The Ohio State Board of Trustees has approved a plan to set up a framework for an early buyout option for university employees.
The plan was authorized by the Board of Trustees last week and gives the Office of Human Resources the ability to offer voluntary separation incentive programs, or VSIPs, in the future, according to a statement made by the university.
A VSIP is, in short, a voluntary early buyout of a contract, delivered on a case-by-case basis. OSU spokesman Ben Johnson said this was “simply a procedural change,” and that “there is no buyout plan on the table at this time.”
Johnson said this proposal is different than past buyouts, which were offered to specific areas of the university in 2011 and 2013, as it sets the table for the university to implement early buyout incentives on an as-needed basis, and will make it easier for the university to act in more discretionary manner.
“It sets the university up to be able to implement such a program without having to go to the Board of Trustees in the future,” Johnson said.
OSU is the largest employer in Columbus. The move was made “to have more flexible programs to facilitate positive changes in administrative streamlining,” according to the statement.
