Last fall, we hear everything is fine, we’ve taken care of all the
problems, and now we hear that isn’t the case,” journalism professor
Bernhard Debatin said at tonight’s meeting. “This is a disaster, an absolute
disaster.”
“There is a real credibility problem here,” chemistry professor
Ken Brown added.
Officials attributed the shortfall to lower-than-expected state funding,
retention rates and number of transfer students, but Debatin questioned why OU
didn’t see the problems earlier.
“Everyone seems to be surprised, but don’t we have planning data?”
he asked. “I’m pretty disgusted. There is a level of mixed messages that are
being sent that is damaging to the university, damaging to the students and
damaging to recruitment efforts.”
William Decatur, vice president for finance and administration, said the
university’s budget was balanced until it fell short of enrollment targets and
that OU “has some very tough decisions to make.”
OU’s retention rate, which is at about 80 percent but has been steadily
declining since 2000, is “a great figure for a large university, but what
hurts us is that it used to be so much bigger,” said OU Provost Kathy Krendl.
Competition for transfer students is tough among all four-year universities,
Krendl added.
“Getting transfer students is not ‘push a button and it happens,’ and
we’ve learned that the hard way,” she said.
12-hour limit
The last sentence of a resolution proposing faculty workload definitions had
faculty members concerned about the quality versus quantity of instruction.
The proposal provides a base for individual colleges to eventually develop a
more detailed workload policy that incorporates teaching, research and service.
It also would allow faculty members to negotiate an appropriate workload with
their school or department.
The last sentence of the resolution proposed limiting teaching to 12 credit
hours per quarter for a faculty member who does not engage in research or
service.
“Something has got to give somewhere,” said Duane McDiarmid, an art
professor. “It’s brutal, the workload at some parts of the university.”
Debatin said setting a university wide maximum would be difficult.
“Twelve credit hours mean nothing if you don’t know what the size of the
class is, what department,” he said.
From "The Post Online," Wednesday, February 7, 2007
JUST IN: Budget shortfall could prompt tuition hike
Ohio University could hike tuition by 6 percent to help make up a budget
shortfall for next year, if university officials have their way.
A projected $11 million-budget deficit next year has prompted officials to
consider the tuition hike and examine funding with potentially all programs on
the chopping block.
“We would very much like to increase the tuition by 6 percent if allowed to
do so,” OU President Roderick McDavis said in a news conference yesterday at
the new Baker University Center.
The tuition hike would tack on an additional $509 bringing the yearly total
for undergraduate in-state tuition to about $9,000. The state sets tuition hike
limits, which have to be approved by the university’s Board of Trustees.
Editorial: Next idea, please
Tuition hike shows the administration’s lack of ingenuity or willingness
to take personal cuts
Ohio University is thinking about raising tuition again. It has happened
every year during the reign of Roderick McDavis. The proposed 6 percent hike
will once more try to make up for another budget shortfall. It is another in a
long string of gaffes by the OU administration as they try to actually run a
university.
It was only last year when the university cut $14 million, while saving $6
million for VisionOhio. Now VisionOhio, the administration’s solution to
everything, is feeling the pinch. With a $6 million budget, $4 million of it is
being eyed to help with this university problem. VisionOhio has become the
sacrificial lamb of the ongoing budget problems. Now this savior of Ohio
University is on life support as it slowly dies to make up for ongoing mistakes.
The main reason the administration cited for these proposed ideas is the
student body growth. It is amazing how much the university doesn’t get it.
They act surprised when transfer students refuse to come to OU, but if they
stopped to consider the last couple of years, it is no wonder. With the
continuing bad press the university has received it is inevitable that transfer
student numbers are down. Couple that with the 80 percent retention rate, and
you’ve got a recipe for a budget shortfall.
There are solutions for this latest crisis of monetary proportions. Why is it
only the students must suffer? Perhaps an administration pay cut would solve
some of the financial woes. Now, we’re not talking a massive one but rather a
manageable 2 percent cut. That would go a long way in helping with this ongoing
problem.
And Mrs. McDavis shouldn’t get paid. What she does for the university is
not worth what we pay. Obviously, donations haven’t gone up, and students
continue to leave. The main question on our minds is what her job entails
besides parties and schmoozing with donors. An even better question is why are
we paying for it.
It’s time to call a spade to spade. The university needs to stop making it
seem like a tuition hike is a last resort when it has become obvious it is their
only idea. It is not fair to make the student bear the brunt of this crisis.
There are other solutions than to simply jack up tuition again. Just try a
littler harder.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of
the Post executive editors.
OU fails to improve retention rate
[A graphic is omitted from this version - see the graphic at the link to
the link above to this article online.]
