Board Discuss Tuition and Value, General Fees

BOARD APPROVES CONTRACTS, SELLS LAND, DISCUSSES TUITION

     NEWARK -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees
meeting on the Newark campus Friday (4/7) discussed Ohio State's
tuition, and heard reports on the general fee and on the state
budget bill recently passed by the Ohio House of Representatives.
The board also approved contracts for a new library and classroom
facility on the Marion campus, approved the sale of land at the
old Barnebey Center, and approved research agreements.

OHIO STATE TUITION LOW
AMONG PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

     Tuition at Ohio State remains a bargain in today's higher
education market.  Its annual resident undergraduate tuition of
$3,087 is lower than nine of 14 other public research
institutions that Ohio State considers its peer group.

     Ohio State's tuition is 14 percent below the average of
$3,569.  (The group includes the public Big Ten universities, the
University of California campuses at Berkeley and Los Angeles,
and the universities of Maryland, Washington, and Arizona.)

     "We continue to be an excellent buy," Shkurti said.

     He noted that Ohio State's resident undergraduate tuition is
one of the lowest among Ohio's 13 public four-year universities,
ranking 10th this year.

     In Ohio, only Youngstown State, Central State, and Shawnee
State universities had lower tuition than Ohio State.  The
average tuition is $3,391.

GENERAL FEE TO GET
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING

     For 25 years, neither the state nor the university has
defined general fees, but that's about to change.

     At the request of the Undergraduate Student Government and
the Council of Graduate Students, the University Senate has
created a subcommittee of the Senate Fiscal Committee to review
exactly what is funded by the dollars in the general fee.

     Shkurti noted that the state requires that students be
charged two separate fees:  instructional and general.

     "Our student governments have raised legitimate issues
regarding truth in advertising and accountability for where the
dollars go."

     One of the catalysts bringing the issue to the forefront was
the $12 million in infrastructure repairs needed at the Ohio
Union.

     Undergraduate Student Government passed a resolution March 1
urging the Office of Finance and the Board of Trustees to
redefine the general fee.  USG also asked that the general and
instructional fees be adjusted as necessary to comply with that
definition so that net revenue from student fees won't be
affected.

     Sandra Solano, president of the Council of Graduate Studies,
said that the council wants the term "General Fee" to have an
agreed upon university definition.  She noted that if a separate
general fee is desirable, the committee could recommend those
services which the fee should encompass and procedures for
separating General Fee funds from other funding sources to
improve the university's accounting procedures.

     The Senate subcommittee, made up of students, faculty, and
staff, is scheduled to issue an interim recommendation to the
Board of Trustees for the May 5 meeting.

     "The university fully supports the efforts of this
subcommittee," Shkurti noted.  Staff from the Office of Finance
and the Office of Student Affairs have been assigned to work with
and assist the subcommittee.

UNIVERSITY WOULD BENEFIT
FROM BUDGET BILL CHANGES

     Ohio State stands to receive about $3.7 million in
additional General Fund revenues, an increase of about 0.5
percent, above the governor's recommendation in the fiscal 1996-
97 biennial budget bill that passed the Ohio House of
Representatives Thursday, April 6.  In addition, the House
boosted funding for university agriculture about $4 million.

     "We received enormously strong support" from the governor
and the House, said President E. Gordon Gee.  The president
credited Gov. George Voinovich, state budget director Gregory
Browning, House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson, and Reps. Robert Corbin,
Thomas Johnson and Ron Amstutz in particular for their efforts in
support of higher education.

     "Although half a percent may not seem like a major increase,
it makes a significant contribution to achieving our budget
goals," Shkurti said, while recognizing the amount is subject to
change in the Senate.

     Shkurti noted that Ohio State should get about 37 percent,
or $1.8 million, of the $5 million the House added in the
Research Challenge program for performance funding in the
biennium.  These funds are treated the same as unrestricted
instructional subsidies.

     In addition, Ohio State's Columbus campus should get about
$800,000 of the $10 million added to the subsidy formula for
freshman and sophomore courses in fiscal 1996 and $1.1 million of
the $15 million added for fiscal 1997.  The House bill also gives
Ohio State's regional campuses amounts higher than the governor's
recommendations.  Together, the campuses would get $100,000 more
in 1996 and $150,000 more in 1997.

