Welcome to OSU...Where everything is for sale!

[BROTHERSKINNY]

I sense a little cynicism in this article!

http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2015/03/20/welcome-to-ohio-state-where-everything-is-for-sale/

 

[ecojew]

Great article! Sarcasm, yes, but not all that far from reality (though I have some difficulty believing the story about the parking lots and an Australian firm). For the author's safety, I sincerely hope that he doesn't live in Ohio these days.

 

[RUTBAY]

The need for much of this would be mitigated if not nearly eliminated if the administration to education ratio was brought back down under 1.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

That is a great article. I would hope that it spurs independent audits of university administrations nation-wide.

 

[Caliknight]

OSU has never been ranked higher. Good for them, they are doing things right. With as cash strapped as Rutgers is, I wish our administration was as entrepreneurial.

 

[B1GOSU]

Originally posted by ecojew:
Great article! Sarcasm, yes, but not all that far from reality (though I have some difficulty believing the story about the parking lots and an Australian firm). For the author's safety, I sincerely hope that he doesn't live in Ohio these days.

It is true. That was Gordon Gee's pet project. He leased all parking rights on campus to the Australian company which also leases parking in some larger cities, such as Chicago. The company does business on campus as CampusParc. All former employees of Transportation & Parking at OSU had to either find another job on campus or take a job with the new company. By taking a job with the new company, the employees lost all OSU benefits, such as the state retirement benefit (which is in great shape in Ohio as opposed to some other states). Employees of CampusParc are not OSU employees.

Here is an article from Bloomberg back in 2012 when it all went down.........

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-06-22/ohio-state-set-to-park-483-million-from-lease-deal-muni-credit








This post was edited on 3/24 9:18 AM by B1GOSU

 

[RU1977]

Wow

 

[DJ Spanky]

The great Coke contract was merely a prelude to the game-changing deal we signed in 2012 to lease campus parking - all 37,000 spaces! - to an Australian investment firm for 50 years. This deal was worth almost $500 million.

.....

The important point here is that this deal puts the lie to the complaint we hear so often that college doesn't prepare people for the real world. Our CFO, the guy who orchestrated this deal, has just landed a very lucrative job with the Australian firm he sold the parking to. It's called synergy, baby!

Really glad to see that they avoided any perception of impropriety.