THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 4, 1995 TAG: 9503040399
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
Old Dominion University's Student Senate is asking President James V. Koch to return the lion's share of an 11.9 percent pay raise he received this school year.
His annual salary rose about $16,000 - from $134,819 to $150,862.
Koch did not return calls Friday. But ODU spokesman John R. Broderick said: ``He's not planning to give anything back. His salary is set by the board.'' Broderick added: ``He (already) gives a considerable amount to the university in terms of contributions.''
The General Assembly, with Gov. George F. Allen's approval, last year permitted university boards to increase presidents' salaries by up to 6.9 percent and to add a 5 percent bonus.
The university presidents, state officials said, ought to be rewarded for steering their schools through difficult years of streamlining and budget cuts, sometimes encountering stiff opposition from faculty and students.
But the ODU student government says Koch's raise is excessive when students have had to pay big tuition increases and professorsare getting much smaller increases. Because the state's faculty members received an average raise of 3.5 percent this year, the senate asked Koch to return the 8.4 percent difference - or about $11,300.
``It should be in proportion to what faculty is receiving,'' Angela East, the student body president, said Friday. ``Because higher education has been slashed so much, the money could be used for resources to enhance academics at ODU,'' such as computers.
She stressed that the students were not criticizing Koch's performance. ``We feel he is very dedicated and doing an excellent job,'' she said. ``I have all the respect in the world for him.''
Arthur A. Diamonstein, the rector of ODU's Board of Visitors, which approved the 11.9 percent increase last year, said he had no regrets.
``In private industry,'' he said, ``if you had a business with an income of $215 million and a $90 million payroll, I think you'd look at it a little differently. I'd like you to find somebody operating that business successfully for $144,000,'' he said - Koch's current salary, minus the bonus.
Diamonstein praised Koch for helping stave off budget cuts during the recent General Assembly session. He also credited Koch with getting ODU one of the biggest enrollment increases among state schools this school year and one of the largest increases in admissions applications for next school year.
``This man is an absolute whiz,'' Diamonstein said. ``We're damned lucky to have him.''
Justin Harrison, a sophomore who spearheaded the petition drive, responded: ``Education is not a business, and work in education should revolve around dedication to it and should not revolve solely on profit.''
Harrison also noted that Koch will be on a sabbatical in Australia during the fall semester. ``The timing (of the raise) is bad, and it looks bad,'' he said. Koch has said he is using unused sick leave and vacation time for the sabbatical.
East said that, under university guidelines, Koch has 30 days to respond to the senate's resolution but that he has not done so yet. About 500 students have signed a petition asking Koch to give back the money, East said.
The petition reads, in part: ``The Student Senate feels that it is wrong to reward university presidents for cutting the corners of our education. Please understand, we feel that President Koch has done an outstanding job as our president. However, we cannot support the state government for rewarding him.''
J. Paul Councill Jr. (D-Franklin), chairman of the House Education Committee, said Friday that the raises for presidents were justified.
``I don't feel they're overpaid,'' Councill said. ``They operate a very complex education business, and I think they should be compensated adequately. I think we should be paying them commensurate with what they could be getting elsewhere.''
Word of the raises irked professors and students on some campuses last semester. But few student governments have pressed the issue, and no president is known to have returned part or all of his raise.
Most presidents in Virginia received the full increases. However, at the College of William and Mary, President Timothy J. Sullivan received a 6.2 percent raise, going from $153,027 to $162,495 a year. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
ODU president James V. Koch
by CNB