BGSU gives Ribeau raise of 3%, eyes industrial park

12/2/2006

BOWLING GREEN - The Board of Trustees of Bowling Green State University yesterday awarded President Sidney Ribeau a 3 percent raise and voted to try to acquire an industrial park for investment purposes.

After a closed-session evaluation of Mr. Ribeau, the board unanimously approved a 3 percent raise for the 2007 calendar year, boosting his salary to $304,744.

Mr. Ribeau plans to donate his entire raise to the university's $120 million capital campaign.

The trustees assessed Mr. Ribeau on a variety of criteria, including enrollment, student retention, campus diversity, and student test scores, Mr. Wilcox said.

"Universities are complex organizations with several moving parts, but if you're moving with a common mission you can tackle many problems," Mr. Ribeau told the board after being informed of his "outstanding" evaluation.

The board voted without objection to enter into negotiations to buy a nearby industrial park for up to $2.6 million.

"The sellers approached us," board chairman Mike Wilcox said. "We've been looking at it for some months."

Using internal funds from its endowment, the university would diversify its real estate holdings with the Bowling Green Industrial Park at 436 North Enterprise St.

It is owned by a partnership named after the facility, which contains 118,000 square feet of light manufacturing and warehousing.

The property has two tenants who pay a combined $18,000 a month, according to the university, which projects an annual return of 8.85 percent on the investment.

The board voted 9-0 to make the university's program in higher education and student affairs its own academic department, separating it from the School of Leadership and Policy Studies.

The program has eight full-time faculty members and 130 graduate students who are pursuing master's degrees in college student personnel or doctorates in higher education administration.

Michael Coomes, an associate professor and chairman of the program, said the change would "reduce, to some extent, the levels of administration between us and the decision-makers."

The trustees also set special fees for the more than 300 BGSU students who will participate in the university's 14 study-abroad programs.

Depending on the program, the fees cover housing, food, and in-country expenses.

The fees range from $675 for a summer in the African nation of Burkina Faso to $8,560 for an academic year in Paris.

Travel expenses from the United States are not included in the fees, but the university does offer grants to students to cover these costs.

Contact Joshua Boak at:

jboak@theblade.com

or 419-724-6728.