New undergraduate studies office established at OSU

New structure to focus on academic advising

Garland explained that under the new organization, degree-granting colleges are being encouraged to directly enroll freshmen who have chosen their majors.  Historically, University College has served as an “intake” college for students, who typically entered their major home colleges as juniors.  Coinciding with the steady increase in direct enrollment is the amalgamation of Arts and Sciences and University College advising resources, which will allow for enhanced effectiveness in taking care of first-year students, Garland said.

“Academic advising has been identified as a very important element of student success. With this new structure, we will be able to place new students as close as we possibly can to their academic area -- and the advisers who specialize in those areas -- as early as possible,” Garland said.  A unit titled “Exploration” will be available within USAS to help “undecided” students select a major and consider various career options.

Initially, USAS also will advise students who intend to enroll in undergraduate professional programs with preliminary entrance requirements, such as business and allied medicine, for example.  The expectation is that soon all colleges will uniformly enroll “decided” students directly upon their admission to Ohio State and assume advising responsibilities of those students, including guiding those who have difficulty meeting requirements by informing them of other academic programs within the institution related to their interests.

The overall advising structure at Ohio State will remain the same:  Students will be assigned to a professional academic adviser, whose full-time job is guiding undergraduates through their academic, personal and development decisions.  These advisers ensure that students are meeting their general education and graduation requirements, track prerequisites for the majors for which they are responsible and advise students on how best to approach those requirements, and refer students to a number of available support services.

Within their major areas, students are increasingly assigned to a faculty adviser responsible for guiding students about specifics of the discipline and the variety of academic and industry career options available in the field.

“The professional advisers help students with academic difficulties.  Professors are really good at helping students think things through in the discipline,” Garland said.  And under the new organization, “Students will have two, and only two, advisers.  And these advisers will have two defined sets of purposes for serving students.”

A hiring strategy accompanying the reorganization will create a more stable pool of advisers by emphasizing employment of full-time professional academic advisers rather than part-time graduate students, whose limited and short-term availability in the past has led to adviser turnover, especially among those serving undecided students.

“Advisers have to learn a complicated body of curricular material.  I feel really strongly that this is important work,” Garland said.  “When students have a good adviser on the technical side, and a good adviser in their discipline, they are well-served.”

First-Year Research Seminars highlighted

The board also heard a presentation by Ohio State University Scholars students and Dan Farrell, associate provost for Honors and Scholars Programming and director of the Honors & Scholars Center, highlighting aspects of new seminar programs for first-year students.

Farrell said the seminars are designed to give Scholar students the opportunity to work closely with top research faculty, who serve as discussion leaders, in a small-group environment.  The purpose of this program is to expose the students to both the idea and the practice of original research.

The seminar program was initiated this spring with two sections and is scheduled to grow to 12 sections next academic year. 

More than 450 Ohio State students participate in one of the four existing Scholars programs – Health Sciences, Humanities, Arts Interdisciplinary and the Mount Leadership Society.  The Mount society is in its second year, while the other three programs began this past fall.  During the 2001-02 academic year, four new Scholars programs will be added – Biological Sciences, Communication Technology, Undecided Liberal Arts and Tomorrow’s Teachers.

Student counseling issues explored

In another presentation to the board, Louise Douce, director of Ohio State’s Counseling and Consultation Services, told trustees that many students leave college because of personal rather than academic difficulties.  Studies have shown that students who have received counseling have higher retention rates than non-counseled students, she added.

Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers and severity of mental illnesses and disorders, Douce said.   Some of the major issues college students face include: depression, eating disorders, traumatic stress, harassment, and alcohol and substance abuse, she said.

            Ohio State’s Counseling and Consultation Services provides students outpatient mental health care including individual psychotherapy/psychiatric care; group therapy; and specialty services in drug/alcohol abuse, eating disorders and stress management, Douce said.

Rebecca Parker, assistant vice president of the Ohio Union at The Ohio State University, gave an update to the board on the 2001 African American Heritage Festival, May 14 to May 20.

Parker, chair of the Heritage Festival’s program core committee, outlined the history of the festival, which is in its 23^rd year and detailed this year’s  educational, cultural and recreational programming.

Traffic has become a major challenge for the event because of the large number of people that choose not to leave their cars and "cruise" around the area.  Though cruising is not a sanctioned university activity, it was determined by university and Columbus police departments that a more organized “cruise” route will help them manage those who choose not to take part in the activities planned by students.  A new traffic pattern will be in effect to direct “cruisers” into the campus area west of High Street. 

      Information about this year's Heritage Festival is available on the Web site at www.osuheritagefestival.com.

Other business

      In other business, the board heard an update from Bobby Moser, vice president for agricultural administration and executive dean for the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, on the university’s distance learning and continuing education efforts.  Following a mandate from the university president and provost, focus groups are assessing the existing distance learning initiatives and investigating those in place at Ohio State’s benchmark institutions.

      Dean Henry Fields of the College of Dentistry asked trustees to accept amendments to the Intramural Dental Practice Plan.  The changes clarify that dental faculty will only practice at university facilities and that an employer-employee relationship will exist between the university and the dental faculty.