COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University is launching a new, more personalized approach to welcoming its first-year students this year as it continues a trend of attracting freshman classes with increasingly strong credentials.

For the fifth consecutive year, Ohio State is welcoming a best-ever freshman class in terms of high school performance, test scores and other indicators of students' academic qualifications.

"Any way you measure it, our academic indicators have moved up steadily for the past several years," Martha Garland, vice provost and dean for undergraduate studies, said in a presentation Wednesday (8/30) to the Board of Trustees. "Once again, this is the strongest class we've ever had."

Among the highlights, according to projected figures:

· About 31 percent of the freshmen ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class, as opposed to 29 percent last year;

· Roughly 67 percent were in the top 25 percent of their class, up five points from 1999-2000;

· The average ACT score is expected to increase to 25, from 24.7;

· The number of Honors students should reach 1,330, up from 1,304;

· The number of high school valedictorians is projected to reach an all-time high of 245;

· The number of National Merit Scholars is expected to peak at 110; and

· The number of University Scholars is projected to be 700; these scholars are students who typically rank in the top 3 percent of their high school classes and have ACT scores of at least 29 (out of a possible 36) or SAT scores of at least 1300 (out of a possible 1600).

In comparison with other institutions, Ohio State's entering class academic profile has risen from near the bottom of Big Ten universities to the middle in just five years, and progress is expected to continue, said James Mager. Mager today was promoted to associate vice president for enrollment services in recognition of his outstanding record as the architect of Ohio State's dramatic improvements in student recruitment and retention, Garland said.

The university intentionally sought to reduce the class size to maximize personal attention and opportunities for the incoming students, and is projecting an enrollment of 5,800 freshmen, compared to 5,986 last year, Mager said.

By the time the entering class arrives in 2001, a new First Year Experience (FYE) program will be in full swing under the leadership of Mabel Freeman, today appointed as assistant vice president for the First Year Experience and interim director of undergraduate admissions. The intent of the new program is to integrate and coordinate recruitment, welcoming events and first-year education programs to create a seamless transition for Ohio State's newest students.

The FYE program will extend the concepts of the university's Honors program, which for 15 years has provided a specialized environment for first-year and continuing students. Continuity of new students' contact with Ohio State personnel and collaboration among the areas involved in recruitment, enrollment and the welcoming process will be critical to the new concept.

"Ideally, messages students receive during the admissions process should be repeated during orientation, tied to Welcome Week activities, reinforced in the college survey courses and sustained in their on-campus residential environment," Freeman said. "We want to reduce the fragmentation so students have successful first-year experiences. The ultimate goal is for everyone to return for the second year, continue their academic pursuits here and graduate. To achieve that, we have to take very good care of students in their first year."

Ohio State also continues to strive for increased diversity in its student population. This autumn, the university reports the highest percentage to date - 18.5 percent - of ethnic minorities among its incoming freshman class, compared to 17.8 percent last year and 16 percent four years ago, Mager said.

"Diversity will continue to be a high priority in our recruitment and retention efforts," he said.

Ohio State will begin autumn quarter with plenty of new and continuing programs for freshmen, including two new Scholars programs that combine students' academic interests and living environments. A new Health Sciences Scholars program offers its first 221 students a shared living environment, meetings and fireside chats with health sciences professionals, work opportunities in the hospitals complex and a peer tutor support system for math study.

Fifty new Humanities Scholars will engage in special study seminars and take advantage of service-learning opportunities, and will be encouraged to make progress toward fluency in a non-English language. An Arts Scholars program is expected to begin in winter quarter. The Mount Scholars leadership program, in its second year, will welcome 97 new students this year. Mount Scholars are high-achieving students interested in leadership who share a living environment, courses and out-of-class service projects for at least two years.

The Scholars programs are developed and implemented under the leadership of Daniel Farrell, who has accepted an appointment as associate provost for Honors & Scholars programming. Farrell has held the position in an interim capacity for a year.

Other academic opportunities this year include:

· Research seminars for undergraduates, which will focus on how to conduct research in a given discipline and how to begin the inquiry process. Ideally, these will lead to a senior thesis and/or participation in the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum.

· The Younkin Success Center begins its first full academic year in operation, consolidating several student - and some faculty - services under one roof at 1640 Neil Ave. The center's overall goal is to help Ohio State students meet their full potential by attracting and retaining high-caliber students, promoting student learning and integrating services. The center houses the Academic Learning Lab, Counseling and Consultation Service, the Career Connection office, Student Athlete Support Services, a resource library, and Faculty and Teaching Assistant Development, which is under the leadership of a new director, Alan Kalish. The Academic Learning Lab, the only new unit housed in the center, uses computers to assess and, where possible, provide those services that will best suit individual students, particularly in regard to learning and self-motivational strategies.

Trustees hear report on graduate and professional housing

As the demand for campus housing increases, student government leaders expressed their enthusiasm for a new graduate and professional housing project to trustees on Wednesday (8/30).

William Hall, interim vice president for student affairs, said the new housing will include 240 single units for graduate and professional students in the area of 10th and Neil avenues, 96 beds in the Alumni Scholarship House and 136 units in the Worthington Residence Hall on the corner of Worthington Street and 9th Avenue.

There also will be first-floor retail space on the Neil Avenue side of the graduate and professional housing, he added. The entire project should be completed by fall 2002.

"It is truly a great opportunity for Ohio State's 13,000 graduate and professional to find safe and affordable housing close to campus," said Ron Meyers, Council of Graduate Students president.

Undergraduate Student Government President B.J. Schuerger said the new development will improve the livability of southwest section of campus by increasing retail and housing in the area.

"The 10th and Neil avenue area will be a perfect place to bring this unique living environment to campus," Schuerger said. "With the opportunity for new retail in the area and hopefully a new restaurant, this area of campus will integrate nicely with the rest of campus. It also will coordinate nicely with the Gateway project."

It also will create the opportunity for more graduate and professional students to find housing near their respective colleges, said Todd Armen, medical student and president of the Inter-Professional Council.

"I think this project will be a tremendous success for the university and its students as we continue to create new and positive environments for our students to live," Schuerger said.

Trustees present student recognition award

Trustees on Wednesday (8/30) presented a student recognition award to Darrell Bryant, a student in the College of Pharmacy. The recipient of five different scholarships in the College of Pharmacy, Bryant graduated from Ohio State in 1988 with a B.S. in nutrition and is currently working toward a B.S. in medical technology, a M.S. in pharmacology and a doctorate in pharmacy, all of which he expects to receive in the summer of 2002. He has been published in In Review, Tech Sample: American Society of Clinical Pathologist and in the Journal of Pharmacological Experimental Therapy, most notably while working with pharmacy Professor Dennis McKay in structure activity studies relating to nicotinic receptors, which has potential application in the treatment of neuroscience disorders. Bryant received third place at the Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum held in Columbus this past April. He also participated in the STARS program (Student Achievement in Research and Scholarship), the Summer Research Opportunities Program and is currently a National Institutes of Health research fellow in the College of Pharmacy's Division of Pharmacology. He has served as president of his Doctor of Pharmacy class, as vice president and president of the Phi Beta Sigma professional fraternity as an undergraduate, and is a member of the Society for Neuroscience. Bryant recently was named national president elect of the National Student Pharmaceutical Association, making him the first student ever from Ohio State to hold this prestigious position.

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