Ohio State official connected to Ted Carter, the JobsOhio scandal, gets a new job at a different university

A former Ohio State University official, who was connected to former Ohio State President Ted Carter and the JobsOhio $60,000 scandal, had no trouble finding a new job at another university.

West Virginia University President Michael T. Benson announced that Chris Kabourek will become the university’s vice president and chief financial officer on June 1, saying that in him, they found “a creative, dynamic, forward-looking, and solutions-focused CFO who is steeped in the workings of large, public, flagship research institutions, like West Virginia University,” according to the university’s press release.

Kabourek resigned from his position as Ohio State’s senior vice president for administration and planning two days before the university announced it, The Columbus Dispatch reported. He was named OSU’s senior vice president for administration and planning in October 2024.

“To advance the University’s mission, Chris will provide critical strategic vision, financial stewardship, and operational oversight in the management of our financial health, facilities, technology, and operational infrastructure,” Benson wrote.

The press release said that Kabourek will oversee the university’s finances, information technology services, and facilities operations.

“The West Virginia University mission is too important for anything less than clear priorities, strong support for its people, and a commitment to investing in the work that matters most,” Kabourek said in a release.

Kabourek is “excited to get to work with President Benson, incoming Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Beverly Wendland, members of the Board of Governors, and other senior leaders and campus partners to help ensure West Virginia’s resources are aligned behind its priorities, its momentum continues to grow, and its future reflects something all West Virginians can be proud of,” according to the release.

Kabourek got a new job right before the Ohio State investigators published a 47-page report on April 21, uncovering how Carter abused his position to help Krisanthe Vlachos, a military podcaster with whom he was in a romantic relationship.

Kabourek first met Carter at the University of Nebraska and moved to Columbus with him after both got jobs at Ohio State, where Kabourek became Carter’s senior adviser and helped him abuse his power as Vlachos’s “primary point of contact” at the university.

“Kabourek went far beyond any other employee in supporting Carter’s efforts to assist Vlachos, both inside and outside the university; he failed to stop or report those efforts himself; and he failed to appropriately address concerns raised to him by other employees,” the report concluded.

The university release did not include the recent information about Kabourek.

The investigators wrote in the report that the university never funded a project or initiative based on Vlachos’s idea for an app, and that university employees never provided Vlachos with any technical assistance beyond scheduling, with the “significant exception of Kabourek.”

The investigators also wrote in the report that multiple employees allegedly alerted either Kabourek or Chief of Staff JR Blackburn about Vlachos’s behavior. However, he failed to stop or report Carter’s abuse of power himself, instead letting the concerns go and telling two employees to inform Carter about what was happening.

“This failure was compounded in this case by the clear power dynamic of the President’s Senior Advisor instructing two more junior employees to confront the university president,” according to the report. “Kabourek went far beyond any other employee in supporting Carter’s efforts to assist Vlachos, both inside and outside the university.”