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Board supports education efforts targeted to faculty, staff

Programs range from literacy education to fee waivers

COLUMBUS -- Ohio State does a good job of educating its faculty and staff through literacy programs, tuition waivers and training workshops -- but officials say there is room for improvement.

            “We have excellent programs in place providing educational benefits to our employees, but we could be doing more to promote these opportunities. We’d like to see even more participation than we are currently experiencing,” Larry M. Lewellen, associate vice president for human resources, told the University Board of Trustees Friday (10/5).

Nancy Campbell, director of Organizational and Human Resources Development in the Office of Human Resources, outlined current programs, which range from literacy education to fee waivers for employees working on graduate degrees, and presented guidelines for proposed enhancements. Employee education is one of three priorities established by Trustees Chair David L. Brennan, who commissioned an ad hoc committee to study the issue.

            A partnership between Human Resources and the Communications Workers of America, Ohio State’s Reach 1 program provides university employees and their family members with instruction to improve basic literacy skills or to prepare for the GED. The committee proposes a targeted enrollment of 100, which would increase the number of participants by roughly 50 percent.

            Potential changes to the program might include: adding a fast-track program that would provide an immersion approach for two quarters; hiring a part-time counselor for the program; allowing employees one to four hours a week of participation during work time; and using an open entry and exit approach to enrollment.

Employees who have participated in the Reach I program spoke to trustees, telling the board the program improved their self-esteem and enabled them to advance in the workplace, and noting that the program enhances the overall university environment and Ohio State’s institutional efficiency by creating a better-educated work force.

            Alyce Smith, a physical facilities assistant superintendent in the east region, brought tears to the eyes of some at the meeting as she described her Reach I experience. She characterized the program as “almost as dear to me as my family.” A mother of six who over the years also has cared for numerous foster children, Smith said Reach I gave her new confidence in herself, and helped her both financially and spiritually. She has steadily moved up in the job ranks during her more than 20 years at Ohio State.

A second proposal Campbell outlined involves starting a new program for staff offering short courses on subjects such as reading, mathematics and critical thinking. Participants would take voluntary assessment tests to determine their skill levels. The classes would combine a variety of teaching strategies, including classroom and computer-based instruction, and would be offered at times convenient to all shifts of workers.

Ohio State’s flagship program for employee development is the Employee Tuition Authorization Program, which allows employees to take up to 10 credit hours of coursework per quarter at no charge. The program averages 1,000 faculty and staff participants in any given quarter. In the past, students enrolled in graduate classes have been taxed, but a new federal law for Fiscal Year 2002 will make employer sponsorship of graduate courses nontaxable.

The university would like to work toward eliminating any barriers that are keeping faculty and staff from registering, Lewellen said. “We’d like to place an emphasis on flexibility in the workplace, so people can feel comfortable pursuing coursework, even when classes are offered during their normal workday,” he said.

Ohio State has a number of well-developed education and training programs offered throughout the University, Campbell said, with job-related training offered by the offices of Finance, Information Technology, Organizational and Human Resource Development, and the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy, and quite a few opportunities for on-the-job training provided by employing units.

The committee’s proposals to enhance offerings differ from program to program, and any costs that would be invoked by expanding programs would depend on the method of change and the size of expansion determined.

“There is a large employer investment being made in developing and educating our work force,” Lewellen said. “We are currently investing, through internal funding, approximately $4 million each year educating our faculty and staff through the tuition waiver program. That’s a significant investment, but it’s one the university should be making. If Ohio State is to continue moving forward, it is vitally important to keep building and growing the talent and abilities of the work force.”

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