Central State Rewards President With New Contract - Central State University, John Garland - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, March 15, 2001 by Mark Fisher

WILBERFORCE, OHIO

Central State University's trustees have rewarded university President John Garland's rebuilding efforts with a three-year extension of his contract, a raise to $170,000 a year and a financial incentive to remain at CSU.

Garland's contract, which had been scheduled to expire in August 2002, now extends through Aug. 31, 2005. If he stays through the end of his new contract, Garland will receive a lump-sum payment of $60,000.

"Stability is critical to the administration of Central State. It was lacking for some time," says Vicki Pegg, Montgomery County commissioner and a member of CSU's board of trustees. Garland, she adds, "brought financial stability to the university, which was the No. 1 priority when he came. He is slowly and surely rebuilding enrollment, and he's rebuilding confidence that the university will in fact achieve its mission and educate its young people."

Garland, a CSU graduate who went on to earn his law degree from Ohio State University, was appointed president of his alma mater in 1997, signing a five-year contract that paid him a base salary of $142,000 a year. At the time, the university was straggling to emerge from a financial and political crisis. Some state legislators had discussed closing or merging the school; state building inspectors had condemned several residence halls, and the school was behind in payments to state retirement systems and other debtors. In addition, the U.S. Department of Education had sanctioned the school for its handling of student financial aid money and enrollment was sagging.

Today, the talk of closing is gone; the university has balanced its budget and earned clean audits. Buildings have been repaired and the education department has lifted its sanctions. Enrollment this winter reached 1,116 -- an increase of 60 students, or almost 6 percent, from last winter. New residence halls, perhaps built through a public-private partnership, are in the works, and the university is looking into restoring its football program.

Garland's new contract calls for a raise to $162,000 retroactive to Sept. 1, 1999, and a $170,000 salary retroactive to Sept. 1, 2000.

--Mark Fisher covers higher education for the DAYTON DAILY NEWS.