Hodge announced his decision Friday during a board of trustees meeting, saying he will step down as president of the university June 30, 2016. Once Hodge leaves the president’s post, he will spend one more year at Miami, possibly teaching, before he retires, he said.
“It’ll be 1o years,” Hodge said. “Some time ago, I set that as kind of the maximum number of years I would go. I’ll be almost 68 years old. I’ve been doing this a long time.”
Hodge has been Miami’s president since 2006. His current salary is $419,439.
A national search for Hodge’s replacement will begin this summer, according to Miami spokeswoman Claire Wagner.Miami University is Butler County’s largest employer, with nearly 3,300 full-time employees at its main Oxford campus, and Hamilton and Middletown campuses. Total university employment is more than 4,000 workers, including part-time employees, according to Miami.
Hodge has presided over a period of growth and expansion at the university, with projects including the new Armstrong Student Center and Dauch Indoor Sports Center. Other projects included the Farmer School of Business building, five new residence halls and two new dining facilities.
But his tenure also included a number of controversies, including the reconfiguration of the university’s regional campuses and the university’s spending.
The Armstrong Student Center cost $53 million, with the design alone costing $5 million. It featured $1,400 wooden cocktail tables and decorative tripod lamps costing $1,035 a piece.
Under Hodge’s leadership Miami University has also received high rankings nationally for its undergraduate and graduate programs.
“You have made an indelible, positive mark on Miami,” David Budig, the chairman of the board of trustees, told Hodge during Friday’s meeting.
Budig cited numerous statistics in support of Hodge’s tenure, including that 97.6 percent of the 2013-14 graduating class in Oxford and 88.3 percent of the graduating class at the regional campuses were either employed or continuing their education.
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