Ohio University’s trustees voted unanimously to negotiate a new five-year contract with President Roderick McDavis at their meeting Friday.
The Board of Trustees will negotiate a five-year contract with McDavis that will begin July 1 and end June 30, 2013. His current contract was to end on June 30, 2009, resulting in a four-year extension.
The board will also begin a comprehensive evaluation of the president immediately, said C. Daniel DeLawder, chairman of the Board of Trustees.
McDavis, who became president in 2004, makes $294,665 yearly and was given a $41,250 bonus in 2005. The trustees have not decided whether McDavis will receive a raise, said Sally Linder, senior director of Media Relations, who added she does not know when that decision will be made.
According to the presidential evaluation policy adopted by the board at its February meeting, comprehensive evaluations require constituent input and are to take place the year before the last year of a president’s contract. The evaluation is supposed to begin at the board’s first meeting of that fiscal year — its September meeting.
Because that policy was not approved until February, it was impossible for trustees to begin a comprehensive review by September, though next year is the last in McDavis’s current contract.
Student Trustee Tracy Kelly, a strong proponent of constituent input, asked why the board did not discuss the comprehensive evaluation sooner, if trustees knew they could not comply with the evaluation policy.
DeLawder said the infrequency of the group’s meetings made previous discussion impractical.
Trustee Sandra J. Anderson said though she wanted to extend the president’s contract for only one more year and to conduct a comprehensive review next year, the board’s solution was the most realistic one.
“I’m concerned that we don’t need to add uncertainty and instability to already uncertain and unstable times (by possibly needing to find a new president),” she said.
Trustee Gene T. Harris said she approved of the board’s decision and feels McDavis is the “right president.”
“He has withstood criticism from constituents but has listened and tried to make changes,” she said.Kelly remained worried about the precedent the board’s actions would set and the message it would send.
“I’m very concerned about signing a contract before performing a comprehensive evaluation,” she said.
Last year, 78 percent of student voters indicated that they had no confidence in McDavis’s administration during a Student Senate election in which 23 percent of students participated.
A week later, 77 percent of the 48 percent of faculty who participated in an AAUP survey disagreed with giving McDavis a vote of confidence. Faculty reported similarly in 2006, when 75 percent voiced disapproval of McDavis. About 46 percent of total OU faculty voted that year.
Lydia Gerthoffer, the senior student trustee, stressed that a comprehensive review is still going to take place and that taking the time to plan out the evaluation will enable them to do greater justice to the president, his challenges and successes.
During his time as president, McDavis has overseen the creation of a five-year strategic plan for OU, which was one of six priorities outlined by the Board of Trustees during its 2003-04 presidential search.
Other priorities include enhancing OU’s academic quality, increasing national visibility, improving diversity, establishing a partnership with the local community and improving financial stability.
Since 2004, retention of first-year students has fallen from 81 to 78 percent. The percentages of black, Hispanic, Asian American and American Indian students at OU all increased from Fall 2004 to Fall 2007, according to OU’s Office of Institutional Research.
Evidence of widespread plagiarism in graduate theses of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology was discovered in 2004. In 2006, a series of information technology security breaches gave hackers access to Social Security numbers, medical records and other information about OU donors and alumni.
In May 2007, then Provost Kathy Krendl took over many of McDavis’s duties when she became executive vice president and provost. Krendl now controls day-to-day academic operations.
Reader Comments
Four more years eh? They are saying they do not know if McDavis will receive a pay raise on the new contract? Are you serious? Please don't lie to the public. We all know McDavis will get a big fat raise and the rest of the actual workhorse of the university, for example the teaching faculty, will not be receiving raises. If the board and McDavis truly believed what they were shoveling in Vision Ohio then they would have given our faculty here at OU what they were promised and give them their much due raises. As a graduate student it sickens me to see how hard my professors work to teach and yet they receive no real compensation for their 60+ hour weeks on average. It must be great to be an administrator, coach, or other high profile personality at Ohio University because you always get what is promised and then some, and well we all know when you are at the top of the mountain shit can't land on you when it's rolling down the hill.
