He was surprised that, at a time when the economy is in turmoil, the university has hired a Columbus lawmaker to join the president's cabinet, making $320,000 a year.
Rep. Joyce Beatty, who has degrees from Central State University and Wright State University, declined comment on her move to OSU.
The salary level caught the attention of Sen. Tim Grendell of the Cleveland area.
"I was outraged. She is getting more than the governor of the state of Ohio. She is getting a salary that defies logic," Grendell said.
Grendell was equally astounded by the salaries of other top administrators at Ohio State University.
OSU president Gordan Gee has 14 people in his cabinet, making a total of $5.7 million.
Grendell plans to insert an amendment in the state budget next year to reduce state funding to OSU by the amount the school is overpaying administrators.
The salary flap also caught the attention of David Hansen, President of the Buckeye Institute, an anti-tax public policy group based in Columbus.
"We have to take a look here in Ohio and see if we need to be giving this much money to political appointees like this one," Hansen said.
Hansen fears high salaries for administrators at OSU will fuel inflated salaries at other institutions.
A review of top salaries at Miami Valley public institutions showed few people in administrative positions, outside of medical schools and athletic departments, making as much as Beatty.
Here are the top five employees at each of the Miami Valley universities.
Wright State University:
David Hopkins President $380,880 Mary McCarthy Surgery $360,921 Margaret Dunn Faculty Affairs $343,041 Bradley Brownell Intercollegiate Athletics $333,896 Glenn Hamilton Emergency Medicine $332,056
Miami University:
David Hodge President $332,499 Roger Jenkins Dean, School of Business $311,999 Jeffrey Herbst Provost $276,456 Marek Dollar Dean, School of Engineering $229,660 David Creamer VP Business Services $225,997
Central State University
John Garland President $219,948 Terrance Glass VP, Academic Affairs $135,000 Colette Burnett VP, Administration $132,701 Anthony Fairbanks VP, Institutional Advancement $122,607 Andrew Hughey General Counsel $121,613
Sinclair Community College
Steven L. Johnson President $225,000 Helen Grove SR VP/ Provost $152,781 Robert Johnson SR VP $152,781 Ken Moore SR VP $152,781 Deb Norris VP Workforce Dev. $132,269
jim.otte@whiotv.com