Trustees: Miscellaneous Business - 04/03/96

ACTIONS OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

     COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees 
on Wednesday (4/3) heard a proposal to establish a committee 
to approve exchanges of stock for licenses of technology, 
reappointed two deans and other academic leaders, and formed 
non-profit corporations for Reading Recovery.  The board 
also named two academic departments, discharged its debt on 
several dormitory bonds, and conducted other business.

Stock could be option for license to use technology

     The board discussed the possibility of accepting stock 
in firms in lieu of cash in exchange for licenses to develop 
technologies invented at Ohio State.

     Each year, the university allows corporations to use 
and market a number of technologies invented at the 
university in exchange for licensing fees and royalties.

     Edward Hayes, vice president for research, proposed 
establishment of a technology transfer oversight committee 
to review and approve agreements in which a corporation 
would award stock to The Ohio State University Foundation in 
lieu of the licensing fee.  Licensing agreements are 
negotiated by the Office of Technology Transfer.

     Hayes said that opportunities have increased to license 
early-stage technologies developed at Ohio State to firms 
that are unable to pay the initial licensing fee usually 
charged by the university.  However, those firms are willing 
to convey stock to the foundation in return for the 
opportunity to license the technology.

     He added that continued participation of faculty 
inventors is often crucial to the successful development of 
the technology.

     Hayes said the proposal will be submitted for approval 
at the board's May meeting.

Contracts approved for variety of research projects

     Trustees approved 201 research contracts totaling 
$15,859,982.  Singled out for special mention were:

     -- An award of $700,000 from Pharmacia Inc. to support 
research in drug development, design and delivery in 
pharmaceutical sciences, pediatrics, ophthalmology and 
cancer.  The five-year agreement also calls for $300,000 for 
graduate fellowship support in pharmaceutical sciences, 
pediatric pharmacy, health outcomes and pharmacy economics, 
ophthalmology, and cancer.  The contract was awarded to John 
M. Cassady, dean of the College of Pharmacy.

     -- An award of $513,300 from the U.S. Geological Survey 
to convert the 1:24,000 scale quadrangular maps of Ohio to a 
computerized, DLG-3 or digital line graph, formatted map.  
The Center for Mapping is providing personnel, equipment and 
facilities to do the conversion.  Also providing funds are 
the Ohio departments of Development, Natural Resources and 
Transportation; the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; 
and the Ohio Geographically Referenced Information Program.  
The map layers include boundaries, surface water, contours, 
public land survey, and transportation.  John D. Bossler and 
Raul Ramirez of the Center for Mapping are the recipients of 
the grant, part of a two-year $1.05 million project of the 
U.S. Geological Survey.

     -- A $300,000 grant from the National Science 
Foundation to investigate the hydrodynamic behavior of gas-
liquid-solid fluidization under high pressure and high 
temperature conditions.  Liang-Shih Fan of the Department of 
Chemical Engineering is conducting the project.

     -- A National Science Foundation project, for $175,300, 
to establish an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networking 
test bed in the Department of Computer and Information 
Science.  The goal is to conduct several research projects 
in the areas of ATM networking, ATM switch testing, parallel 
computing, distributed computing, and multimedia.  Raj Jain, 
Dhabaleswar K. Panda, Anish K. Arora and Thomas W. Page Jr. 
are heading the project.

     -- A $99,438 grant from the Edison Biotechnology Center 
for a project focusing on the use of antisense DNA 
strategies to suppress pre-term labor.  The project involves 
the Laboratory of Perinatal Research at Ohio State and 
PreComp Inc., a start-up biotechnology company in Dublin, 
Ohio.  Douglas A. Kniss of the Department of Obstetrics and 
Gynecology is heading the project.

Board reappoints academic leaders

     Trustees reappointed Carole A. Anderson of COLUMBUS 
(43201), as dean of the College of Nursing, and Henry W. 
Fields of UPPER ARLINGTON, as dean of the College of 
Dentistry, effective July 1 and running through June 2001.

     The board also reappointed:

     -- Mark W. Roche of BLACKLICK as chairperson of the 
Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, through 
September 1997.
     -- Howard W. Sprecher of UPPER ARLINGTON, as acting 
chairperson of the Department of Medical Biochemistry, 
through September.
     -- Mary O'Sullivan of COLUMBUS (43202), as acting 
director of the School of Health, Physical Education, and 
Recreation, through June.

     Trustees named Ernest Newkirk as associate professor 
emeritus in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 
retroactive to March 1.

Fredericktown resident named to Mansfield Board

     Trustees appointed Megan Grimm of FREDERICKTOWN, a 
junior majoring in elementary education, as a student 
trustee to The Ohio State University-Mansfield Board of 
Trustees.  She will fill the unexpired student term of Larry 
Douglas Stephens of FAIRFIELD, who graduated March 15.

     Grimm is employed as a teacher for the Knox County 4-H 
School Age Latchkey program and as a laboratory assistant in 
Ohio State's Department of Geology.  She earned college 
credit while a student at Fredericktown High School, where 
she graduated in 1994.

Trustees name departments in two colleges

     The board voted to name a merged department in the 
College of Human Ecology as the Department of Consumer and 
Textile Science.  The new department is a consolidation of 
the departments of Family Resource Management and Textiles 
and Clothing.  The merger occurred in a reorganization of 
the college last year.  Faculty approved the name 15-0.

