David Jesse

Detroit Free Press

Oakland University spent $155,000 to fly board members, administrators and other staff to Florida in early February for a private board meeting and winter event for donors at a gulf coast resort, according to more than 700 pages of expense records obtained by the Detroit Free Press.

Among those flying down on the university's tab were the campus golf pro and the wives of the school's top two administrators.

The money for the trip came from various general fund budgets. The general fund is largely made up of money from state aid and tuition.

The trip came less than seven months after the Rochester school raised tuition by 8.4% for the current school year, the largest percentage hike in that time period among Michigan’s 15 public universities. The hike exceeded a state tuition cap and forced OU to give up some state aid, but officials said they needed the money to adequately fund increasing needs for professors and infrastructure at the growing school.

In total, the university paid $88,000 for plane tickets, dining out and drinks and lodging for 42 university employees and board members to attend the two-day, private board retreat, followed by the annual two-day Winter College attended by 110 employees, donors and alumni. Officials spent another $62,000 on banquet rooms, conference rooms and catered meals at the resort.

Among the expenses:

$1,600 for airfare and food for the wives of President George Hynd and Chief Operating Officer Scott Kunselman, a former board member.

$1,141, including $212 on liquor and wine, for a dinner attended by 13 people, including the school's provost and academic deans. Guests at the dinner dined on oysters, $44 Chilean sea bass and $40 scallops.

A watch party for an OU men’s basketball game against Youngstown State, at which Athletic Director Jeff Konya bought $79 worth of alcohol, for which he was reimbursed. Konya has a special exemption from the university to purchase alcohol and be reimbursed.

The board retreat and Winter College were held at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Springs, Fla., a resort described on its website as being located on “26 lush, tropical acres overlooking Estero Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.”

In an interview with the Free Press, Hynd said he stands by the tuition hike — noting more faculty have been hired and infrastructure improvements are ongoing — but agreed the timing of the trip was bad.

Detailing the charges

The administrators, deans and board members made their way from Rochester to Detroit Metro Airport in waves.

Several carpooled, submitting one expense request for the nearly 50-mile trip from campus to the airport and parking there.

Others — including Hynd — used a car service. Hynd and his wife were driven in a sedan by Aristocat Chauffered Transportation from their campus residence to the airport for $111.15, records show.

Some folks, including board member Ronald Robinson, didn’t ask for any reimbursement for getting to the airport.

“I did not request any additional reimbursement for personal reasons,” he told the Free Press in an e-mail. “I think most if not all trustees incur miscellaneous expenses all the time in their duties as trustees and do not ask for reimbursement.”

OU ended up spending nearly $19,000 in airfare for 43 people to travel. Hynd reimbursed the university for an upgrade to comfort class on Delta.

Hynd said having his wife and Kunselman’s wife along was helpful.

“Part of the first lady’s job is to represent the university,” Hynd said. “She has no official role or job, but she is called on to represent the university.

“Both my contract and Mr. Kunselman’s contract allow for (travel with their wives) when appropriate to further the work of the university.”

Once in Florida, the OU employees and board members used taxis, car services and rental cars to make their way to the hotel.

The school spent more than $51,000 on hotel rooms and charges to the room. Some of the hotel charges were covered by the attendees, including a massage for the school’s golf pro, who was flown to Florida for a variety of events, including rounds of golf with donors.

The board retreat took place on Feb. 3 and 4.

It was held behind closed doors, and board members and top administrators discussed various topics related to the school’s future.

OU isn’t the only school to travel off campus for board retreats. The University of Michigan’s Board of Regents has traveled to New York and Los Angeles for board meetings and to spend time with donors. The Free Press has sued, claiming such meetings are a violation of the Open Meetings Act. Courts have so far sided with U-M, saying boards can hold “informal” meetings behind closed doors. The case is expected to end up before the state Supreme Court.

Those U-M trips cost about $28,000 each. No money from the general fund, which comes from state aid and tuition, was used to pay for the trips.

OU's Winter College took place from Feb. 4-Feb. 6 and offered a chance for donors and alumni to hear from various deans and other school employees about the school.

“We knew that the provost was going to have a retreat with the deans around this time and we thought we would have them come in and give lightning-round updates to Winter College attendees about what was going on in their colleges,” Hynd said. “It was very well received.”

The Winter College also was a chance for the university to hit attendees up for donations. More than $2.7 million in "asks" were made during the entire trip, Hynd said.

'Doesn't smell right'

Last July, when OU announced it was hiking tuition 8.4%, Tim Maskill was upset. The 52-year-old has a son entering his junior year at OU, a daughter at Western Michigan University and a son who is a junior in high school.

“We’ve carefully planned out budgets and tried to help our kids with the cost so they don’t get buried in student loans,” Maskill said, recently while on OU’s campus waiting for his son. “That big of an increase all at once just meant my son had to borrow more money. I don’t think they needed to raise it this much.”

As for this trip?

“I know $100K is probably just a drop in the bucket in terms of their overall budget, but it just rubs me the wrong way. A trip to Florida after asking us to pay more? Just doesn’t smell right.”

Hynd understands that.

“I agree that the timing was not optimal,” he said. “It is very likely that next year’s Winter College will be substantially different.

“What we look at (with the trip) is return on investment. It will take a while to see exactly what that return is. It can take a while for gifts to come through.

“We made $2.7 million worth of asks. If half the asks we made come to fruition, that will be good.”

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj.