Trustees: Report on Strategic Indicators

OFFICIALS REPORT TO TRUSTEES ON STRATEGIC INDICATORS

COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University, already a top 20 public 
research institution in the country, is positioning itself to achieve 
its goal of becoming a top 10 university, several administrators told 
the Board of Trustees Friday (7/10).

"Ohio State can and should aspire to be one of the country's top 
10 public institutions," said Edward J. Ray, senior vice provost and 
chief information officer.  "After discussions across the university, 
a consensus is emerging that reaching to be among the top 10 is an 
appropriate and achievable goal.  The next step is to focus even more 
strenuously on enhancements to academic quality and the student 
experience, and generating more financial resources.  The point of 
that goal is not to earn bragging rights but to provide Ohio with the 
high-skilled work force that the economic competition of the 21st 
century will require."

Possible strategies to achieve the top 10 goal and a preliminary 
report on Ohio State's strategic position were outlined to trustees 
by Ray; William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance; Alice 
Stewart, director of strategic analysis and planning; and Eric Kunz, 
assistant vice president for resource planning and institutional 
analysis and assistant provost.

In the continuing pursuit of improving the value of the 
university to the people of Ohio, performance is being measured in 
categories of teaching impact, academic impact, service impact and 
financial performance.  The incoming student profile and overall 
student outcomes also are measured.  To achieve the first step of the 
goal -- a national standing between eight and 14 -- analysts gave 
examples of some changes needed at Ohio State:

-- Student profile:  Increasing the student diversity index by 
7.8 percent, meaning attracting 263 more undergraduate minority 
students; and moving from 23 percent to 32 percent in the percentage 
of new autumn quarter freshmen who were in the top 10 percent of 
their high school class, meaning 540 more freshmen in that top 10 
percent (a 39.1 percent increase).

-- Student outcomes:  Improving the freshman retention rate from 
79 percent to 84 percent, or retaining 300 more freshmen (a 6.3 
percent improvement); and improving the six-year graduation rate from 
59 percent to 65.5 percent (an 11 percent increase), or graduating an 
additional 390 students within six years.

-- Academic impact:  Increasing Ohio State's share of the 
federal research funding market by 22.2 percent, or achieving a $26.6 
million sustained increase in federal research funding; achieving 
1,870 (26.4 percent) more faculty citations each year in quality 
journals -- an increase from 3.4 citations per faculty to 4.3; and 
moving from 46 to 96.6 in the number of additional patents and 
royalty-generating licenses each year (an increase of 110 percent).

-- Financial performance:  Generating $19.3 million in new 
revenue each year, or $441.50 per student (full-time equivalent).

Those measuring Ohio State's progress in meeting strategic 
objectives already have identified nine benchmark institutions for 
comparison purposes in further analyses of Ohio State's performance.  
They are Pennsylvania State University and the universities of 
Minnesota, Washington, Texas, Michigan, Illinois, Arizona, Wisconsin 
and California, Los Angeles.  The next step is a campuswide 
discussion as to which of these measures and goals are most 
appropriate for Ohio State as a whole and for individual colleges, 
Ray said.  That discussion will continue into the fall.

Stewart reported on Ohio State's strategic position relative to 
the benchmark universities in several performance categories.  "These 
are just a few examples of strategic indicators, but they give a 
sense of how close we are to where we might want to be," she said.  
"These are tough benchmarks.  We specifically sought similar 
universities, but of higher overall survey ranking, to increase the 
probability that programs, initiatives and policies which work to 
affect performance in these institutions may be more easily 
transferable to Ohio State."

The following are examples of how Ohio State ranks in comparison 
with its nine benchmark institutions:

Teaching impact:  Ohio State ranks fifth in student diversity; 
10th in the number of freshmen who were in the top 10 percent of 
their high school class; ninth in freshman retention; and eighth in 
the six-year graduation rate.

Academic impact:  Ohio State ranks 10th in market share of 
federal research funding; 10th in citations per faculty; and eighth 
in patents and licensing.

Financial performance:  Ohio State ranks eighth in revenue per 
student (full-time equivalent).

University administrators also have defined a number of broad 
initiatives designed to help achieve major goals in improving the 
university's strategic position, including:

-- Implementing the Leadership Agenda, which links strategic 
goals to operational activity in the areas of academic excellence, 
the student experience and revenue growth;
-- Continuing to attract more highly qualified students through 
aggressive recruitment and retention plans;
-- Implementing recommendations put forward by the Research 
Commission concerning investments in and advancement of research and 
graduate studies;
-- Enhancing faculty development; and
-- Continuing to make strides in improving the quality of the 
student experience for undergraduate, graduate and professional 
students.

Two major goals in the context of long-standing goals to enhance 
academic quality, the student experience and fiscal responsibility 
are increasing the value and visibility of Ohio State in Ohio, the 
nation and internationally, and increasing revenue from state and 
nonstate sources.  The initiatives also will help in the effort to 
sharpen the university's academic focus and to define Ohio State's 
continuing access mission.

Consideration of the need for more resources will be 
incorporated into the annual budget process and a forthcoming budget 
restructuring, Shkurti said.

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Contact:  Edward J. Ray, (614) 292-5881
William J. Shkurti, (614) 292-9232
Alice Stewart, (614) 292-1312