06-12-95 CUE Releases Report on Undergrads COMMITTEE EXAMINES UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE, OFFERS RECOMMENDATIONS IN MANY AREAS OF STUDENT LIFE COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University has taken a good, hard look at how well it is serving its 36,000 Columbus campus undergraduate students, and the result is a detailed list of recommendations for improving everything from academic advising to parking. The Committee on the Undergraduate Experience (CUE) -- composed of 23 students and 23 faculty and staff members appointed last spring by Provost Richard Sisson and Vice President for Student Affairs David Williams -- spent over a year examining the academic, social, and service components of the university as they affect undergraduates. In its recently released report, CUE outlines how its work fits into Ohio State's ongoing efforts to refocus attention on quality undergraduate education, and the committee provides numerous examples of things that work well and things that need a little help. "CUE was put together and given support from the highest levels of the university to identify what needs to be improved," said Martha Garland, associate dean of the College of Humanities and CUE co-chair. "We found there are good people throughout campus who are committed to making things better, and we anticipate that over this summer plans will be made to adopt many of the recommendations that we have made." The committee found that students are generally satisfied with their Ohio State education, but there is room for at least some improvement in almost every aspect of the undergraduate experience. Two needs serve as overarching themes for the recommendations: (1) enhancing the sense of community among Ohio State's diverse population, and (2) enabling more students to stay at the university through graduation. Included at the beginning of the report is a statement of "Mutual Respect in the Classroom" -- shared expectations for behavior by teachers and students that emphasize preparation, civility, respect, clarity and high standards. CUE recommends that this statement be incorporated into the syllabus for every class at Ohio State. General recommendations were made in three categories: (1) basic needs (social involvement, safety and security, transportation, and financial issues), (2) academic experience (first-year experience, advising, curriculum, and quality of instruction), and (3) reducing redtape and valuing the individual. A student member of CUE, Yvette Hicks, a junior from Columbus, said she is hopeful the committee's work will benefit students. "The same problems pop up every year, just with different players," she said. "CUE addresses these problems and gives positive solutions." Suggested improvements in each area include: BASIC NEEDS Safety and security -- continue support for Campus Partners project for redevelopment of the east of High Street neighborhood -- provide alcohol-free events for students on campus -- increase availability of safety escort services -- install more campus emergency phones -- install more secure bike racks -- use new methods to advise students of crime patterns Transportation -- increase student participation in policy-making -- provide reliable, frequent shuttles from parking lots at all times of the day -- increase proximity parking on campus -- do not allow faculty and staff to park in student spaces Financial issues -- create a computerized database of campus jobs available to students Social activities -- increase the number and variety of activities offered on campus -- expand alcohol education programs -- stabilize and increase funding for student organizations and event programming Disability services -- create a matching grants program to fund programs for the disabled population ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE First-year experience -- improve system for transition into the university -- restructure orientation, Welcome Week and survey courses -- initiate a pilot project for "clustering" first-year students (self-selected only) so that 20 or 30 students with the same academic interest take the same sections of two or three courses together, thus forming bonds and providing support for each other -- enhance support for the one-third of undergraduates who enter as transfer students from other universities Advising -- revise structure of academic advising to provide more professional advisers and fewer advisees per adviser -- permit more direct enrollment into degree-granting colleges (without first spending time in University College) -- improve adviser/student e-mail contact -- perfect and expand on-line programs to let students check on their academic status, course enrollment, etc. Curriculum -- evaluate the General Education Curriculum for effectiveness and flexibility -- address the root causes of lack of space in desired courses -- continue the progress already made to reduce closed courses -- encourage mutual respect and shared expectations in the classroom Quality of instruction -- implement an award for departments which do an outstanding job of teaching undergraduates -- improve teaching and encourage mutual respect in lower-level mathematics courses -- provide course material in accessible formats to students with disabilities REDUCING THE RUN-AROUND AND VALUING THE INDIVIDUAL -- establish a Student Advocacy Center (in progress) to provide a central place for students to find help with special problems, get information and find support -- create an "integrated financial services office" to centralize and simplify business with Student Financial Aid, Fees & Deposits, Student Loan Services, the Registrar's Office and other university offices involved with financial transactions with students -- improve and integrate student databases to provide quicker, more accurate information to students, their instructors and advisers, and other staff who serve them -- build on the information technology now in use for direct student services such as registration, mailing of grades, and financial information to provide even more responsive service -- establish a student-centered institutional research system to gather, analyze and make readily available the data needed to measure the success of the university in fulfilling its mission to students Information for the report was gathered from focus groups, a random phone survey of 300 undergraduates, and extensive interviews with key individuals. In addition, 1,800 student satisfaction inventory questionnaires were distributed to undergraduates. The introduction to CUE's final report states: "During the process we tackled a variety of issues both large and small. Our vision was to accomplish improvements as rapidly as appropriate, with some changes taking place before our review was concluded, with others taking place soon after, while for others we might simply be stating a destination for the institution to begin moving toward. We often said we wanted to plant some annuals, some perennials, and a few oak trees as well." # Contact: Martha Garland, (614) 292-1882; or Eric Busch, (614) 292-9334, co-chairs of CUE [Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) Mon, 12 Jun 1995 10:22:38 -0400] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.