Trustees: Miscellaneous Actions

ACTIONS OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

     COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees 
on Friday (6/2), established endowed chairs in polymer 
engineering and British history, authorized planning for 
construction or renovation of residence halls, accepted 
research agreements, and conducted other business.

Board creates chairs in polymer engineering, British history

     Trustees established the Richard M. Morrow Chair in 
Polymer Engineering and The King George III Professorship in 
British History.

     The Morrow Chair will provide salary and program 
support for a faculty position in the Department of Chemical 
Engineering.

     The scholar holding the chair will provide additional 
leadership for the university's polymer engineering program.  
Activities will include encouraging and conducting 
innovative, collaborative, and interdisciplinary research, 
fostering the development of new researchers in the field, 
communicating research ideas and results to industry and to 
other educators, and teaching undergraduate and graduate 
students.

     The Morrow Chair was established with $1,286,165 from a 
fund created in 1991 by the Amoco Foundation Inc. in honor 
of Richard M. Morrow, retired chief executive officer of 
AMOCO.  Morrow earned his Bachelor of Engineering in Mining 
from Ohio State in 1948.

     The King George III Professorship in British History 
will provide annual income to support a professorship in 
British history in the College of Humanities.  George III 
was king of England during the American Revolution.  The 
professorship was established with $713,319 from a fund 
created in 1993 with gifts from Carl W. Thomas, who earned 
bachelor's and master's degrees in business from Ohio State.

     Trustees also established six other named endowed funds 
as follows:

     -- The Barnebey Family Scholarship Fund for students in 
the School of Natural Resources, $497,818.
     -- The Mary Alice Lyon Endowed Scholarship Fund for 
students from Marion County attending the Marion campus, 
$50,000.
     -- The Kirby Kennedy Wyatt II Scholarship Fund in 
Theatre Technology and Design, $30,225.
     -- The Robert E. Jacobson Research and Service Fund in 
Agricultural Economics, $20,000.
     -- The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists 
(AAEC)/John Locher Memorial Award Fund to pay for a student 
editorial cartoonist's participation at the annual AAEC 
meeting, $16,300.
     -- The Bryson Endowed Scholarship Fund for students in 
the College of Education, $15,210.
     -- The Thomas M. Ostrom Scholar in Residence Fund in 
the Department of Psychology, $15,651.
     -- The James F. Malloy Scholarship Fund for members and 
former members of building and construction trade unions or 
whose parents are or have been members, $15,000.

Student apartments, building renovations planned

     The board authorized administrators to employ 
architectural and engineering firms and to request 
construction bids for the following projects:

     -- A complex of furnished apartments for technical and 
undergraduate students at the Agricultural Technical 
Institute and graduate students at the Ohio Agricultural 
Research Development Center in Wooster.  The cost, estimated 
at $7.25 million, is to be provided from future University 
bond proceeds with debt service being paid by the Office of 
Residence and Dining Halls.
     -- The renovation of the auditorium in Dreese 
Laboratory to enhance the teaching and learning environment.
The estimated cost of $350,000 is to be provided by 
remaining contingency funds appropriated for the Dreese 
Laboratory.

     Trustees also authorized employment of architects and 
engineers for renovations of two South Campus residence 
halls:
     -- Improvements to Baker Hall, including a new heating, 
ventilating and air conditioning system; upgrading of 
electrical and plumbing systems and finishes and 
furnishings; and improvements to the dining commons.  The 
estimated project cost is $15 million, with funding to be 
provided by future bond proceeds.
     -- Improvements to Neil Hall, which will involve 
renovation to accommodate classrooms, resource rooms, study 
spaces, and office space for a new academic learning center.  
The cost, estimated at $4.9 million, is to be shared by the 
Office of Physical Facilities, the Athletic Department, and  
future bond proceeds.

     Residence and Dining Halls will pay the debt service on 
the projects.

Contracts awarded

     The board awarded contracts totaling $2,244,681 for 
construction of a new facility at the Lab Animal Center.  
The facility will house primates for retrovirus and cancer 
research.  Funding for the project, which totals $2.5 
million, will come from University bond proceeds and 
University Laboratory Animal Resources.  The estimated 
completion date is December 1995.

Board approves 167 research contracts

     Trustees accepted 167 research contracts totaling $12.7 
million.  Singled out for special mention were:

     -- The Metacenter Regional Alliance to expand 
industrial and scientific parallel computer processing.  The 
alliance involves the Pittsburgh, Arctic Region and Ohio 
supercomputer centers.  The National Science Foundation is 
providing $278,235 to the alliance to make the transition to 
parallel and heterogeneous computation, facilitate effective 
collaboration and interoperability between systems and 
centers, and transfer knowledge to academic and industrial 
clients.  Charles F. Bender, director of the Ohio center, is 
the grant recipient.
     -- A project to improve understanding of the behavior 
of selected bearing materials used in sliding applications, 
develop improved guidelines for designing bearing materials, 
and identify alternatives to the use of lead in bearing 
materials.  Sliding bearings are used in automotive 
applications.  David A. Rigney, professor of materials 
science and engineering, received $249,961 from the National 
Science Foundation.
     -- A project to determine if there is a direct causal 
link between gastric helicobacter infection and gastric 
carcinogenesis, using an animal model.  Kathryn A. Eaton, 
assistant professor of veterinary biosciences, is principal 
investigator, with $190,557 in funding from the National 
Cancer Institutes.
     -- A study to understand the molecular mechanisms 
governing messenger RNA trafficking in eukaryotes, with 
$187,456 in funds from the National Institute of General 
Medical Sciences.  Ellen Gottlieb, assistant professor of 
molecular genetics, is the principal investigator.

