97-05-02 Trustees: Performance Guidelines & Other Business TRUSTEES ESTABLISH PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES; DISCUSS ‘VITAL SIGNS’ COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on Friday (5/2) established financial performance guidelines and heard a report on benchmarking measures for the university. Trustees also awarded construction contracts, named a building, established a chair in engineering and conducted other business. Trustees establish financial performance guidelines Trustees approved a set of principles to guide the sound financial management of the university. The financial performance objectives were developed by the Office of Finance at the request of the trustees, and were discussed by various groups within the university. The standards also will be beneficial in the university’s dealings with the ratings agencies, such as Moody’s Investor Service and Standard and Poor’s, and with the Ohio Board of Regents. The standards deal with general fund reserves, multiyear commitments, operations and reporting, William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance, told the trustees. Several of the standards simply formalize the university’s existing practices. “Having appropriate reserves is crucial to maintaining financial stability and to having resources sufficient to support the university’s mission,” Shkurti said. The guidelines set a goal of balancing the general funds budget within a 1 percent margin and maintaining a Rainy Day Fund of 5 percent of annual general fund revenues. The guidelines urge that funding for multiyear commitments should be identified and reserved when the commitment is made. “Multiyear commitments must be carefully evaluated and weighed again future resources to prevent the loss of future financial flexibility,” Shkurti said. The guidelines on operations and reporting are designed to formalize good business practices in support of the university’s academic program and provide timely and accurate reports to help the trustees meet their fiduciary responsibilities. Trustees hear report on benchmarking measures “International distinction in education, scholarship and public service” is the overriding goal of the university’s mission statement. But distinction is difficult to measure. So to help the university benchmark its progress in meeting its strategic objectives, the offices of Finance and Academic Affairs have recommended the university define a set of 10-12 “vital signs,” or strategic indicators. Academic program indicators will look at the quality of faculty and students and their interaction as well as research. Student experience measures will examine first-year student retention, student success and diversity. Resource support measures will look at revenue growth and support of the university and its faculty. Other measures will include technology, outreach and engagement, the condition of the university’s physical environment and the origination and destination of Ohio State faculty and students. “Even though faculty, staff and students are regularly evaluated, institutions of higher education are not good at evaluating themselves,” said Edward J. Ray, senior vice provost and chief information officer. “Traditional measures used to evaluate institutional or unit performance in higher education -- such as ACT scores, number of library books and ratios of students to faculty -- tend to be measures of input rather than output. “We feel Ohio State is in a position as a major research institution to chart new territory in the measurement of university effectiveness,” Ray said. “The effort to define strategic measures and peer institutions is just beginning.” Once set, the indicators will be used to determine how the university is progressing in achieving its mission, and will help show how the academic planning and budget restructuring processes should be linked, he said. As a first cut, the indicators will be compared with the top 20 public institutions as determined by a composite of the National Research Council of Graduate Programs, U.S. News and World Report and the American Association of Universities. In addition to Ohio State, they are Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue and