OU Chief to Address Controversial $325K Hiring

The president of Oakland University is expected to address concerns Wednesday about a newly created $325,000-a-year chief operating officer position to be filled by a retiring Fiat Chrysler Automotive executive at a time when tuition at the Rochester-based university is increasing 8.5 percent.

OU President George Hynd told The Oakland Press he will address the hiring of FCA safety boss Scott Kunselman, who was named to the position last month. Members of the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors have questioned the absence of a formal search or even an internal posting for the new position.

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Kunselman, until recently a member of the Oakland University’s board of trustees, will earn the third-highest salary at the university, whose enrollment is around 20,000 students.

In a statement, the professors’ union said:

“No public dialogue occurred regarding the need for the position or its role in the university governance. The position was not discussed during earlier formal sessions of the board of trustees. Unlike recent vice presidential and presidential searches, the university community was not invited to meet the candidate or provide comment before the announcement.”

After Kunselman, of White Lake, was hired on Oct. 27, Hynd said the university acted swiftly because he became available. He is in the process of retiring his position as senior vice president of vehicle safety and regulatory compliance for the Auburn Hills-based automaker and is expected to assume his new duties on Dec. 1.

Hynd said that hiring Kunselman, who will oversee daily operations, will free him to do more fund-raising.

“Within six months, we’ll see a return on this investment,” Hynd said.

He emphasized that Kunselman’s salary won’t be paid with money from the recent 8.5-percent tuition increase, though he said he understands why some people might draw that connection due to the timing of the July vote to hike tuition and the October decision to hire Kunselman.

In September, Hynd and other university officials were questioned by lawmakers about the need for the tuition increase, the largest of any state university in Michigan. The university will lose $1.2 million in state aid because it exceeded the state recommended cap of 3.2 percent on tuition increases, but will more than make up for it with an estimated $12 million increase in tuition revenues.

Kunselman is retiring from Fiat Chrysler during a tumultuous time for the automaker, which last summer was fined $105 million for its handling of 11 million recalled vehicles.

» Photo of Scott Kunselman via Oakland University