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Ohio University Launches Webpage Listing Executive Compensation
By: David Forster
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Ohio University launched a new webpage Friday that posts the compensation, including bonuses, paid to senior executives.
Until Friday, the only way for the public to get this information from the university was through a public records act request.
The university has been taking some heat over executive compensation following the revelation last month that in July a senior executive was paid a $100,000 retention bonus. The university had just laid off more than 400 employees in May and June as it grapples with a sharp decline in revenue.
The disclosure of the bonus resulted in several other media stories looking at how the bonus was awarded and the general lack of transparency in the process, including a story published Thursday by WOUB News.
The university’s Alden Library has for years made available to the public a document updated annually that lists the salaries of university employees. But this did not include bonuses and other forms of compensation that can be a significant piece of an employee’s total compensation package beyond the base salary.
The new webpage lists the base salary as well as any annual bonuses or retention bonuses for the nine members of the university president’s council who are eligible to receive bonuses under their employment contracts.
For example, the vice president for university advancement, who also serves as president and CEO of the university’s foundation, is scheduled to receive a $95,000 retention bonus in June 2022.
Another chart on the webpage shows how the base salary for the 12 members of the president’s council compares with people holding similar positions at other universities that are considered to be peer institutions for purposes of comparison.
These comparisons are represented in percentiles, with the 50th percentile being at or near the median. For example, the $295,000 base salary of the director of athletics is in the 25th percentile compared with peer institutions. And the $252,399 salary for the vice president of student affairs is in the 75th percentile.
Also listed on the webpage are the base salaries for the university’s deans and employees who serve as vice presidents or in other leadership positions. These lists also include any reductions in base salary these employees have taken in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has further strained the university’s finances.
The webpage is at https://www.ohio.edu/budget/executive-compensation.