The University of Akron is parting ways with the executive charged with increasing enrollment and overseeing its failed rebranding effort.
The University of Akron Board of Trustees opted Wednesday to place Vice President of Advancement Lawrence Burns on a one-month paid administrative leave and relieve him of all his duties at UA, effective immediately.
Board members met in executive session, came out to issue the statement about Burns’ departure and then went back into executive session.
Burns did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Under his separation agreement with the university, Burns will continue to collect his $285,000 annual salary in monthly payments for the next year.
If Burns gets another job during the next year, however, the agreement calls for him to repay UA as much as $60,000. He will also receive payment for all accrued and unused vacation during his term of employment.
Burns, known for wearing bow ties, started at UA a little more than a year ago. He was hired at the recommendation of former UA President Scott Scarborough, who agreed to step down at the end of May after a tumultuous tenure just shy of two years.
Burns had served as the vice president for external affairs at the University of Toledo when Scarborough was provost at UT before joining UA.
At the University of Akron, Burns was responsible for increasing enrollment, fundraising, government relations, marketing, branding, alumni relations, and community and business partnerships — all areas that have come under intense criticism in recent months by UA professors, staff, alumni and members of the community.
The idea of referring to the University of Akron as “Ohio’s Polytechnic University” was announced by former president Scarborough in his plan to rebrand UA in May of last year.
It didn’t work.
Instead it unleashed waves of outrage from students, alumni and faculty. The rebranding brought fears that the plan would eventually strip “Akron” from the university’s name; it led to formal protests, an online signature drive and donor vows to withhold contributions to the university.
In an interview a year after the rebranding effort was launched, Burns said the administration discovered during a test period that some people loved it, some people didn’t like it at all and some didn’t care.
Burns also was unable to reverse a drop-off in enrollment, which is expected to decline 23 percent this fall for incoming freshmen and 9 percent overall in the coming school year — resulting in a $20 million decrease in revenue.
Burns was the host of UA to Z, a weekly, hourlong UA-sponsored program Saturday mornings on WAKR 1590-AM. In an April broadcast, it was announced that Scarborough would stay on as UA president for a third year. The announcement came four days prior to the board’s first meeting with two new members. Scarborough and the university severed ties May 31.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.