97-03-07 Trustees: Appointments, Reports ACTIONS OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on Friday (3/7) appointed a division chair and reappointed the executive director of University Hospitals. The board also heard updates on recommendations from the Committee on the Undergraduate Experience, a student success center, an athletic facility feasibility study, and conducted other business. Kasulis named chair of comparative studies The board named Thomas P. Kasulis of UPPER ARLINGTON, as chair of the division of Comparative Studies in the Humanities, retroactive to Oct. 1 and continuing through Sept. 2000. Kasulis has taught at Ohio State since 1991 and specializes in Asian, Japanese and western philosophy. Kasulis earned his undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees from Yale University, and a graduate degree from the University of Hawaii. A member of the Japanese Society for Comparative Thought, Kasulis is a review co-editor for Philosophy East and West, and served as president of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy. Kasulis is a Danforth Graduate fellow and an East-West Center fellow. Reappointments Trustees reappointed: -- R. Reed Fraley of UPPER ARLINGTON as executive director of University Hospitals and associate vice president for health sciences through February 2001. Fraley has served as executive director of University Hospitals since 1989. -- Reappointed Reuben Ahroni of COLUMBUS (43227) as acting chair of the Department of Near Eastern, Judaic and Hellenic Languages and Literature, retroactive to Oct. 1 and continuing through June. Ahroni specializes in biblical studies and medieval Hebrew literature, and has taught at Ohio State since 1976. Yoshida wins student recognition award Trustees awarded a student recognition award to Reiko Yoshida of COLUMBUS (43201). A senior majoring in electrical engineering, Yoshida was honored for her work with the Get Well Ohio Team, a program that encourages alcohol awareness on campus by changing student attitudes toward substance abuse. She has served through the Office of Student Wellness as a student representative on the Office of Student Affairs Leadership Team, which addresses itself to enhancing the student experience at Ohio State. Board hears report on recreation, education and athletic facility feasibility study The board heard a report by David Williams, vice president for student affairs, and William Shkurti, vice president for finance, on a proposed student recreation center that would include a major renovation of and addition to Larkins Hall to better meet student, faculty and staff needs. Shkurti expressed support for the center and outlined the process for undertaking the project. He said recommendations from the Space and Facilities committee must be reviewed and approved by the Coordinating Council and the Executive Committee to begin the process. This would be followed by decisions on how to fund the project and where to locate the facility, as well as completion of detailed design plans. At that point, it would be possible to bring the project before the student body in the form of a referendum on student fees to pay for a portion of the construction and operating costs. Student input was a key factor throughout the feasability study, and now a process must be determined for soliciting student, faculty and staff input in the next phases. Shkurti said recommendations on a site and overall concept would be made by mid-April, with funding sources resolved by July. Following completion of a memorandum of understating and hiring of architects, construction for the facility could begin in fiscal year 2000. Board hears a report on a Student Success Center Trustees heard a report from Kathleen Riffee, assistant director of athletics, on a Student Success Center designed to help student achieve academic and personal success and to help faculty improve instruction. The facility will combine support for student athletes and the general student population, the first center of its kind on a college campus. The facility, to be located on Neil Avenue adjacent to the south residential complex, will house the Student Athlete Support Services Office, an Academic Learning Center, Career Services, Counseling and Consultation Services, and Faculty and Teaching Associate Development. The goals of the center are to improve student success at Ohio State, attract and retain high quality students, promote student learning, and integrate services for students. Riffee said the center will be connected with every student service office on campus, either physically or technically. She said construction on the facility, which will have a three-story atrium, will begin soon. Update from the Committee on the Undergraduate Experience The board heard a report from Robert Arnold, vice provost for academic affairs, on recommendations from the Committee on the Undergraduate Experience. Arnold said a review of the General Education Curriculum (GEC) for undergraduate students completed by the Colleges of Arts and Sciences has resulted in modifying and simplifying GEC requirements, and will enable students to earn their degrees more expediently. Arnold reported initial success with Term I, a bridge program for at-risk students. The program began last fall with 37 students who began English, math and a university survey course three weeks before regularly scheduled classes. The students were then compared with 37 at-risk students who chose not to participate in the program and all new first quarter freshmen. The average grade point average for fall quarter for the Term I students was 2.77, compared to 2.04 for the matched sample and 2.40 for all freshmen. All 37 Term I students returned for winter quarter, while the matched sample had an attrition rate of 12 percent and the overall freshman rate was 6 percent. Arnold also reported that current projections show that the incoming freshman class of 1997 will meet or exceed goals for academic achievement and ethnic diversity. Applications from students with average ACT scores of 21 or above have increased 18 percent and those from students with ACT scores of 29 or above have increased by 31 percent. Applicants with SAT scores over 990 have increased 27 percent and scores of 1300 and above by 55 percent. He said applications from African Americans increased by 22 percent; Hispanics by 14 percent; Native Americans by 37 percent; and Asian Americans by 20 percent. Update from Campus Partners The Student Affairs Committee heard a report from Terry Foegler, president of Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment, the nonprofit organization charged with leading a revitalization of the University District neighborhoods. Foegler proposed priority implementation measures and asked for input so that Campus Partners can establish a working plan over the next few months. The proposed priorities fall into four major areas: -- To raise the level of homeownership, which would include an incentive program targeted to university staff and faculty. -- To proceed with commercial development initiatives on High Street, which would include a proposed mixed-use development at 11th Avenue. -- To ensure faculty and student engagement, which would utilize the university's Campus Collaborative and its interdisciplinary efforts to address human services and other needs. -- To improve student housing, which would concentrate on the quality of student life within the central core of the district. Based on input and surveys from the many constituencies, Foegler said the priorities were proposed because they will provide broader benefits, will be easier, more straightforward to implement, or are critical to the revitalization effort. Resolutions in memoriam The board adopted resolutions in memoriam for: -- Bernard A. Block, assistant professor emeritus in the University Libraries, who died Jan. 10. -- George Wadlington, professor emeritus in the Ohio State University Extension, who died Dec. 28. # Contact: Tracy Turner, University Communications, 688-3682. [Submitted by: Von Vargas (vargas.12@osu.edu) Fri, 7 Mar 1997 16:30:49 -0500 (EST)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.