Trustees: Leadership Agenda Presented

LEADERSHIP AGENDA PRESENTED TO TRUSTEES

     COLUMBUS -- Ohio State University administrators have
defined institutional goals and priorities for the next year
focusing on academic excellence, the student experience and
revenue growth.

     An issue of immediate concern is protecting and increasing
the university's state subsidy in light of the court mandate to
change Ohio's public school funding formula.  University leaders
also have set long-term goals and have proposed to have at least
20 academic programs ranked in the top 20 nationally by 2010 and
to increase the six-year graduation rate to 70 percent in the
same time period.

     Those and other goals and priorities are detailed in the
Leadership Agenda developed from discussions among deans, faculty
leaders, students, senior administrators and the Board of
Trustees.  A draft of the agenda was presented to trustees Friday
(12/5) by Richard Sisson, senior vice president and provost;
Edward Ray, senior vice provost; William J. Shkurti, vice
president for finance; and David Williams, vice president for
student affairs.

     "This document will function as a guideline during Ohio
State's transition in leadership," Sisson said.  "By identifying
and concentrating on these strategic priorities, we will ensure
that Ohio State's momentum is maintained -- which is the No. 1
priority for everyone at the university."

     The agenda report includes 15 action items for academic
excellence, the student experience and revenue growth, and
assigns responsibility for those items to the appropriate
administrators.

Academic Excellence

     University leaders say Ohio State should achieve
international distinction in education, scholarship and public
service, including achieving top 10 status among public
universities.  A long-term objective is to provide top-notch
faculty and high-ability students with the best possible quality
teaching, learning and research environments.

     Action items include:

     -- Improving the quality of faculty and students and
developing a clearer understanding of the university's goal to be
a top 10 institution.
     -- Continuing Academic Enrichment programs and reviewing
previous awards to determine if original goals have been met.
     -- Recruiting and developing top-notch faculty, including
those who will attract other distinguished faculty and who will
work with the best current faculty.
     -- Ensuring that university values and priorities -- rather
than availability of external funds -- drive internal investment
decisions.
     -- Identifying initiatives and taking actions to improve the
graduate student experience and ensuring that scarce resources
are spent on real problems, not on symptoms.

Student Experience

     The university seeks to recruit and retain students and
enable their timely graduation and future success.  In the long
term, leaders plan to develop measures of outcomes that can be
used to assess and certify that the Ohio State experience is
among the best in the country.

     Action items include:

     -- Improving attention to student progress, including better
advising, mentoring and career counseling; this also involves
providing more research, co-op, internship and study abroad
experiences.
     -- Providing a better understanding of diversity issues
throughout campus by building a broader sense of community within
the student body.
     -- Promoting outreach programs to engage students
proactively.
     -- Improving regular assessment of student satisfaction in
and out of the classroom.
     -- Encouraging colleges to share ideas about how to get
faculty more directly involved in the student experience.

Revenue Growth

     Full funding for academic priorities is an objective in this
area.  This includes recruiting, retaining and developing the
best faculty, staff and students through a combination of
competitive compensation levels, staff support, state-of-the-art
equipment and selective program enhancements.

     Action items include:

     -- Protecting and increasing state appropriations, with
immediate attention to ensuring that the K-12 public school
funding problem is not solved at the expense of higher education.
     -- Developing new and expanded markets; possibilities
include expanding distance learning initiatives and developing
new partnerships with business and industry through co-ops and
internships.
     -- Restructuring budgets so they are responsive to, but not
driven by, enrollment pressures and income sources.  The budget
process also should recognize the varying costs of education by
discipline and level of study.
     -- Promoting external research funding by linking the
efforts of the Research Commission and the budget process.
     -- Increasing private fund raising.

                             #

Contact:  Richard Sisson, Academic Affairs, 614-292-5881
          David Williams, Student Affairs, 614-292-9334
          William Shkurti, Finance, 614-292-9232
          Edward Ray, Academic Affairs, 614-292-5881


[Submitted by: Von Vargas  (vargas.12@osu.edu)
               
Fri, 5 Dec 1997 15:26:16 -0500 (EST)]
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