2 resign, 1 is suspended at University

AKRON (AP) -- Two University of Akron employees resigned and another was suspended Wednesday, a month after a state watchdog report said one of them used university money to pay for personal travel and computer repair.
The three employees were placed on paid leave last month, and the university initiated a process to terminate their employment.
Thomas Gaylord, a vice president for informational and instructional technologies, and Michael Donnelly, assistant director of network services, resigned Wednesday prior to their appeal hearings with the university.
The university's board of trustees placed David Wasik, director of application systems services, on suspension without pay for three months. He will be required to attend courses on Ohio Ethics Law before he returns.
Inspector General Tom Charles' report said that besides the travel and computer charges, Gaylord billed the university for expenses he never incurred and accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from companies doing business with the university.
The report said Gaylord also used university employees to help him move, repeatedly required an assistant to buy him lunch without reimbursement and made wasteful spending decisions.
Gaylord, 50, came to the university in February 2000. He was paid $174,500 annually.