THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 29, 1996 TAG: 9606290218
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 52 lines
Old Dominion University's president will get a 7.5 percent raise this summer, increasing his salary to $158,494 a year. That comes out to more than $3,000 a week.
The raise, approved by ODU's Board of Visitors last week, won't be much higher, percentage-wise, than what ODU faculty will get for the 1996-97 school year, said the president, James V. Koch.
Raises for ODU professors will average 7 percent, Koch said Friday. The General Assembly earlier this year approved a 5 percent average raise for professors across the state.
With merit differentials, some ODU professors will end up with a bigger raise than Koch's, said William A. Drewry, chairman of the Faculty Senate.
In 1994-95, Koch received an 11.9 percent raise, and student leaders asked him to return most of it to the university. He declined.
Jeff Rowley, the student president, could not be reached Friday. But faculty and board leaders said they supported Koch's new raise and praised his leadership.
``The percentage number is not out of line,'' said Drewry, who is also chairman of the civil engineering department. ``Evidently, the board thinks he's doing a good job, and so do I.''
Drewry cited Koch's report to the board last week on faculty teaching loads, which Koch said averaged 3 1/3 classes per semester at the university. ``He vigorously supported the faculty on their workload,'' Drewry said. ``The faculty could not have asked for, or gotten, more support from President Koch.''
Anne B. Shumadine, rector of the board, said, ``His major accomplishment is what he's done with this university: Old Dominion now is a major player in this area, culturally and academically. He has a vision for the university, and he's capable of helping us achieve that vision.''
She added, ``We think he's done a really superb job, and he has not been compensated to the level that we think he should have been.''
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported last week that the average salary for presidents of public research universities in 1994-95 was $162,100, slightly more than Koch will be getting.
The increase will boost his annual salary from $147,364 to $158,494, ODU spokeswoman Beth Cooper said. Of that amount, $112,244 will come from the state and $46,250 from other sources, such as ODU's foundation, Cooper said.
Koch declined to say much about the raise Friday. But he said about $6,600 of it will get wiped away next year because of a Virginia accounting change that will eliminate one paycheck in 1997 for many state employees. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Old Dominion University President James V. Koch will earn more than
$3,000 a week. by CNB