University won't renew pact for VP of financial affairs

John Habat will head the new division of finance and administration.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The contract of the chief financial officer at Youngstown State University will not be renewed, university officials said.
Terry Ondreyka, vice president for financial affairs, is the third highest-paid university administrator at a salary of $140,569. His contract expires June 30; however, he has agreed to accept a three-month contract, to Sept. 30, to finish key projects he is managing.
Hired in 2001, Ondreyka was YSU President David C. Sweet's first major administrative appointment.
In a prepared statement, Sweet announced that the university's financial affairs division will be merged with the administrative division, effective July 1.
The newly formed Division of Administration and Finance will be headed by John Habat, YSU's current vice president for administrative affairs. Habat, the fourth highest-paid administrator, earns a salary of $133,385.
The Budget Planning Office, once under the direction of financial affairs, was placed under the direction of Habat's office in July.
After an audit
The new change comes on the heels of an external audit of fiscal year 2003 in which the Ernst & amp; Young firm of Cleveland pointed out deficiencies with YSU's financial statement close process, financial staffing and accounting policies and procedures.
The reorganization returns YSU to an administrative model that is common in most universities and will result in a reduction of senior staff costs, the statement says. Salary savings will be used to enhance professional staff levels in accounting, with three or four positions to be added or reassigned to the new division.
Before Ondreyka's 2001 hiring, both divisions reported to one vice president. YSU trustees created the vice president for financial affairs position in 2000.
A three-member interim senior management team will be formed to perform accounting and budget responsibilities in the department of general accounting. The Packer Thomas accounting firm will provide ongoing assistance to the team.
As Habat assumes his new responsibilities, the duties of interim assistant general counsel, which he has held since the start of this year, will end. Additionally, the responsibility he has for government relations will be returned to the president's office.
Habat, whose ties to Sweet go back more than 20 years, was named the president's special assistant, hired in a part-time capacity, in July 2000. The two worked together when Sweet was urban affairs dean at Cleveland State University.
He became a full-time assistant within a year and was named vice president, effective July 1, 2002.
Ondreyka had 30 years' experience in higher education accounting and finance when he was appointed a vice president at YSU.