Roads Scholars to explore Ohio State's statewide impact

With northern Ohio as their classroom, about 35 new and newly tenured Ohio State University faculty will take on the role of student next week, learning about subjects as varied as vegetable farming, community economic development and aquatic ecology during the 2005 Roads Scholars tour.

The two-day bus tour (9/13-14) allows participants to see first-hand the impact of Ohio State research on Ohio citizens as well as observe the relationships that the university maintains with business and community leaders, educators, alumni and students. The tour also highlights the university's role in enhancing the economy in communities and in building the state's educational base.

The Roads Scholars tour is sponsored by University Outreach and Engagement, and supported by OSU Extension and the Office of Continuing Education. College deans recommend newly hired and newly tenured faculty to invite on the tour each year. In addition, each tour includes two or three undergraduate and graduate student leaders, giving new faculty an opportunity to learn about the university experience from a student perspective.

The tour will visit business and educational sites in six cities, including Ohio State's Marion campus, the Ohio Sea Grant Program at Lake Erie, the OSU/Port Clinton Arts Festival, a Lorain high school, a 4-H program in a Cleveland park, a business and research partner in Cleveland, a vegetable farm in Willard, and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster.

Karen Bruns, Office of Outreach and Engagement and OSU CARES leader, directs planning for the tour. "In addition to learning more about Ohio and the university's outreach and engagement mission, the tour is a great way to get to know other faculty from across the campus and also connect with colleagues who have similar research interests," Bruns said.

"Our Roads Scholars alumni also have said their participation helped them think about new research questions that could benefit the state," she said.

Roads Scholars tours began in 1997. Since then, the program has taken more than 500 faculty to all corners of the state. Participants have overwhelmingly endorsed the experience as "fantastic" and "one of the best programs they've ever been a part of at Ohio State."

2005 Ohio State Roads Scholars Tour Itinerary

Tuesday, Sept. 13
Marion, Willard, Port Clinton

8:15 a.m. – Depart from Longaberger Alumni House in Columbus.

9:15 to noon. OSU Marion – Marion.
• Visit highlights the regional campus experience. Participants will have a chance to meet with students, OSU Marion faculty and tour the campus. After a presentation, the group will tour the facility.

1 to 2:30 pm. Buurma Farms – Willard.
• Buurma Farms, owned by the family of OSU alum Bruce Buurma, employs hundreds of seasonal workers (including several hundred migrant workers) and produces and packages all of the vegetables that go into a salad.

4 to 5 p.m. Sea Grant at Port Clinton – Port Clinton.
• Overview of the Ohio Sea Grant program which is focused on using research, teaching and outreach to increase the use, development and wise management of this country's aquatic resources, with special emphasis on Lake Erie.

5 to 8:30 p.m. OSU/Port Clinton Performing Arts Festival – Port Clinton.
• The festival features performing and visual artists from the College of the Arts and other selected national and international venues. It was developed with support from a 2004 Excellence in Engagement Grant through Ohio State University Outreach. The festival, which is building from a "sampler" festival in 2004 to a two-week self-sustaining event by 2007, demonstrates the positive impact of visual and performing arts on the economies and quality of life of communities throughout the state of Ohio.

Wednesday, Sept. 14
Lorain, Cleveland, Wooster

8:30 to 10 a.m. Lorain Southview High School - Lorain.
•Visit offers an opportunity to meet with high school students who are trying to decide what to do after high school and who will share their expectations of college.

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Youth Outdoors – Cleveland Metroparks - Cuyahoga Heights.
•Stop will highlight a 4-H youth program associated with Cleveland Metroparks that focuses on building life-long skills in Cleveland Area youth.

1:30 to 3 p.m. Philips Medical Systems - Highland Heights
•A joint Wright Center for Innovation research/economic development project which partners Philips Medical Systems, Case Western Reserve University and Ohio State around magnetic resonance research.

4:30 to 6:30 p.m. OARDC/ATI – Wooster
•Stop will highlight new research that is taking place.

8 p.m. – Return to Longaberger Alumni House.