     In addition, trustees changed the name of the 
Department of Agricultural Engineering to the Department of 
Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering to reflect 
teaching, research and service interests of the department.  
The faculty approved the name 15-0 with one abstention.

Board creates non-profit corporations for Reading Recovery

     Trustees established non-profit corporations for 
Reading Recovery and the Reading Recovery Council of North 
America.  Reading Recovery is an early intervention for, 
typically, first-grade children at risk of falling behind in 
their reading process, according to Nancy Zimpher, dean of 
the College of Education, and Carol Lyons, associate 
professor of educational theory and practice and a Reading 
Recovery director.

     Ohio State initiated the program in North America 10 
years ago.  The research and development program now spans 
48 states and seven Canadian provinces, and involves 12,000 
teachers and an equal number of administrators.  Last year, 
more than 100,000 children were served by the program 
through a national evaluation center located at Ohio State.

     As a non-profit corporation, Reading Recovery will 
develop and evaluate programs, train teachers, and foster 
outreach and service among educators.  Reading Recovery 
Council of North America will preserve, improve, and expand 
the use of Reading Recovery programs across the United 
States; promote the programs among educators; and promote 
high quality literacy education.

University to finish payment on dormitory bonds

     Trustees voted to deposit securities with National City 
Bank to defease university debts on Dormitory Revenue Bonds 
Series A, C, E and I.  The action will allow Ohio State to 
complete its obligation to paying holders of bonds issued in 
1957, 1960, 1962 and 1967 for construction of dormitories.  
National City Bank was named the escrow trustee.

     By depositing securities that will mature in the 
amounts and at the times necessary to pay the principal and 
interest on the bonds, the annual revenues from room and 
board contracts that had been pledged for paying the 
obligation on the bonds will be available for residence and 
dining halls use.

     According to James L. Nichols, treasurer, the 
securities will be less expensive than continuing the debt.  
In addition, removing the debt from the accounting books may 
improve the credit quality of the university and could lead 
to lower costs of future borrowing.  The action will reduce 
debt service payments by $7.2 million during the next 10 
years and free up $1 million from the debt service reserve 
for other uses in residence and dining halls.

Resolutions in memoriam

     The board adopted resolutions in memoriam for:

     -- Glenn A. Fry, professor emeritus in the College of 
Optometry, who died Jan. 5.
     -- Webster B. Kay, professor emeritus in the Department 
of Chemical Engineering, who died Feb. 19.
     -- Elzy V. McCollough, professor emeritus in the 
Department of Accounting and Management Information Systems, 
who died Feb. 12.
     -- Pearl S. Mullen, assistant professor emeritus in the 
Ohio State University Extension, who died Jan. 4.

Miscellaneous actions

     In other matters, trustees:

     -- Presented a student recognition award to Deborah 
Lange of UPPER ARLINGTON.  A senior majoring in pharmacy, 
Lange was honored for her work as chair of the College of 
Pharmacy's Drug Abuse Education Committee, a student 
organization focusing on educating students on drug abuse.  
A non-traditional student and mother of two, she was chosen 
by the Ohio Pharmacists Recovery Organization to lead a 
state-wide effort to implement student recovery programs in 
the four colleges of pharmacy in Ohio.

     -- Heard a report, in the Student Affairs Committee, 
from William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance, on the 
allocation of 1 percent of this year's increase in tuition 
and the process for determining the allocation for next 
year.  The committee discussed priorities and expanding 
student input into upcoming allocation decisions.  This year 
$800,000 from the 1 percent set-aside was used to improve 
academic computing and the remaining $205,500 went to 
intramural field improvements, a student advocacy center, 
student organizations, and late night recreation.  The top 
priority of students for the coming year, according to 
trustees Thomas Smith and Holly Smith, are implementing the 
recommendations of the Committee on the Undergraduate 
Experience, particularly in the areas of career services, 
academic advising, and Larkins Hall recreation.

     -- Amended the Rules of the University Faculty to 
expand membership on the Ohio Unions Council from 33 to 34 
members, including 18 students, four faculty members, the 
director and four of his or her staff members, three other 
university staff members, two alumni, and two community 
members.

     -- Abolished annual notices of appointment for faculty 
and administrative and professional staff to eliminate 
paperwork and superfluous documentation.  Eliminating the 
notices, which date back as far as the 1950s, will save the 
university more than $60,000 per year.

     -- Amended the Bylaws of the Medical Staff of The 
Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute to 
require staff members to be certified in a medical specialty 
approved by the American Medical Association and American 
Board of Medical Specialties or other applicable certifying 
boards for doctors of osteopathy, podiatry, psychology, and 
dentistry.  Trustees also created a new category of staff 
called clinical oncology attending staff to allow physicians 
with an interest in oncology but without a faculty 
appointment to admit patients and direct their care.  The 
move was made to increase patient volume and enhance 
referrals between faculty physicians and other doctors.

     -- Heard from Sean Ruffin, president of the Inter-
Professional Council, who noted a committee has recommended 
to the governor a slate of candidates for student trustee to 
succeed Thomas Smith, whose term expires in May.

     -- Heard reports from Robert Arnold, vice provost, 
regarding academic policy, and from Richard Sisson, senior 
vice president for academic affairs and provost, and Bobby 
Moser, vice president for agricultural administration, 
regarding restructuring at Ohio State.

                             #

Contact:  Tom Spring, managing editor of news services, 
University Communications, (614) 292-8309.
Written by Tom Spring and Tracy Turner.


[Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
               
Wed, 3 Apr 1996 16:34:14 -0500]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.