OSU trustees OK raise, bonus for Johnson
2022 budget plan calls for about a 9.6% increase
$263,500 bonus, $27,000 raise for President Johnson
In its final meeting before students return to campus Tuesday, Ohio State University’s Board of Trustees approved a pay increase and bonus for President Kristina M. Johnson, the 2022 fiscal year’s operating budget and a new set of goals for this fiscal year.
Committee meetings, which were held mostly in-person at the university, took place throughout the week, culminating with a full board meeting late Thursday afternoon.
Here’s a look at some of the board’s actions:
The board awarded Johnson a raise and a bonus after her first full year at the university’s helm. The Talent, Compensation & Governance Committee approved giving Johnson a $27,000 raise, which is 3% of her base salary, as well as a $263,500 bonus.
Committee chair Hiroyuki Fujita said during a Wednesday meeting that Johnson would receive the raise and bonus based on her annual performance review. Johnson met all of the board’s goals for her in her first year as president, he said.
Johnson currently earns $900,000 a year, according to her contract. In addi
tion to her base pay, she also receives $200,000 a year in her university retirement account, $50,000 annually to support her research and education, and an $85,000 annual allowance for other expenses such as a car and tax services.
Fujita and board chairman Gary R. Heminger said in a letter to Johnson that she exhibited strong leadership during her first year as president and made a great impact on the university.
“It goes without saying that your first year as president of Ohio State has occurred during an unprecedented time,” they wrote. “We applaud your leadership in establishing a strategic vision for the university that enabled you to successfully navigate a variety of challenges unlike anything our community has ever experienced.”
New operating budget for fiscal year 2022
Board members also approved a fiscal year 2022 budget plan that calls for nearly $8.4 billion in revenue, about a 9.6% increase from last year’s revenue. The 2022 plan also estimates nearly $7.9 billion in expenses, a 9.3% increase over last fiscal year’s expenses.
The projected revenue and spending represent the figures for both the university and the Wexner Medical Center.
The university’s revenue alone in fiscal year 2022 is expected to be about $4.1 billion, a 13.4% increase from last year, and spending will be $3.96 billion, an 11.4% increase over last year.
In August 2020, the university cut its operating budget by $252.2 million as part of its financial plan, citing revenue losses from tuition, student housing, athletics and more due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Michael Papadakis, senior vice president of business and finance and chief financial officer, said in a board finance committee meeting Thursday that fiscal year 2021 outperformed the previous year. Federal and state stimulus funding helped Ohio State remain financially strong during the pandemic, he said, and returns on investments were greater than anticipated.
Kristine Devine, vice president of operations and deputy chief financial officer, said there will likely be some more financial impacts of COVID-19 this fiscal year, but hopefully nothing like what the university saw last year.
The new budget has funding for several specific university goals, including:
h $8.2 million in incremental investments for faculty salary and benefits and startup packages to increase net new tenure-track faculty by 350 in the next decade
h $35 million in research funding, including $23 million in research growth initiatives in medicine and engineering, $1.5 million in startup funds to expand research, $2.5 million in research seed grants and up to $8.3 million to fund convergent research proposals
h $4.5 million in development funding for new student scholarships, $4 million for the final year of expansion of Land Grant Opportunity Scholarships and more than $57 million in available student emergency funding from federal stimulus dollars
Professor fired for sexual misconduct
A social work professor was officially terminated by the board for violating the university’s sexual misconduct policy.
René Olate, an associate professor in the College of Social Work, had been with the university since 2011. His work focused on the intersections of youth violence and masculinities, high-risk youth and Latino gangs.
In 2020, three students in the college filed complaints against Olate at different times, resulting in two separate investigations by the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE).
Two reports from the office determined that Olate engaged in “unwelcome gender-based verbal and physical conduct that was so sufficiently severe, persistent and pervasive it created a hostile educational environment with respect to two students” and “conduct that constituted quid pro quo harassment with respect to a third student,” according to a letter to the board of trustees from Ohio State’s president.
Specifically, OIE found that Olate commented on students’ physical appearances, described graphic details of sexual assault in a class lecture, commented on a student’s sexuality, touched the shoulders and backs of female students, hugged and kissed one female student, and requested to have an intimate relationship with a student, who declined his advances.
“The totality of Professor Olate’s conduct unquestionably demonstrates a complete disregard for university policies and directives surrounding appropriate behavior of faculty,” Johnson wrote. “Our students put their trust in our faculty and he flagrantly, egregiously, and willfully exploited that trust for his own selfish ends.”
Five separate reviews took place of Olate’s case, and each review unanimously agreed with his termination. shendrix@dispatch.com @sheridan120