Don't hate the player, hate the game

Ohio University Board of Trustrees has awarded President Lori Stewart Gonzalez a salary increase of 2% — or $12,000 — of her base salary of $600,000 and a one-time $90,000 bonus equal to 15% of her base pay. That’s a total payout of $102,000. The pay increase becomes active this upcoming fiscal year.

Wow – it must be nice to be one of the beautiful people, to be in the one percent, not to have to worry about making ends meet or living on a paycheck that is worth less and less. Those faculty that are poised to unionize must be thrilled with your good fortune. And the staff, whose last raise was 2 percent, must be feeling the love too.

The bonus is not a surprise since it was part of Gonzalez’s employment contract — if she met the grade, she got the full $90,000.

According to Gonzalez's employment contract, she is eligible for a performance bonus of up to 15% of her base salary in effect during the previous contract year.

In July 2024, that bonus would be up to $90,000. According to the contract, the Board of Trustees will determine the amount of the bonus, which is contingent on the university achieving mutually agreed upon, predefined goals and the “availability of funds.”

BOT evaluated Gonzalez’ performance since joining the university on July 1, 2023, and approved a resolution that during her almost year in office, Gonzalez has “enhanced the legacy of the institution through her effective outreach and visible stewardship, passion for OHIO and by strongly asserting the transformational value of public higher education on our campuses and throughout the region, state, and beyond.”

For what it’s worth, I agree that Gonzalez is doing a good job. She’s a top administrator, good for a quote and there are a lot of good things going on for the Bobcats these days.

That said, high administrative salaries like this, and much higher at OU and other places, are repulsive, particularly in these recessionary times.

And it’s not like university presidents don’t already have a lot of perks.

Let's not forget the free lodging — Gonzalez and her husband Randy bought their house for $860,000 last June, according to land records filed with the Athens County Auditor’s Office.

According to Gonzalez’s employment contract, she receives a monthly housing allowance of $5,000 ($60,000 a year) to live in Athens County.

Built in 1992, the multi-story 3,032-square-foot home overlooks a pond on 6.08 acres that is about a 10-minute drive to Cutler Hall where OU presidents have worked for decades.

The residence may be used for university-related business and entertainment. OU will pay costs for these university-related events.

In regards to travel, the university will pay or reimburse Gonzalez for expenses that are made on behalf of the university or the Ohio University Foundation. She will receive a discretionary account of $90,000 per year to be spent for a direct university or Ohio University Foundation business purposes.

Gonzalez receives a monthly car allowance of $1,000 and a designated parking space near the Office of the President and a permit that allows parking in all university lots, according to her employment contract.

Think about that when considering how faculty are unionizing because of stagnant wages. More than 70% of the faculty has endorsed the formation of a union to address demands for better pay and an equitable teaching workload.

Raises, when they do happen, do not keep pace with inflation, which is why OU lags behind many of the state’s public universities. For fiscal years 2023-24 faculty received a 2 percent raise pool. The annual rate of inflation hovers between 3 to 4 percent, higher in some indexes. Health care costs seldom remain fixed too.

Because of past hiring freezes and hiring shortfalls, faculty workloads have increased too – more work, same money, actually less if you think about it.

And then you see Gonzalez getting $600,000+ annually plus $102,000 from a $90,000 one-time bonus and a 2 percent pay increase — $12,000.

And then you read about other top administrators making bank and then some – click the link to a story about how much OU’s top administrators earn .

The President of the United States earns $400,000 annually, plus a few other perks including the White House, top notch health care too where he doesn't have to worry about paying a high deductible.

Governor Mike DeWine earns around $168,000 annually, plus perks.

Ohio State University President Ted Carter earns a base salary of $1.1 million annually, but the additional perks and benefits bring that total closer to $2 million per year.

West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee pulls in $800,000 annually, plus perks. Interestingly enough, Gee earned millions when he was OSU's president.

Based on the pay scale for college administrators and elected politicos, maybe being a university administrator is the way to go — free house, beautiful campus, scholarly life, no need for Secret Service protection, and free football tickets.

Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

Gonzalez’s bonus and pay increase comes on top of tuition and fee increases – salary increases are unrelated to annual fee hikes.

That said, it’s not a good look to be awarded a big raise when students are expected to pay 3 percent more for tuition and 4.6 percent more to live in the residence halls.

Once upon a time to be able to afford a college education, parents were able to save money and college students could work a part-time job to pay tuition bills, but that’s no longer true.

That’s because the price of doing business at universities remains relatively unchecked since these costs are underwritten by ever-increasing amounts of financial aid — loans that have created a permanent underclass of debtors.

Much like the reforms needed to tame the Pentagon’s bloated budget to pursue its misguided imperialistic ambitions, higher education needs to be changed so that we don’t continue to pay overinflated salaries and build pricey palaces on campus instead of supporting faculty and institutions that make education the primary mission.

Given that public confidence in higher education is at an all-time low, perhaps change is on the horizon as people come to realize that the price of learning has become too expensive. That’s a damn shame since only the rich will be able to afford a college education.