“University of Akron president Luis Proenza received a check for approximately $54,000 in January. It was his retention bonus. Unfortunately, Proenza has to return the check, as it was sent in error. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, the check was issued when UA’s general counsel, Ted Mallo, hit the button.”
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University of Akron president Luis Proenza received a check for approximately $54,000 in January. It was his retention bonus.
Unfortunately, Proenza has to return the check, as it was sent in error.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, the check was issued when UA’s general counsel, Ted Mallo, hit the button.
The story also mentioned that the administration was feeling a little sheepish about the error. You don’t say.
When Buchtelite editors heard this story, we commenced to checking every button on our computers. Not one issues a $54,000 check.
As the story goes, the university discovered the error when going over financial transactions in the board of trustees report. Proenza was notified, and he immediately offered to return it.
We’re not sure what the administration feels sheepish about, because, in all honesty, there are so many things to feel sheepish about.
There’s the fact that a $54,000 check can be wrongly issued and the error isn’t caught for two months.
A few years ago, the university endured a scandal involving a high-level administrator. An investigation by the state attorney general found that Thomas Gaylord, the vice president of information technology, had committed fraud and cheated the university out of thousands of dollars.
According to the report, Gaylord used a university credit card for personal expenses and requested reimbursement for expenses already paid by the university, among other things. One would think that, perhaps, accounting procedures had improved since then.
Then there’s the fact that Proenza had to be notified about the error. Did he not realize he got a $54,000 check that he wasn’t supposed to? Do we throw so much money at him that $54,000 goes unnoticed?
Finally, there’s the notion that hitting a button on the computer results in the disbursement of $54,000.
Where is that button, exactly? Is it on a Dell? Do you have to custom-order a keyboard with that button?
Seriously, we want to know.
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