Resource management modernization enters Phase II

     Trustees heard a report on completion of Phase I of the 
Administrative Resource Management System (ARMS) project and 
authorized continuation of the project into Phase II.

     ARMS is a project to modernize two obsolescent systems 
-- general ledger accounting and the human resource 
information system -- with a unified system that is 
accessible and more efficient.

     Phase I was a needs assessment, according to Edward 
Ray, senior vice provost.  The assessment examined the 
current status of the two systems and reviewed practices of 
other organizations.  It also drew on ideas and suggestions 
from administrators and staff to develop a concept of 
requirements for the new system.  Phase I was accomplished, 
on budget, at a cost of $1.2 million, said Ray. This amount 
was spent equally between internal costs and the 
consultants.

     Phase II will examine and obtain bids for hardware and 
software.  It also will refine cost-benefit analyses and 
draw up detailed plans for implementation in Phase III.  
Phase II is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, Ray told 
trustees. Estimated budget for this phase is $3 million.
The ARMS project team will report back to trustees following 
completion of Phase II and request approval of the 
implementation phase, Ray said.

Miscellaneous Actions

     In other matters, the board:

     -- Welcomed Zuheir Sofia and Holly Smith as new 
trustees.  Sofia is president, chief operating officer, 
treasurer, and director of Huntington Bancshares Inc.  Smith 
is a junior from North Canton, majoring in biology.
     -- Heard a Finance Committee report on the progress of 
the mutual aid compact arrangement between Ohio State police 
and police agencies in neighboring jurisdictions.  Columbus 
City Council has enacted a mutual aid ordinance involving 
city and campus police.  In addition, the university is 
engaged in mutual aid discussions with Clinton Township and 
Upper Arlington.  University lawyers are working on the 
language of the agreements.
     -- Established an early retirement incentive plan for 
employees of University Hospitals and the Arthur G. James 
Cancer Hospital and Research Institute who are members of 
the Public Employees Retirement System.  The university will 
purchase up to one year of service credit for eligible 
hospital employees who elect to retire.  The plan period 
begins July 1 and will continue for one year.
     -- Reauthorized computer laboratory fees for students 
in the colleges of Business and Engineering and in the 
Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
     -- Approved a name for a department created during 
restructuring of the College of Veterinary Medicine a year 
ago. The new Department of Veterinary Biosciences resulted 
from consolidating three departments: Veterinary Anatomy and 
Cellular Biology, Veterinary Pathobiology, and Veterinary 
Physiology and Pharmacology.  The Department of Veterinary 
Biosciences provides the primary research arm of the 
college.  It combines the basic disciplines of anatomy, 
physiology and virology with the pre-clinic areas of 
anatomic and clinical pathology, virology, pharmacology and 
toxicology.
     -- Approved the naming of the foundry metals and glass 
building at 1055 Carmack Road as the "Hoyt L. Sherman 
Studio Art Center," to reflect Sherman's contributions to 
teaching and research as a 46-year member of the faculty.

     -- Heard a report from Andy Geiger, director of 
athletics, on the status of the university's new 
multipurpose arena.  Geiger showed architects' drawings of 
the exterior and interior of the arena, to be built at the 
northwest corner of Olentangy River Road and Lane Avenue.  
The arena will seat 17,000 to 21,000 people, depending on 
the event, and will be the home site for men's and women's 
basketball and hockey, as well as other university events.  
The $75 million cost will be funded with a $15 million state 
appropriation, private donations and bond sales.  
Construction is expected to be completed in time for use 
during the 1998-99 basketball and hockey seasons.

     -- Amended the Rules of the University Faculty to 
include four undergraduate students and three non-voting 
staff members on the Council on Student Affairs.  One 
student is to be from a regional campus and one staff member 
will be the secretary.  Each student member of the council 
shall have an alternate, selected in the same manner as the 
original appointment.  Duties and responsibilities of the 
council include initiating recommendations and reviewing 
proposals with regard to policies which may affect the 
quality of student life, and serving as a channel of 
communication for the work of all other committees.
     -- Appointed or reappointed 150 people to the medical 
staff of the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Research 
Institute.

                             #
Contact:  Tom Spring, University Communications,
          (614) 292-8309. 


[Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
               
Mon, 5 Jun 1995 11:24:29 -0400]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.