November 18, 2004 | Download PDF
This Leadership Agenda provides the specific priorities under the Academic Plan for action and resource allocation, guided by consultation with academic, administrative, faculty, staff, and student leadership. Our overarching goal, as identified in the Academic Plan, is to be one of the world's truly great research universities. That goal will be reached only by prioritizing our actions and focusing on those that are most likely to improve our reputation and our performance in the context of fiscal responsibility.
To facilitate achievement of this Leadership Agenda and our aspirations of academic excellence, the university must move rapidly toward a more dynamic and constructive culture, identifying and building on our strengths and rejecting limiting behaviors. The foundational elements of this culture are creativity, high performance, and commitment as highlighted below.
Creativity flourishes in a dynamic environment that encourages risk-taking, seeks and values ideas from all, and requires visionary and inspirational leadership. Leaders are responsible for creating an environment that nurtures creativity.
High performance is expected in an environment of accountability and transparency, which includes the ability to set and act on priorities. A high-performance culture drives out entitlements and mediocrity; utilizes incentives and awards; values diversity; fosters synergy from collaborations across units; and flows from strategic planning that is informed by data, knowledge, and experience and guided by metrics.
Commitment to performance is strengthened by an aspiration to have a more dynamic culture by creating an environment which fully engages all, instills institutional pride, and treats each person with respect and dignity; and by ensuring that all program priorities ultimately benefit the university as a whole and society. This cultural transformation will require our full and passionate participation.
The initiatives in the three areas of focus--distinctive education for students, cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, and 21st-century outreach and engagement--are heavily intertwined. Together these initiatives are designed to increase the quality of education for our students, the academic excellence and national prestige of our university, and the economic impact of our research and outreach activities. The objectives described in the Leadership Agenda complement the high priority that the university places on accountability to our stakeholders, access and affordability for students, and recruitment and retention of the best faculty and staff. Continued support for student scholarships and competitive compensation for faculty and staff are essential for success.
The university's leadership team has initiated action on each of the items listed below. We expect to report annually on progress in each area.
Use of Leadership Agenda in Organizational Unit Planning
The core values and strategies articulated in the Academic Plan provide a broad context for academic plans developed by colleges, departments, and academic support units. Correspondingly, the annual goals and actions established in the annual Leadership Agenda should be incorporated on an annual basis into the evolving action plans at the unit level. As college and department leaders work with faculty, staff, and other stakeholders in the revising of their units' plans, these planning activities should occur with full knowledge and understanding by all participants of the context provided by the Academic Plan, and also the more specific goals and actions described in the annual Leadership Agenda. Each unit should incorporate and integrate, as appropriate, the Leadership Agenda goals into its respective plan and strive to support and achieve those goals through actions performed both within the unit and through collaboration with other organizations internal and external to the campus. Finally, performance metrics must be established at each administrative level to measure on a continuing basis success in accomplishing stated actions, and thereby assess the progress toward achieving the goals.
I. DISTINCTIVE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS
One strategy identified in the Academic Plan is to enhance and better serve the student body. In the core values, we stated that we want to "ignite a lifelong love of learning" and "open the world to our students." Ohio State's breadth and depth allows us to attract top students and offer them distinctive educational experiences and opportunities. We want every student to leave Ohio State with a degree, a sense of intellectual accomplishment and cultural curiosity, a lifelong engagement with learning, and having had direct and significant interactions with faculty members. To enhance the education of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, over the next two years we will take the following steps.
For undergraduate students, we will:
1. Recruit an entering freshman class with a median ACT score of 26 by 2006 (with a target of 27 by 2008). Continue to improve student retention.
Five-hundred-thousand dollars in new continuing funds was allocated in the FY 2005 budget process for strategic recruitment efforts designed to enhance the academic profile of the freshmen entering in fall 2005 and to attract students who will contribute to diversity on our campus. This is the first phase of the Ohio State 2008 Enrollment Management Plan.
responsibility center: Office of Academic Affairs (Offices of Undergraduate Studies and Admissions); Office of Student Affairs.
2. Review undergraduate education, including the General Education Curriculum and the total number of hours required for graduation, to create an undergraduate education that better reflects the quality of our students as well as university priorities such as diversity, research, interdisciplinarity, and outreach.
