ATHENS Ohio
Trustees at Ohio University have reappointed the school’s embattled president to the post for one more year.
Roderick McDavis has been dogged by budget problems, the elimination of sports teams, a plagiarism scandal and computer-security breaches. In May, some faculty members and students said they no longer supported him.
The school’s trustees gave McDavis a positive performance evaluation in re-electing him on Friday.
“We believe that we remain on the right path for moving this university forward, and are grateful of his work,” said trustee Daniel DeLawder.
The trustees based their evaluation on progress made on seven goals, including improving communication with faculty, strengthening financial control and improving academic integrity, a university statement said.
The board would have offered McDavis a raise if he hadn’t already pledged to forego pay increases for fiscal 2008, DeLawder said.
Ohio University discovered breaches in four computer systems last year, exposing about 367,000 files containing Social Security numbers, names, medical records and home addresses. There have been no proven cases of identity theft or fraud linked to the data thefts, university officials have said.
The university also is probing plagiarism allegations. In March, officials revoked the master’s degree of a former mechanical engineering student accused of using others’ work in a thesis. The investigation began after a mechanical engineering student reported that he found what he suspected was copying while reading other students’ papers.
Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, https://www.dispatch.com/
–Associated Press
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