Editor's note: The picture that accompanied the print version of this story in Friday's The Oklahoma Daily was incorrect. OU College of Law dean Joe Harroz was incorrectly identified as OU General Counsel Anil Gollahalli.
One of OU’s highest-paid administrators voluntarily returned his $38,000 annual raise Thursday after questions arose concerning its approval by the university’s governing body.
Vice President and General Counsel Anil Gollahalli said he decided to return his raise after a reporter from The Daily asked about it.
Though the raise was not listed with other personnel actions and omitted from the meeting’s minutes and agenda, Gollahalli’s $38,000 increase was approved by the OU Board of Regents during its Oct. 27 meeting.
The increase was listed on the bottom of a document — not included on the agenda or released to the public — that contained end-of-the-year performance bonuses for Cameron University faculty and staff.
Gollahalli said he believes his raise was passed in accordance with the law but “in the interest of openness and transparency, I am voluntarily giving back that raise.” The university’s legal counsel should be held to the highest standards, he said.
Gollahalli, who represents the regents, OU’s three campuses, Rogers State University and Cameron University, said he requested the raise “not simply to President Boren, but also to the Board of Regents and the other two presidents to whom I directly report.”
Gollahalli was originally earning $260,000 per year and the Oct. 27 decision granted him a 15 percent raise to $298,000 annually.
During OU President David Boren’s annual State of the University address Nov. 10, Boren informed the Faculty Senate that he and his vice presidents would take a 2 to 6 percent voluntary pay cut until the institution could provide general faculty and staff salary increases.
Gollahalli said his request for a raise was made and approved before university officers were asked to voluntarily reduce their salaries.
“Once I became aware of the president’s request, I was more than happy to voluntarily participate in the reductions,” Gollahalli said.
Gollahalli said he would still take a voluntary 3 percent pay reduction in December with the other vice presidents.
Gollahalli, who has served as OU’s general counsel since 2008, said he made the request for a raise after he noticed that his salary was significantly lower than the salaries of his peers at similar institutions. He also cited institutions with an operating budget of $1 billion or more.
The national median base salary for chief legal officers at doctoral institutions in 2010 was $191,000, according to the 2010 Administrative Compensation Survey conducted by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.
Gollahalli’s total compensation package was below the national average for similarly-sized doctoral institutions, said Catherine Bishop, vice president for public affairs. Bishop cited the Administrative Compensation Survey’s figure for the average compensation package at institutions with an operating budget of $1 billion or more.
“Unlike a typical general counsel at a college or university, Mr. Gollahalli is additionally responsible for athletics compliance, collections, export controls, open records, HIPAA (protected health information) privacy and university compliance, including health and safety and legal oversight for the Institutional Review Board, each of which is a separate role at most universities,” Bishop said.
Public bodies are required to identify all items of business on their agendas, said Freedom of Information Oklahoma President Bryan Dean.
“Whether someone is deliberately trying to muddy the waters on an agenda item really isn’t the question,” Dean said.
If the written agenda and recorded vote do not match, it is a violation of the law, barring special provisions in the Open Meeting Act, Dean said.
“The people who violated it technically are in a position where they should know what the law says,” Dean said.
The regents relcutantly accepted Gollahalli’s decision to return the money and intend to reconsider compensation at the earliest opportunity, regents chairman Larry Wade said in an e-mail.
The next regents meeting is March 23 in Norman.
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noonespecial 1 year, 2 months ago
Hey way to finally spot your mistake. One problem though: Joe's name is spelled Harroz!!!!
noonespecial 1 year, 2 months ago
Hey daily and Mr. AlaskaAirborne (the man the myth the legend), way to fail on the print edition of the paper by putting a picture of Joe Harroz's picture in place of Anil Gollahalli's. Harroz hasn't been General Counsel since 2008 and is the current dean of the law school. Glad I know our paper has this level of journalists on its staff.
katinthehat 1 year, 2 months ago
nick, way to show us where our tuition goes. how bout a story on daniel pullen's salary? and his scholarship at the law school? who's dan p you say? good question and why is he making so much $$$$$$$$$$ and gettin scholarships instead of grad students like us who need it?
sportsfan31 1 year, 2 months ago
Nice work to whoever found this out
It is ridiculous that administrators are getting 15% raises while the majority of the workers on campus are being tossed a highly speculative 1-2% raise.
HALF of Mr. Gollahalli's BONUS is more than many full time workers on campus make IN A YEAR.