OU’s COO Kunselman to retire

March 6, 2020

Dear Oakland University community,

After four-and-a-half years, Oakland’s Chief Operating Officer Scott Kunselman will retire from his position, effective June 1. His responsibilities include overseeing facilities management, finance and administration, Meadow Brook Estate, OU Golf and Learning Center, technical services, purchasing, University Human Resources, OUPD and the strategic growth of the university.

Simply put, Scott’s role has been to run the internal operations of OU.

Scott has been critical to helping Oakland identify and manage potential growth areas, including overseeing designs for new construction, building renovations, and campus development.

He has been at the center of the day-to-day management that impacts the campus infrastructure.

Scott has reached out in his regular team-building meetings and town halls where he encouraged his staff to be leaders, transparent and collaborators.

Months after he assumed the COO role, he told OU Magazine: “My goal is to understand and eliminate the roadblocks that people experience on the service side of the business.”

He often describes himself as “an employee like everyone else,” and takes pride in being a catalyst behind the success of OU’s Leadership Academy, and in pushing for a more equitable pay scale.

After serving as an OU trustee, Scott was appointed to COO in October of 2015 by then-OU President George W. Hynd. He came to OU from Fiat Chrysler Group, where he held the positions of Senior Vice President, Purchasing and Supplier Quality, Senior Vice President, Engineering and Product Development, and Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs.

Those of us who worked side-by-side with Scott have appreciated his friendly manner and his insistence on not backing away from a bold or innovative solution.

Scott will be missed, but his departure is an opportunity to reorganize our administrative leadership. The ongoing work of the “Reimagining OU” teams will be critical in helping to inform us about the best organizational structure for Oakland University.

I have greatly appreciated Scott’s analytical, careful and thorough approach to problem-solving and the way he always tries to make our institution a better place.

Please join with me in thanking Scott for his commitment to OU, and for his years of hard work and service.

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