Cheryl Schrader | Graphic by Dylan Collison | The Wright State Guardian
Jamie Naylor, Alexis Wisler, Katie Jones and Makenzie Hoeferlin contributed to this article.
Former WSU President Cheryl Schrader is back in the classroom after receiving her president’s salary for 18 months following her resignation.
Salary
Schrader served as university president from July 1, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2019, officially resigning from her position in October 2019, three years before her presidential contract was set to expire.
Schrader left her presidential position with the desire to return to the classroom, according to her resignation letter, which was sent to the community via a campus-wide email on Oct. 15, 2019.
“It has been many years since I taught students on a daily basis, and frankly I discovered that I very much missed the classroom, particularly the opportunity to help shape the future…,”
Schrader wrote in her resignation letter
Upon her resignation, Schrader entered into a ‘development period’ and remained in this period for 18 months. During this time, Schrader did not teach a class and received her full president’s salary.
During the 18 month ‘development period’, from Oct. 15, 2019 until Apr. 14, 2021, Schrader received her full presidential annual salary of $425,000. The former president continued to receive her $46,000 housing and $12,000 auto allowance, for six months after her resignation in 2019.
Beginning Apr. 15, 2021, Schrader began a new pay agreement with the university. She is now listed as a faculty member in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Her pay was downgraded to an annual salary of $186,358, or “…the same annual salary rate as the highest paid [p]rofessor in the Electrical Engineering Department,” according to her contract.
Although Schrader announced her resignation as a desire to return to the classroom, her contract contains a clause stating if the administrator is terminated without cause, they may return to faculty after receiving presidential compensation and going through a development period.
“If you are terminated without cause, you will have the right to return to faculty after you have received one (1) year of Presidential compensation. During the one (1) year period of receiving Presidential compensation following termination without cause, you shall use the time for development purposes to prepare for a return to faculty,” according to her contract.
According to WSU Director of Communications Seth Bauguess, it is normal for high-level administrators and contracted employees to renegotiate their contracts when changing roles.
“As was true in her case, it is typical for an administrator who has not regularly been in the classroom for many years to negotiate and be afforded time to prepare for their return to the faculty in such agreements,” Bauguess said.
Schrader began teaching again in summer term 2021.
Teaching
According to WINGSExpress, Schrader has only been listed as a professor in the course directory since Summer 2021. During the summer she taught one course, Linear Systems I.
In the fall of 2021, she is listed as a professor for two courses. Linear Systems II, which is a course for undergraduate and graduate students, and Modern Control I, which is a graduate class.
WSU’s Office of the Registrar confirms this.
The registrar also confirmed that Schrader taught two Continuous Control Systems courses and their accompanying labs in Spring 2019. Schrader was not listed as a professor on WINGS Express at that time.
This was the semester during the AAUP-WSU’s faculty strike and her final year of presidency in 2019.
Background
Before coming to WSU, Schrader worked in Missouri as the chancellor of Missouri University of Science and Technology from 2012 to 2017.
Schrader began her presidency at WSU when the university was going through a financial crisis and served as president for two years.
The Faculty Union Strike also occurred during Schrader’s time as president, during which she stepped in to teach two engineering classes.
“When I joined Wright State on July 1, 2017, my priorities were necessarily focused on immediate financial recovery and long-term fiscal sustainability; administrative transparency; and campus conversation,”
Schrader said in the email
According to the email. Schrader felt that she was leaving the university in a better place financially than when she arrived and that her goals as president were met.
The Wright State Guardian reached out to Schrader on two separate occasions. The first time she was unavailable to comment. On the second occasion, she did not respond.
