Some highlights include the Promise Lives campaign, 29 Park Place and the implementation of the Ohio Guarantee.
Ohio University President Roderick McDavis announced Thursday that he will retire when his contract expires on June 30, 2017.
The Post selected some of the most memorable moments and accomplishments during his time as president so far.
Promise Lives
One of McDavis’ biggest goals as president was to raise $450 million for the Promise Lives campaign.
As of Feb. 16, the university had raised more than $500 million for the campaign, which helps pay for university programs.
The campaign started in 2007 and concluded June 30.
So far, the OU Foundation has received more than $310 million of the total amount, according to a previous Post report.
McDavis has been known for his fundraising throughout his tenure, and as of last year, $500 million was raised, according to a previous Post report.
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Ohio Guarantee
OU implemented its first guaranteed tuition plan in January 2015.
Guaranteed tuition, which started for the class of 2019, makes it so that students pay the same amount for each of their years at the university.
It was an effort to make it easier for students and parents to financially plan for college.
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Dublin and Cleveland campuses
During McDavis’ tenure, the university has expanded to Dublin and Cleveland.
OU’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine has opened a campus at each location within the past few years.
The university also has expanded the College of Health Sciences and Professions to Dublin, and the College of Fine Arts has established a theater company called Tantrum Theater to combine professional and student talent.
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29 Park Place
That is perhaps one of the larger talking points of McDavis’ time as president over the past year.
Last spring, McDavis’ wife, Deborah, broke her foot because she was startled by bats in their home at 29 Parks Place.
The two then moved to 31 Coventry Lane, and the university signed a $1.2 million lease agreement.
The university announced that it decided not to buy the property April 13 after a “problematic” verbal agreement between the home’s owner, John Wharton and Director of Athletics Jim Schaus, according to a previous Post report.
Ohio’s Inspector General is now reviewing and collecting emails about the situation in “investigation involving the purchase of 31 Coventry Lane.”
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University expansion and renovations
Along with the new campuses outside of Athens, McDavis was also a part of expansion at OU’s main campus.
During his administration, 13 buildings, including Schoonover Center, a new Baker Center, new South Green dorms, among others, were constructed in Athens.
Other buildings, such as Lindley Hall and McCracken Hall, have been renovated recently.
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Century Bond
The university undertook about $250 million in debt that will be paid back over about the next 100 years.
The goal of the bond is to reduce the cost of deferred maintenance projects.
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Vote of ‘no confidence’
McDavis hasn’t seen a shortage of conflict with some faculty.
In a 2007 survey by the OU chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the survey revealed that two-thirds of participants said they had no confidence in the president.
A poll of students yielded similar results that year.
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Budget shortfalls
Administrators were forced to cut 7 percent of the $684 million budget in 2007.
They had to cut parts of college budgets in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
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Enrollment
OU has seen record undergraduate enrollment for the past four years and a total of about 40 percent undergraduate enrollment growth over the past 10 years.
The Chronicle of Higher Education named the university the 18th fastest growing college in the U.S. for enrollment between 2003 and 2013.
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