$385,000 salary is proposed for Jacobs

4/27/2006
BY JOSHUA BOAK
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Jacobs
Jacobs

Dr. Lloyd Jacobs would receive a $385,000 annual salary plus bonuses as president of the merged University of Toledo and Medical University of Ohio pending the approval of a recommendation made yesterday by a joint committee of the schools' trustees.

"In terms of the compensation, it's only a 10 percent increase over Dr. Jacobs' current salary for significantly greater responsibilities," said Susan Gilmore, the MUO trustee who was chairman of the committee.

As Dr. Jacobs transitions from being president of MUO, he said the 10 percent raise was a benchmark for other administrators who will be taking on a heavier workload at the combined institution.

A merged UT will have about 23,000 students and a $650 million budget, making it the third-largest university in the state.

The full UT and MUO trustee boards must approve the eight-page contract, which would commence with the official merger on July 1 and run through 2011.

According to the contract, Dr. Jacobs would agree to live in the Levis House, the official residence of UT's president. A key location for school receptions and fund-raising events, the seven-bedroom brick home - valued at $557,400 according to the Lucas County auditor - sits on a wooded lot in Ottawa Hills.

"The board and others suggested it," Dr. Jacobs said. "That's where the president has lived, I'm told, for a long time. It has formal and symbolic value."

Dr. Jacobs currently lives on a 66-acre farm in Britton, Mich.

The proposed contract contains an incentive from Dr. Jacobs' present MUO contract: a $150,000 bonus if he serves as president through 2008. Dr. Jacobs would receive a second $150,000 bonus if he remains in office through 2011.

The board could grant him additional performance-based incentives if he meets preset institutional objectives. Board members would review his salary on an annual basis and could increase it as UT's finances allow.

UT also would provide Dr. Jacobs with a Buick Lucerne or an equivalent American car every two years. The Buick Lucerne retails for between $26,000 and $35,000.

The school would cover gasoline, maintenance, and other reasonable costs associated with the sedan.

In order to "further the interests of the university," Dr. Jacobs would join the Toledo Club and Toledo Country Club. UT would pay his membership fees.

He is entitled to 25 days of paid vacation.

Dr. Jacobs currently receives $362,120 a year in salary as MUO's president.

Departing UT President Dan Johnson, who will become the head of a technology corridor project and a professor of urban affairs post-merger, currently is paid $254,616 annually.

By comparison, Sidney Ribeau, president of Bowling Green State University, will be paid $295,752 this year. In addition, he receives a car and house courtesy of BGSU.

In addition to a university-provided home and automobile, Ohio State University President Karen Holbrook is paid a salary and performance and retention bonuses that total $562,031 annually, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Contact Joshua Boak at:

jboak@theblade.com

or 419-724-6728.