The university-wide committee to review undergraduate education will be appointed fall quarter 2004, with a report expected by June 2005.
responsibility center: Office of Academic Affairs; University Senate; Arts and Sciences Faculty Senate
3. Create additional opportunities for greater interaction between faculty and undergraduate students including research experiences, mentoring programs, and seminars.
a. Colleges must now report on research opportunities for undergraduates. All colleges with undergraduate programs are offering undergraduate research experiences. The Office of Academic Affairs (Undergraduate Studies) and the Office of Research will collaborate to create an Office of Undergraduate Research, which will be responsible for 1) creating and maintaining a searchable database of faculty research interests to facilitate contacts between faculty and undergraduate students interested in research opportunities; 2) overseeing the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum; and 3) coordinating central support for undergraduate research. The Office of Undergraduate Research will be launched in FY 2006.
b. The Colleges of the Arts and Sciences assumed leadership of the president's freshman seminar initiative. Freshman seminars were offered for the first time in 2003-04, and the number of seminars offered will increase in 2004-05. The Colleges of the Arts and Sciences and the Council on Academic Affairs will review the two-year pilot program this year, and the university-wide committee to review undergraduate education will consider the role of freshman seminars in undergraduate education.
responsibility center: Offices of Academic Affairs (Undergraduate Studies) and Research; Council on Academic Affairs; departments, schools, and colleges
4. Create additional novel undergraduate majors, minors, and courses that leverage the breadth of academic programs across the university.
These majors, minors, and courses will build on existing interdisciplinary academic offerings. We will also encourage the development of courses that include an international experience.
responsibility center: schools, colleges, departments; Office of Academic Affairs; Council on Academic Affairs
For graduate and professional students, we will:
1. Examine doctoral programs to ensure that funding promotes quality.
The report from the Freeman Committee on Graduate Education report is due on January 15, 2005. The report will be widely shared with groups across campus, including the Senate Fiscal Committee and the University Senate.
responsibility center: Office of Academic Affairs, deans, Graduate School
2. Create new minors and interdisciplinary specializations for graduate and professional students.
The request for proposals was sent out by the Graduate School in October 2004.
responsibility center: Graduate School, in coordination with departments, schools, and colleges
3. Develop the president's Interdisciplinary Seminar Series to bring together faculty and graduate and professional students from multiple disciplines to address issues of importance to Ohio, the nation, and the world.
Planning is underway in 2004-05 for the seminar series in 2005-06.
responsibility center: Graduate School, in coordination with the Office of Research and departments, schools, and colleges
For all students, we will:
1. Through expanded recruitment and financial aid, as well as renewed efforts to improve the campus climate, enhance diversity to serve our educational mission.
a. In FY 2004, we allocated $500,000 in new continuing funds for the Morrill Scholarship Program. In fall 2003 we awarded Morrill Scholarship funds to 424 new freshmen, and for fall 2004 we awarded Morrill funds to 458 incoming freshmen. We allocated some additional funding for Graduate Enrichment Fellowships. We also allocated additional funds for enhanced recruitment efforts targeted to minority students. We will continue to monitor recruitment efforts designed to increase diversity on our campus.
b. Existing efforts to improve the campus climate for diversity, such as the President's and Provost's Diversity Lecture Series, will continue. We will also continue to work with the Senate Diversity Committee and the Diversity Council on issues related to the campus climate.
responsibility center: Office of Academic Affairs (Offices of Minority Affairs, Undergraduate Studies, Admissions, and Financial Aid); Senate Committee on Diversity; University Diversity Council; Office of Student Affairs
2. Invest in technology to enrich faculty teaching and student learning.
Seventy-six percent of the tuition earmarked for learning technology went to the colleges. Central funds were used by the CIO to address three priorities: cybersecurity, which was improved with the installation in June 2004 of virus-blocking software to the central e-mail system; the learning environment, which was improved by installing hardware to create more "smart classrooms" in the central pool and by adding staff members to support faculty use of instructional technology, the development of instructional materials, and the classroom helpline; and web-based services to students, which were improved by the creation of an integrated web site for student academic services such as registration, scheduling, course permissions and waitlists, grades, and a web-based degree-planning tool. During 2004-05, the Office of the CIO will begin work on the wireless project, which will create a centrally managed wireless network with access points in common areas, three wireless data frequency standards, and standard university-wide authentication and encryption, as well as continue to develop the course management system.
responsibility center: Office of the CIO, Office of Academic Affairs, colleges
3. Make on-campus student housing that is safe and high-quality an institutional priority to enhance student academic achievement.
