University of Toledo board members will put off searching for UT’s next president and have the university keep its interim leader until at least the end of 2022.
The board unanimously voted Monday to extend Dr. Gregory Postel’s contract as interim president until the end of 2022. He took over as interim UT president July 6, with an annual salary of $500,000, after former UT president Sharon Gaber left before the end of her contract to take a job as chancellor at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte.
All other aspects of his contract remain the same. The board has the option to give him an incentive bonus not to exceed 20 percent of his compensation and can extend his contract up to six months if its search for a permanent UT president takes longer than expected.
Initially, the board intended to begin its search for a permanent replacement this fall.
But board chairman Alfred Baker said Monday that is no longer the case. A resolution extending Dr. Postel’s contract states the university would benefit if he stayed on as its leader, and board members praised his work these past two months working with staff and community leaders to address challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic, including reopening the university to students and working to finalize a budget.
“The trustees are thrilled that Dr. Postel has agreed to continue to serve and our community is supporting his effort as we move forward,” Mr. Baker said after the vote.
Dr. Postel has already indicated he has no intention of shedding his interim title to become the university’s next leader. While he’s been working in Toledo, his wife and small children are still in Kentucky.
However, he said they have been very supportive of him staying on into the next academic year and thanked the board members for their confidence in him.
The move followed a vote by the board to revise its three-month temporary budget, approved in June, and extend it another three months to December.
The board typically approves its budget for the next fiscal year at the end of June, but opted at that time to approve a roughly $171.8 million temporary budget through September, with plans at that time to approve a final budget this month.
But uncertainties remain about the extent of budget shortfalls because of the coronavirus pandemic and board members agreed on a revised temporary budget of $348.9 million for July through December.
The University of Toledo Medical Center’s share of the budget is $119.2 million, and board members noted the former medical college rebounded better than expected between July and August, showing a net operating income of more than $4.5 million instead of a roughly $2.4 million net operating loss. Stimulus money is playing an important role, with the former Medical College of Ohio Hospital receiving $7.55 million in federal stimulus and an additional $5.2 million state stimulus expected.
However, Dr. Postel warned that stimulus money and a positive rebound aside, UT officials needed to continue working on sustainability plans for not only UTMC, but the university as a whole.
The current budget is made possible in part by hiring freezes and pay cuts, and Dr. Postel reminded the board that the stimulus funding is only a temporary measure.
“What we have to be careful about doing, is we have to apply the one-time money available to us to make sure we are able to help redesign numerous aspects of the way we do business with an eye on sustainability,” Dr. Postel said.
Officials plan to present a finalized budget to the board during its Dec. 21 meeting.
First Published September 21, 2020, 10:08 p.m.
