Trustees: Appointments, Reports

ACTIONS OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

     COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on 
Friday (3/7) appointed a division chair and reappointed the 
executive director of University Hospitals.  The board also heard 
updates on recommendations from the Committee on the 
Undergraduate Experience, a student success center, an athletic 
facility feasibility study, and conducted other business.

Kasulis named chair of comparative studies

     The board named Thomas P. Kasulis of UPPER ARLINGTON, as 
chair of the division of Comparative Studies in the Humanities, 
retroactive to Oct. 1 and continuing through Sept. 2000.  Kasulis 
has taught at Ohio State since 1991 and specializes in Asian, 
Japanese and western philosophy.

     Kasulis earned his undergraduate, graduate and doctoral 
degrees from Yale University, and a graduate degree from the 
University of Hawaii.  A member of the Japanese Society for 
Comparative Thought, Kasulis is a review co-editor for Philosophy 
East and West, and served as president of the Society for Asian 
and Comparative Philosophy.  Kasulis is a Danforth Graduate 
fellow and an East-West Center fellow.

Reappointments

     Trustees reappointed: 

     -- R. Reed Fraley of UPPER ARLINGTON as executive director 
of University Hospitals and associate vice president for health 
sciences through February 2001. Fraley has served as executive 
director of University Hospitals since 1989. 

     -- Reappointed Reuben Ahroni of COLUMBUS (43227) as acting 
chair of the Department of Near Eastern, Judaic and Hellenic 
Languages and Literature, retroactive to Oct. 1 and continuing 
through June.  Ahroni specializes in biblical studies and 
medieval Hebrew literature, and has taught at Ohio State since 
1976.

Yoshida wins student recognition award

     Trustees awarded a student recognition award to Reiko 
Yoshida of COLUMBUS (43201).  A senior majoring in electrical 
engineering, Yoshida was honored for her work with the Get Well 
Ohio Team, a program that encourages alcohol awareness on campus 
by changing student attitudes toward substance abuse. She has 
served through the Office of Student Wellness as a student 
representative on the Office of Student Affairs Leadership Team, 
which addresses itself to enhancing the student experience at 
Ohio State.

Board hears report on recreation, education and athletic facility 
feasibility study

     The board heard a report by David Williams, vice president 
for student affairs, and William Shkurti, vice president for 
finance, on a proposed student recreation center that would 
include a major renovation of and addition to Larkins Hall to 
better meet student, faculty and staff needs. 

     Shkurti expressed support for the center and outlined the 
process for undertaking the project.  He said recommendations 
from the Space and Facilities committee must be reviewed and 
approved by the Coordinating Council and the Executive Committee 
to begin the process.  This would be followed by decisions on how 
to fund the project and where to locate the facility, as well as 
completion of detailed design plans.  At that point, it would be 
possible to bring the project before the student body in the form 
of a referendum on student fees to pay for a portion of the 
construction and operating costs.  Student input was a key factor 
throughout the feasability study, and now a process must be 
determined for soliciting student, faculty and staff input in the 
next phases.

     Shkurti said recommendations on a site and overall concept 
would be made by mid-April, with funding sources resolved by 
July.  Following completion of a memorandum of understating and 
hiring of architects, construction for the facility could begin 
in fiscal year 2000.

Board hears a report on a Student Success Center

     Trustees heard a report from Kathleen Riffee, assistant 
director of athletics, on a Student Success Center designed to 
help student achieve academic and personal success and to help 
faculty improve instruction.  The facility will combine support 
for student athletes and the general student population, the 
first center of its kind on a college campus.

     The facility, to be located on Neil Avenue adjacent to the 
south residential complex, will house the Student Athlete Support 
Services Office, an Academic Learning Center, Career Services, 
Counseling and Consultation Services, and Faculty and Teaching 
Associate Development.  The goals of the center are to improve 
student success at Ohio State, attract and retain high quality 
students, promote student learning, and integrate services for 
students.  

     Riffee said the center will be connected with every student 
service office on campus, either physically or technically.  She 
said construction on the facility, which will have a three-story 
atrium, will begin soon.

Update from the Committee on the Undergraduate Experience

     The board heard a report from Robert Arnold, vice provost 
for academic affairs, on recommendations from the Committee on 
the Undergraduate Experience.  Arnold said a review of the 
General Education Curriculum (GEC) for undergraduate students 
completed by the Colleges of Arts and Sciences has resulted in 
modifying and simplifying GEC requirements, and will enable 
students to earn their degrees more expediently. 

     Arnold reported initial success with Term I, a bridge 
program for at-risk students.  The program began last fall with 
37 students who began English, math and a university survey 
course three weeks before regularly scheduled classes.  The 
students were then compared with 37 at-risk students who chose 
not to participate in the program and all new first quarter 
freshmen.  The average grade point average for fall quarter for 
the Term I students was 2.77, compared to 2.04 for the matched 
sample and 2.40 for all freshmen.  All 37 Term I students 
returned for winter quarter, while the matched sample had an 
attrition rate of 12 percent and the overall freshman rate was 6 
percent.

     Arnold also reported that current projections show that the 
incoming freshman class of 1997 will meet or exceed goals for 
academic achievement and ethnic diversity.  Applications from 
students with average ACT scores of 21 or above have increased 18 
percent and those from students with ACT scores of 29 or above 
have increased by 31 percent.  Applicants with SAT scores over 
990 have increased 27 percent and scores of 1300 and above by 55 
percent.  He said applications from African Americans increased 
by 22 percent; Hispanics by 14 percent; Native Americans by 37 
percent; and Asian Americans by 20 percent.

Update from Campus Partners

     The Student Affairs Committee heard a report from Terry 
Foegler, president of Campus Partners for Community Urban 
Redevelopment, the nonprofit organization charged with leading a 
revitalization of the University District neighborhoods.  Foegler 
proposed priority implementation measures and asked for input so 
that Campus Partners can establish a working plan over the next 
few months. 

     The proposed priorities fall into four major areas:
     -- To raise the level of homeownership, which would include 
an incentive program targeted to university staff and faculty.
     -- To proceed with commercial development initiatives on 
High Street, which would include a proposed mixed-use development 
at 11th Avenue.
     -- To ensure faculty and student engagement, which would 
utilize the university's Campus Collaborative and its 
interdisciplinary efforts to address human services and other 
needs.
     -- To improve student housing, which would concentrate on 
the quality of student life within the central core of the 
district.

     Based on input and surveys from the many constituencies, 
Foegler said the priorities were proposed because they will 
provide broader benefits, will be easier, more straightforward to 
implement, or are critical to the revitalization effort.

Resolutions in memoriam

     The board adopted resolutions in memoriam for:
     
     -- Bernard A. Block, assistant professor emeritus in the 
University Libraries, who died Jan. 10.

     -- George Wadlington, professor emeritus in the Ohio State 
University Extension, who died Dec. 28.

                             #

Contact:  Tracy Turner, University Communications, 688-3682.


[Submitted by: Von Vargas  (vargas.12@osu.edu)
               
Fri, 7 Mar 1997 16:30:49 -0500 (EST)]
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