Retention at Ohio University has fallen for the sixth straight year, with a
2005-06 first-year retention rate of 79.8 percent, according to a Department of
Institutional Research report.
University main campuses with selective admissions in Ohio have seen a 1
percent increase in retention from 2000 to 2004. The statewide retention rate
was 82 percent in 2004, according to a performance report released by the Ohio
Board of Regents last month.
Ohio University experienced a 3.8 percent drop in retention from 2000 to
2004, with a further 1.3 percent loss in 2005, according to the Institutional
Research report.
“Our retention is quite strong for a public university, but we want to make
it better,” Provost Kathy Krendl said. “The goal is to turn it around 1
percent per year.”
Falling retention and fewer transfer students contributed to the
university’s projected $6 million to $11 million budget shortfall this coming
year.
Although freshmen enrollment targets were met, the overall number of students
declined by 300. This resulted in a loss of $4.3 million, or $14,333 per
student, according to university estimates.
“We’re about $4.3 million short of our revenue targets as a result of not
meeting our enrollment targets... we fell short as a result of declining
retention and a decrease in transfer students,” said William Decatur, vice
president for Finance and Administration, at a press conference last week.
“I’m not so naive to say there isn’t a revenue aspect to this, of
course there is,” said Dale Tampke, associate provost for Undergraduate
Student Retention. “We’re (trying to improve retention) whether the budget
goes south, whether it goes north, whether we get more subsidy, whether we
don’t get more subsidy, it’s just sort of what we do.”
Black and Hispanic students have a lower retention rate of 76 percent,
according to the Institutional Research report. Members of the President’s
Office for Diversity didn’t return calls for comment.
Most students leave during their freshman year, and the largest number leave
the university between the spring and fall quarters. University College has the
lowest retention rate and the Honors Tutorial College has the highest, according
to the Institutional Research report.
Students in University College are undecided majors, which makes them more
likely to leave the university, said David Descutner, dean of University
College.
Fall 2007 freshmen in University College will be required to join a learning
community, which should improve retention. Having half the incoming freshmen
class in learning communities is “critical” to improving retention, Krendl
said.
“Sixty-three percent of students who have less than a 2.0 (GPA) are not
going to come back... if you want to talk about where do we focus resources on
dealing with retention, that wouldn’t be a bad place,” Tampke said.
Results of a university attempt over winter break to contact freshmen and
transfer students who either were not returning or hadn’t registered for the
2007 winter quarter haven’t been analyzed yet.
Top 10 Reasons Freshmen Leave OU
1. I did not feel like I fit in at OU
2. I had trouble adjusting personally to OU
3. OU is too far from home
4. The cost of attending OU
5. Disappointed in the quality of the residence experience at OU
6. My financial aid in general was not sufficient
7. Disappointed with the rural/small town location of OU
8. OU is too large and impersonal
9. Inadequate social life at OU
10. Drug and alcohol abuse on campus
Source:
Institutional Research Report
Editorial: Forgo future, talk now
Board of Trustees, administration need to use meeting to address problems
and take action
When the Ohio University Board of Trustees convenes at the Chillicothe campus
today and tomorrow, the members will have a lot to discuss.
The university has budget problems, publicity problems and technology
problems, not to mention the fact that protestors show up at Town Hall meetings
and grand opening ceremonies.
President Roderick McDavis will most likely deliver the speech he has been
giving for the last year: Things are fine and Vision Ohio is progressing.
But as professors, students and alumni have pointed out, OU is anything but
fine. As for Vision Ohio, the $4.3 million budget deficit effectively killed its
chance of being executed in a comprehensive manner. McDavis needs to address the
uncertain future of his master plan instead of talking about task forces and
implementation plans.
He must forgo talking about future plans or revisiting past accomplishments.
Rather, he should tell them and us what you’re doing now, at this moment, to
restore Ohio University’s respect among prospective students, current students
and the alumni community. Many past graduates have felt betrayed by decisions
like the athletic cuts, and so far McDavis has not done much to quell their
concerns.
Board members must hold the administration accountable for the retention
problems and budget mismanagement. In the same manner, the board must be held
accountable for its complacency. They see the same financial documents that
Cutler Hall administrators use in allocating funds, and anyone could have seen
the projected retention rate would fall short and create problems.
Do not let this be another session of automatic “yays” and “nays.”
The president, the provost and the board members have a responsibility to the
students, to the alumni and to the faculty. Address their concerns, discuss the
problems and for once, do something.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of
The Post executive editors.
