Timing is everything – and not just
for comedians and musicians.Timing is also critical when dealing with salary costs and job cuts. And
something just seems wrong about the timing of both at Bowling Green State University.Here is a brief
timeline.In February, BGSU administrators announced plans to cut 100 faculty positions. The reasons for the
cuts were declining enrollment, loss of state funding and high faculty-student ratios.When the dust settled
from the cuts, 73 non-tenure track faculty were let go.In June, the BGSU trustees voted to bump up tuition 2
percent. The decision kept BGSU in its ranking as third most expensive university for tuition and general
fees of Ohio’s 13 public higher education institutions. That brought the average annual cost of fees and
tuition to $10,590 – behind the University of Cincinnati at $10,784 and Miami University at $13,726.The
increase was cited as necessary due to the $3 million decrease in state funding this year.In October, the
BGSU board of trustees voted to hire an international management consultant to study where expenses could be
trimmed at the university. The objective was to keep tuition as low as possible for students.In a letter,
BGSU President Mary Ellen Mazey wrote the consultant will be asked to "evaluate the current state of
the university’s operating structure" and "identify and recommend measurable, attainable,
realistic opportunities to streamline operations both in the short term and the long term."The price
tag for the consultation was just shy of $500,000.Then last week, BGSU announced more faculty cuts – this
time another 30 non-tenure track employees.All those decisions – unfortunate though they may seem – were
moving BGSU in the direction of running a more trim and efficient institution.It appeared that BGSU was
committed to keep costs down for students … and their parents.But in the middle of those cost cutting
measures, something happened that just didn’t fit.In October, the trustees approved a 2-percent pay hike for
Mazey, boosting her salary to $390,274. The raise was consistent with a pay hike given to other university
staff.But Mazey’s pay hike seemed to go against the university’s new penny-pinching efforts when she was
given a $50,000 bonus in addition to her annual raise.At a Faculty Senate meeting on Tuesday, Mazey for the
first time defended the bonus as part of her contract when she accepted the job at BGSU.But contracts change
to meet the needs of the time – just ask BGSU faculty.To many local residents, that one-time bonus is well
over the amount they earn in their paychecks for an entire year – including many of the faculty who lost
their jobs.The timing just seemed wrong and insensitive – in the midst of faculty cuts, tuition increases
and waste identifying efforts.In fact, during the most recent round of faculty cuts BGSU Provost Rodney
Rogers said, "President Mazey has made a commitment to do what we can to manage any kind of increase in
the cost of higher education."I have an idea where the institution could have saved $50,000.