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Tuition bill is $88,000 for VP to attend Case
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Dec 13, 2007
Kent State University will pay about $88,000 in tuition so that one of its highest-paid vice presidents can obtain a doctorate from Case Western Reserve University.
A survey of several publicly funded Ohio colleges shows that the Kent State expenditure for its head of information services to attend another institution is out of the ordinary, if not unique.
Edward Mahon, whose salary of $206,140 makes him the fifth-highest-paid administrator at the university, is studying business leadership in Case Western's nationally recognized Weatherhead School of Manage
ment.
The three-year program is costing Kent State about $30,000 a year for tuition and books, with Case Western picking up the balance through a scholarship program.
Mahon could have received a doctorate from Kent State for free, but it would have been in a traditional business administration field.
He was notified of the unusual perk in a warm congratulatory letter from KSU President Lester Lefton on Aug. 1.
''You were on time, on budget, and have shepherded through a number of important projects'' last year, Lefton wrote Mahon. ''I will pay for three installments (for a total of $88,000) for your doctoral work at Case Western Reserve University as a direct payment to them.''
Lefton also gave Mahon a 10 percent raise of about $20,000, which brought his salary to $206,140. It was the largest chunk of money that KSU gave in a raise to an administrator for this school year.
KSU spokesman Ron Kirksey said by e-mail that paying for education such as Mahon's is ''common and useful to managers from entry level to senior levels of management.
''As it turns out, professional development training such as this is common in the work force,'' he wrote.
Not common in Ohio
But a check of many tax-supported universities in Ohio indicates it is not.
Many tax-supported institutions allow employees to attend classes for free at their own institutions, but it is rare for them to pay the bills when the employee goes off campus.
According to Kent State records, Mahon is only the second KSU employee to get a free education off campus.
The only other documented instance that KSU could find was of Curtis Good, academic program director in the College of Nursing, who last year received $30,517 to take part in a doctoral program at the University of Pittsburgh. His academic stipend was added on top of his salary of $53,560, while Mahon's aid goes directly to Case Western.
Other tax-supported institutions in Ohio — the University of Akron, Miami University, Ohio State University, the University of Cincinnati, Bowling Green State University, Cleveland State University and the University of Toledo — do not pay for employees to study off campus, according to spokespeople at each school.
About six Youngstown State faculty members are reimbursed for doctoral study elsewhere each year because YSU offers a limited range of doctoral programs.
Ohio University's Foundation is paying up to half the cost for two librarians to get a master's degree elsewhere because OU does not offer that degree.
KSU program bypassed
As for Mahon, he bypassed Kent State's traditional doctoral programs in business administration — which prepare students for college-level teaching — in favor of Case Western's more unusual program.
Sue Nartker, managing director of the Case Western program, said the program is for practicing professionals, and participants have included corporate executives and administrators at both private and public universities.
Administrators at tax-supported Lakeland Community College and the University of Toledo are alumni of the program, but they paid for their educations, their spokespeople say.
Patricia Mintz, dean of academic affairs at tax-supported Cuyahoga Community College, also is an alumna. Tri-C spokesman Daniel Minnich said the college paid $4,000 or less of Mintz's education cost for each of the three years.
Benefits for KSU
When asked by e-mail what he and KSU would get out of the program, Mahon referred to the explanation on the program Web site.
It says the program ''integrates concept and practice within the context of today's emerging and pressing global issues'' and helps students to ''explore new horizons of executive leadership within their organizations and beyond.''
Nartker said students' dissertations ''often are based on a workplace problem. That is a way, instead of calling in consultants, for the participant to use his workplace as a laboratory,'' she said, so there can be direct application to the employer.
Kirksey, the KSU spokesman, said by e-mail that Mahon's planned research inquiry ''will be directly relevant and focused on typical leadership and increased teamwork productivity found in higher education.''
Mahon said by e-mail that that he doesn't have more details of his dissertation topic yet.
Most doctoral programs require students to attend full time, but this one allows participants to continue with their jobs.
Still, they must visit the Cleveland campus for a day or two a dozen times each academic year and study 30 hours a week, according to the program Web site.
Mahon, who supervises more than 100 full-time employees who provide technological support to KSU's faculty, staff and students, said by e-mail that he is studying ''before the workday begins, evenings and weekends.
''Which is not unlike many other adults in the work force, is how I earned undergraduate and master degrees,'' he wrote.
Mahon came to Kent State in 2004 from the University of Missouri, where he was associate vice president for information technology activities. His bachelor's degree is from Eckerd College in Florida, and his master's is from the University of Tennessee.
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.
Kent State University will pay about $88,000 in tuition so that one of its highest-paid vice presidents can obtain a doctorate from Case Western Reserve University.
Get the full article here.
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