Ohio Rev. Code § 3349.02
The board of directors of a municipal university shall consist of nine persons who shall be residents of the county in which the municipal corporation is located and who shall be appointed by the mayor of the municipal corporation for terms of nine years following the expiration of the respective terms for which the directors presently holding office were appointed, and the mayor shall fill vacancies in the offices of such nine directors, other than vacancies created to accommodate appointments by the governor as below provided, by appointment for the unexpired term; provided that, in the event that an agreement is entered into under sections 3349.31 to 3349.33, inclusive, of the Revised Code, so long as such agreement remains in effect, four of said nine directors shall be appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate. The four directors so appointed by the governor need not be residents of said county; shall be appointed for terms of nine years, provided that the four directors initially appointed by the governor shall be appointed for terms of nine years, seven years, five years, and three years, respectively, with provision to be made in said agreement for the commencement and expiration of such initial terms, including the termination of existing terms to reduce to five the number of directors appointed by the mayor; and vacancies in the positions of such four directors, including those occurring to accommodate appointments by the governor, shall be filled by the governor by appointment for the unexpired terms pursuant to section 3.03 of the Revised Code so long as such agreement remains in effect. All directors shall serve until the expiration of their terms and until their successors are appointed and qualified, except that directors appointed by the governor shall serve only so long as such agreement remains in effect.
Such directors shall serve without compensation, but shall be paid their reasonable, necessary expenses while engaged in the discharge of their official duties, and shall have all the powers and perform all duties conferred or required by law in the government of such university, and the execution of any trust with respect thereto imposed upon the municipal corporation. Such board of directors and university is a public body, both politic and corporate, is performing essential governmental functions and serving public purposes in all matters authorized under the Constitution and laws of this state, and is capable of owning, holding, and transferring property, contracting and being contracted with, suing, being sued on its contracts, and insuring property owned by it or under its control, its activities, and its employees and their activities, as it may determine, all in the name of such university.
R.C. § 3349.02