The April 27, 2004, housing plan, which calls for the conversion of Archer House, Fawcett Center, and Lincoln Tower to student housing, was recommended by the Offices of Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Business and Finance and was approved by President Holbrook. The conversion of Archer House and Fawcett Center should be completed by fall 2006. The Lincoln Tower conversion is more complex due to the number of offices involved; we anticipate student occupancy no earlier than fall 2008.
responsibility center: Office of Student Affairs; Office of Business and Finance
II. CUTTING-EDGE INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH FOR SHORT- AND LONG-TERM SOCIETAL BENEFITS
The Academic Plan calls for the development of academic programs that define Ohio State as the nation's leading public land-grant university. One of the core values identified in the Academic Plan is to "[p]roduce discoveries that make the world a better place." To achieve distinction as a research university, we must produce cutting-edge interdisciplinary scholarship that will provide short- and long-term benefits for society. To facilitate that research, during the next two years we will:
1. Fund the development of extramural grant proposals for large multidisciplinary centers by competitively awarding appropriate support.
Twenty excellent proposals were received from our faculty and reviewed by a select team of researchers from across the university. Based upon the recommendations of the selection committee, seven proposals were selected and awards were made on October 6, 2004. After implementation of program modifications suggested by the deans, the Large Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program will again solicit proposals and will award seed grants during the 2004-05 academic year.
Recognizing that external funding for the large interdisciplinary centers is unavailable in some disciplines, the president and the Office of Research made available $500,000 for the Interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities Seed Grant competition. Grants were awarded in 2003-04, and the program was renewed for 2004-05. The request for proposals went out in November 2004.
responsibility center: Office of Research
2. Support the development of interdisciplinary research institutes that bring together the most accomplished disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholars at the university. These institutes will attract leading scholars from other institutions, foster interdisciplinary research, and assist in communicating its impact. The institutes will also develop collaborations with public and private-sector partners and provide research opportunities for students.
responsibility center: Office of Research; departments, schools, and colleges
3. Implement and effectively utilize a research faculty track.
Amendments to university rules approved by the Board of Trustees on June 4, 2004, allow tenure-initiating units to provide for the appointment of research faculty. Units planning to hire research faculty must first have an approved Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure document that specifies criteria for appointments, reappointments, and promotions. As of October 2004, two tenure-initiating units have A, P, and T documents that permit the hiring of research faculty.
responsibility center: Office of Academic Affairs, Office of Research, departments, schools, and colleges
4. Identify and propose solutions to real and perceived procedural and/or financial barriers to progress in interdisciplinary research and teaching.
The Senate Fiscal Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee on Non-Fiscal Barriers to Interdisciplinarity have provided recommendations to the Offices of Academic Affairs and Business and Finance. In parallel, the senior vice president for research has initiated discussions with the Office of Business and Finance, the Research Foundation, the college deans, and the directors of existing university research centers to ensure that departments and colleges receive adequate credit and fiscal reward for their participation in interdisciplinary efforts. The results of these discussions and the recommendations of the Senate Fiscal Committee and the Ad-Hoc Committee will inform our implementation plan.
responsibility center: Offices of Academic Affairs, Business and Finance, and Research
III. OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVES THAT CONNECT AREAS OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE WITH SOCIETAL NEEDS
Helping to build Ohio's future is another strategy in the Academic Plan. The vision statement asks Ohio State to "set the standard for the creation and dissemination of knowledge in service to its communities, state, nation, and the world." To put that vision into operation, our outreach and engagement initiatives must connect Ohio State's areas of academic excellence with societal needs. Over the next two years we will:
1. Implement comprehensive university-wide leadership for outreach and engagement that will:
- build capacity for outreach and engagement within departments and colleges;
- catalyze, support, catalogue, and publicize cross-cutting and college and department-level programs and their impacts;
- provide leadership for central initiatives;
- recognize and reward outstanding achievements in outreach and engagement;
- develop diversified revenue streams;
- and provide central support for and oversight of service learning.
The internal and external reviews of outreach and engagement have been completed. The president is reviewing these recommendations.
responsibility center: Office of the President
2. Turn the vision of "live, learn, create, work communities" into a bold and viable business plan.
A team headed by Joe Alutto (Ohio State) and Rich Rosen (Battelle) prepared a preliminary proposal for the creation of the Columbus Center for the Arts and Sciences in the Lazarus building. A memorandum of understanding setting forth plans to work together on development of this project was signed in July 2004 by Ohio State, Battelle, and the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation.
responsibility center: Office of the President, Office of Research, Office of Outreach and Engagement
3. Ask each college and regional campus to include in its pattern of administration a statement articulating how outreach and engagement activities are embedded in its teaching, research, and service and to designate a person responsible for coordinating those activities and for working with the Office of Outreach and Engagement.
responsibility center: colleges, Office of Academic Affairs, Office of Outreach and Engagement