If the university is so concerned with saving money, why don't they just let a student run the university? It would probably be better run then letting McDavis continuing to drive us into the ground while getting a fat paycheck for it. Hell, I'd run for that position.
Mustangz5...you are an idiot. If you honestly believe a student could run this university you need to look no further than our student leaders in student senate to see the flaw in your statement. Wise up pin head! McDavis has come in with huge challenges and has dealt with them fairly well. Has he made mistakes...yes. But is he the evil, bad, stupid man that people paint him out to be...no.
CNash, now you really scare me. I knew you were drinking the Republican Kool-aid, but I never thought you'd be dumb enough to support Roddy-McD too... oh my god!
Is "pin head" the word of the day or what?
Kool-aid drinker? Give me a break, that does not even deserve a lengthy response. As for pin head, it refers to people who need to get a grasp on reality.
Now, McDavis...why is it that you want him out of office? Is it the sports cuts, because they needed to happen. Yes, he should have included people in the process but regardless if there was student input they would have been cut. Are you mad about the security brech on the website? Perhaps the administration lacked some forsight to see that this would be a problem but he has been responsible for the up in that area. Are you mad that the university is running a defecit? All state universities are running a defecit and our problems are nothing compared to the University of Cincinnati for example which is running a 100 million dollar def.
Yes, I support McDavis and I give leaders time to lead. I guess that makes me a kool-aid drinker.
Unlike you, sir, I look at the whole picture and make my judgement. I have a problem with the fact we cut 4 sports and saved $500,000 when we were in a $4 million deficit, but channelled more money to less successful sports where it was spent frivolously (leaving the lights on at Peden year-round for "recruiting purposes," putting the football team in the Ohio University Inn for home games, paying for a home game in the CBI for $60,000, etc).
I have a problem with McDavis' refusal to listen to student input, despite repeated calls for it. The administration claims they're taking student input into account when they make decisions but time and time again they show they aren't (like when the student advisory committee recommended spending increases/decreases in certain areas and the opposite action was taken in almost every instance).
The security breech of the CIR site was insignificant, Mr. Hendricks blew that to be a little larger than necessary, but having 500,000 SSN's stolen last year was a very serious matter.
Having the name of my university tarnished by the actions, or most often inactions, of my administrators is infuriating and embarrassing. That is why I have a problem with McDavis and if you ask for no accountability from the person responsible for the actions of all those he oversees then you're the "pin head."
Of course the fact that you support the idiot we have in national office is evidence enough of that.
the peden upgrades were paid for pay playing more away games against quality teams such as va-tech...get it right. if the university did not cut the sports teams they would have had to add sports teams to be within the law...equal scholarships for men and women. yes, the whole picture indeed.
yes, the ssn's was a big deal and he has been dealt with. should there have been more foresight, yes.
accountability? yes mcdavis should be held accountable by the individuals that put him in office, the board of trustees and they like him and thinks he has done a good job...good enough to extend his contract. these are not the "kool-aid drinkers" you call me. these are people who are leaders of industry, politics, and education. if they believe in him, so do i.
why did you feel the need to bring in president bush? you have no idea what i think of the man, if i support him or not and if so in what areas.
What are you talking about upgrades? I made no mention of any upgrades... I cited policies of the athletic department in practices, please reread, sir.
As for Title 9, Ohio University was well within the limitations of Title 9 at the time of the cuts (54% male athletes 46% female) when compared to other universities like Ohio State which frequently hovers near the 60-40 mark and has never suffered sanction. The problem with Title 9 stemmed from too many female athletes after the removal of men's track and field and swimming and diving resulting in the removal of LAX. As for scholarships, there were over 60 awarded to football while less than 15 were awarded to the 4 sports removed. Football has been to two bowl games in it's history and lost twice, track produced a silver medalist in the Olympics.
And given your undying support of the FOX News Network, it is obvious you support the conservative cause and if you blindly support this ineffective president, I wouldn't be surprised that you support another one.