     Ohio State agriculture also got a boost from the House
budget.  The House added $1.5 million each year for the Ohio
Agricultural Research and Development Center and Ohio State
University Extension in fiscal 1996 and $2.5 million in fiscal
1997.

     "We're very pleased," said Bobby Moser, vice president for
agricultural administration.  "It gives us increases of about 6
percent for Extension and about 7 percent for OARDC each year of
the biennium.  Included in that 7 percent for OARDC is $750,000
each year for equipment, which was badly needed.  House members
are very positive about our programs and it's reflected in their
support."

     Representatives recommended that the Center for Labor
Research line item be eliminated.  The governor had recommended
$394,000 annually.

CONTRACTS APPROVED
FOR MARION BUILDING

     Trustees approved contracts for construction of a library
and classroom facility to serve The Ohio State University-Marion
and the Marion Technical College.  The building will be
constructed south of the campus pond.

     The state is providing $7.1 million and the Marion campus is
providing $324,725 for the project, which is to be completed in
October 1996.

     Contractors are Peterson Construction Co. of Wapakoneta,
general, $3,983,700; J.A. Croson Co., Columbus, plumbing,
$334,889; J.A. Guy Inc., Dublin, heating, ventilating and air
conditioning, $682,000; and Buckeye Electric Co. of Dayton,
electric, $1,148,000.  The contingency allowance equals 4 percent
of construction cost.

     Trustees also authorized the employment of architectural and
engineering firms and granted approval to seek construction bids
for two $300,000 projects being funded by University Hospitals.
The projects involve renovating 3,000 square feet of space on the
second floor of Doan Hall to house the Peripheral Vascular
Laboratory and expand cardiology services in an adjacent area,
and the second phase of repairing exterior brick on Rhodes Hall.

OHIO STATE TO SELL
302 ACRES AT BARNEBEY

     Following the sale of 470 acres of the Barnebey Center in
southeastern Fairfield County last September, Ohio State trustees
authorized the sale of three more parcels of adjacent land
totaling 302 acres.

     Trustees approved the sale of 117 acres, including timber
and mineral rights to Dean J. Kiourtsis for no less than
$114,900, 95.18 acres to George Koberlein for no less than
$88,040, and 89.64 acres to Daniel L. Rankin and Michael J.
Rankin for no less than $89,700.  The sales would include timber
and mineral rights.

     The properties, all between Revenge and Barnebey roads, have
been appraised at $90,884, $73,764 and $69,471, respectively.

     The lands had been part of the Barnebey Center for
Environmental Studies.  The center was used by the School of
Natural Resources for many years for student instruction and
research, including spring quarter resident classes.  However,
the school and the College of Food, Agricultural, and
Environmental Sciences determined the property was no longer
needed and could not be operated economically.

     Net proceeds from the sale will be deposited in the Barnebey
Family Scholarship Fund for undergraduate and graduate student
scholarships in the school.

     Last September, 470 acres, including the Barnebey Center's
buildings, were sold to the Franklin County Metropolitan Park
District.

RESEARCH CONTRACTS APPROVED

     Trustees approved 178 research contracts totalling $11.8
million.  Singled out for special mention were:

     A study of the immunological consequences of spinal cord
injury, conducted by Caroline C. Whitacre of the Department of
Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and Bradford T. Stokes of
the Department of Physiology and funded with $230,669 from the
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

     Development of an advanced analysis tool for
characterization, simulation, and remedy of molding induced
defects in liquid composite molding, conducted by L. James Lee
and Robert S. Brodkey of the Department of Chemical Engineering
and funded with $154,036 by the National Science Foundation.
Scientists from six major corporations will participate.

     A study of psychophysiology and anxiogenesis, conducted by
Gary G. Berntson of the Department of Psychology and funded with
$96,528 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

     A study of interstellar astrochemistry by Eric Herbst of
the Department of Physics and funded with $92,895 by the National
Science Foundation.

     In another research matter, trustees authorized the vice
president for research to transfer to Douglas Kniss, an associate
professor of obstetrics and gynecology, an exclusive license to
use or develop a gene therapy-based treatment protocol.  The
protocol, known as Antisense DNA Strategies to Suppress Preterm
Labor, was developed by Kniss and Ohio State has applied for a
patent on the discovery.  The license agreement is to provide
compensation to the university.  The agreement is a pilot project
for the Small Business Technology Transfer Program.


[Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
               
Mon, 10 Apr 1995 11:47:51 -0400]
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