$11 million shortfall possible; enrollment down
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Jim Phillips
FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
|
Ohio University President Roderick
McDavis says he would like to ask for a 6 percent tuition
increase in ’08.
|
|
ATHENS, Ohio — Falling student retention rates, rising costs and uncertain
prospects for state funding add up to a projected $11 million deficit at Ohio
University next year, officials said yesterday.
The loss of students already enrolled and a drop in transfer students have
helped create a $4.3 million revenue shortfall for this year, Bill Decatur,
OU’s vice president for finance and administration, said at a news
conference.
While the university can cover this year’s deficit from
better-than-expected investment income, reserves and other sources, school
officials expect the red ink to total between $6 million and $11 million in
the 2008 budget.
"That gap remains part of our base budget challenge," Decatur
said.
OU President Roderick McDavis said he would "very much like" to
ask the trustees to approve a 6 percent tuition increase for 2008, but it’s
not clear whether state lawmakers will go along.
In the meantime, McDavis called on faculty, students and administrators to
work together on the budget problems.
Decatur said planners will run at least three different financial
scenarios, assuming the legislature allows public universities to raise
tuition by 6 percent, 3 percent and zero percent. The forecasts also assume
that enrollment and state support will stay roughly flat, while utilities and
health-insurance costs continue to rise at 10 percent or more a year.
Despite the gloomy budget predictions, Provost Kathy Krendl promised that
the university would adhere to earlier commitments, such as increasing faculty
pay to make OU more competitive with similar institutions. She said she had
just submitted a report to McDavis with a plan to raise teachers’ salaries
by an average of 15 percentage points, compared with the raises of their
peers, within five years.
"We have lost ground in terms of faculty salaries, and it’s time for
us to do something about it," she said.
Some of the money to raise salaries already has been reallocated from the
current budget as part of the university’s "Vision Ohio" campaign.
Other priorities are improving undergraduate education and graduate education
and research.
Krendl also said she thinks university officials ought to try to determine
why so many students are leaving the university.
McDavis noted that although freshman applications are up — as they are at
other state universities — falling retention rates cut into tuition
revenues. The school missed its retention and transfer goals by about 400
students, a spokeswoman said.
A 15-member budget planning council that was created at the start of the
academic year is looking at ways to get the budget back in the black. The
council is made up of administrators, faculty, students and the heads of all
five campus senates.
The council will present its recommendations to the president by late
spring so that he can bring a budget proposal to the board of trustees in
June. jamesbphillips@hotmail.com
From "The Post Online" September 3, 2004
[Bold type emphasis in text inserted by
SaveOUSports.Org]
Under-funded and overpaying
The Post Editorial Board
Ohio University is certainly justified in paying top dollar for qualified
faculty and administrators, and if market trends stipulate it, unconventional
perks may be necessary. But, instead of reacting to the market, OU's decision to
give incoming First Lady Deborah McDavis a $25,000 salary is instead a
trend-setter and is far too generous ---in other words, completely unnecessary.
That is not to say that McDavis is not without a great deal of educational
expertise and could prove to be an asset to the university. She can boast of a
34-year English teaching career at both the high school and college level. She
even said she considered continuing to teach, a job that, if taken at OU, would
have made her more than deserving of a competitive salary. As it is, her
experience should allow her to perform the duties of first lady ---traveling,
hosting, participating in community relations and acting as a public advocate
for the university ---well.
However, there is little precedent to pay McDavis for the duties of first lady. No
school in the Mid-American Conference pays their first lady except for Miami,
and that is just $1 a year in order to qualify her for liability insurance,
according to the Associated Press. Paula Whetsel-Ribeau, wife of Bowling
Green President Sidney Ribeau, would also fall into this category, but she holds
an administrative position at that university and is paid for that job, not for
her place as first lady.
One cannot really blame the McDavises for accepting the university's all-too
generous offer, although former First Lady Glidden said she
turned down a salary from OU. However, when first-year President Roderick
McDavis already is making roughly the same annual salary as his predecessor did
in his 10th year, ($275,000 to Robert Glidden's $276,420), to pay an additional
$25,000 to the two-person McDavis package seems excessive.
In recent months, OU has not once but twice paid for things that they had always
gotten for free. First it decided to pay David McCullough $30,000 for his
appearance at commencement, and now it will pay $25,000 a year to the first
lady, a sum that even she said she was surprised to get.
These expenses would be very hard sells in booming financial times, but with OU
raising tuition to or near the maximum allowed every year and coming up with
things such as technology fees to extract more and more from students, these
decisions reflect very poorly on the fiscal sense of Ohio University and must be
seriously questioned.
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DROPPED
TEAMS
2006
Women's Lacrosse Team
Swimming
and Diving
and
Track
and Field
|
