“It’s easy to zone out, head to class, get your homework done and never pay attention to what’s going on on campus, especially with the administration. But this university wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for us students. The buildings, the faculty, the new stadium, they wouldn’t exist.”
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It’s easy to zone out, head to class, get your homework done and never pay attention to what’s going on on campus, especially with the administration.

But this university wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for us students. The buildings, the faculty, the new stadium, they wouldn’t exist.

And there are some things that students at the University of Akron should be concerned about, especially in the midst of this horrid economy we’ve all heard about.

When the administration makes some eyebrow-raising decisions, we should pay attention. As a student body, we’ve got a lot more weight on campus than we think we do. After all, the university exists for us.

Last year, the administration created a new position: associate vice president of strategy and finance.

They hired Scott Borgemenke to fill this position, and his job description included developing innovative solutions to challenging problems in budget and finance. His salary was set at $142,000.

That seems like a lot, especially when you can get a few business or accounting majors together with a couple of graduate students to brainstorm and call it an internship. After all, Borgemenke himself only has a bachelor’s degree.

Until recently, Borgemenke was reporting to John Case. Case, as you may have heard, was placed on 10-month paid administrative leave after his recent DUI.

We should be concerned about that, not just as students but also as taxpayers.

The University of Akron is a public university and is supported by our tax dollars. We’re sure Case’s life isn’t perfect right now, but 10 months off with full salary sounds a little bit irresponsible.

But that’s old news. What we should be concerned with now is how university President Luis Proenza is filling Case’s position: promoting Borgemenke.

Last week, Borgemenke told the Akron Beacon Journal that he and Proenza had not discussed an adjustment to his salary.

So right now, it’s still at $142,000. But we’re still paying Case’s salary, which means we’re paying two people almost $384,625 to perform one job over the next 10 months.

This is a large university, and we have a lot of talented people on campus. Borgemenke himself isn’t one of them. Living in Columbus, he commutes a few days a week, stays a few nights in Akron, and works from home on Fridays.

That aside, it’s incredible that we don’t demand the administration use its imagination and find a solution that doesn’t involve paying two people for one job. And what happens with Borgemenke’s old position? We hope the administration doesn’t find some other GOP consultant to hire, because then we’re looking at a third person who would undoubtedly be making six figures. But if they don’t, was the position really necessary to begin with?

Borgemenke’s promotion must be approved by the university’s board of trustees tomorrow.

The meeting is at 10 a.m. in the Student Union third floor board room. The meeting is open to the public, so if you’re concerned about what will be discussed, feel free to attend.

Let’s hope the board feels the same way that we do about this: it’s an administrative move with little imagination and no apparent concern for taxpayers or the university’s wallet.

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