CNash--
What's with that incessant "wise up pinhead!" line? Are you actually _trying_ to sound uninformed?
thexfactor19_ou,
If you don't believe that football does more for the university that track and field or lacrosse you must be drinking some "kool-aid"! McDavis ran track at OU and loved the track team, he didn't want to cut it but put his job to this university first in his decision. All the athletes got to keep their scholarships and if they wanted to continue playing their sport OU helped them find a new school where they could play! Sounds like a pretty good way of handling it to me! As for football being more important, there has been numerous studies showing that a good football team increases the number and quality of applications received, so developing the football team is a selling point for the university!
The only thing I question about the security breach is could anyone have stopped it? Would a different president done better? No one could have predicted the vulnerability in the system, and I thought McDavis did a good job of reacting. Thats just my opinion though.
Finally, it is disrespectful and uncalled for to personally attack each other in the way you do. Lets have a productive forum! I am conservative overall but espouse many moderate views. I watch CNN and Fox News and do not support the current administration, but lambasting anyones practices or beliefs is neither here nor there. You have no idea what CNash's beliefs are on the current administration and no matter what they are they have nothing to do with the current topic!
Here's the problem with your argument: our football team has never been "good."
And I have no problem with the majority of our sports budget going to the major sports, it's the practices that make no sense. Why does the football team need to be put up in a hotel for home games? So they won't themselves in trouble the night before the game? They're adults, that's their mistake to make. Why do the lights need to be left on at the stadium year round? The administration claims it's for recruiting purposes, so those driving by will see how good it looks. Who drives by OU in the middle of the night that doesn't go here? We're in the middle of nowhere!
I fully support the team and the athletes, but their performance throughout history when compared to that of the sports that were cut pales. Not only that, but the consultant brought in to advise the administration on the moves uses the cut track method as his M.O. because you can count indoor and outdoor track as two separate sports despite it being the same athletes.
You didn't sit with those athletes after they were cut. You didn't see the tears in their eyes, the uncertainty for those junior athletes who found themselves unable to compete for a senior year because of transfer rules. What OU did to them was horrible and the administration took the easy way out. Instead of renegotiating large contracts and appropriating funds a better way, they ruined the lives of 112 athletes.
If the cuts were because of Title 9, why was the women's Lacrosse team cut. Something doesn't add up. OU was well within the Title 9 confines relative to other universities around the country. This was an excuse.
We somehow have the money to build and operate new, but unnecessary, buildings, but we don't have 500k to support mens track, swimming, and women's lacrosse.
What is funny is that woman's lacrosse was specifically created for title 9 purposes. I remember when the team was created and they were giving out scholarships to anyone who could pronounce "lacrosse" properly. What a joke and an affront to other male sports which were languishing with sometimes less than a quarter of the scholarships available to their opposing womens team (ex: men's and women's golf, men's and women's swimming, etc). It was and is disgusting.
If the trustees want to remain relevant, they should listen to the students and faculty and find a replacement for McD. The trustees act as if it is such a timesuck to find a news president. I would argue that they just don't want to meet regularly and put in the effort to find a replacement. What a joke!?
The women's LAX team was cut because of Title 9 in a reverse of what the rule was originally meant to do. When they cut the mens sports they then had too many female athletes. Title 9 was just used as the justification for the whole ordeal. When The Post did the original article, we asked the same questions and after doing the math that seemed to be where they got Title 9 from.
I understand it was a horrible ordeal for the athletes, and I am deeply sorry they had to go through that. But I've been through ordeals that I would argue are far worse, and I'm still here. OU has a budget they need to balance and the fact of the matter is that none of us are thoroughly qualified to say whether it was the right decision, but it was the decision that was made.
I have met Dr. McDavis numerous times and he is an upstanding guy who loves his alma mater, I am convinced that if there were any alternative he would have chosen it.
I too have met Mr. McDavis too. I think he's a great guy, just an ineffective leader. And facts are facts. The money saved from track is nothing compared to money that could be saved by rethinking the practices of the department.
Correction: I have met Mr. McDavis too
I've got to stop carrying on conversations when posting
Since I like it that we actually agreed on some stuff today, I'll just agree to disagree with you on this one. You make good points, but I'm sticking to the belief that no one else would have done better handling the situation. I know I couldn't.
Agreed
If only the great minds that roamed these message boards could form a coalition. We'd probably wind up running things around here better than most in charge
FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS!
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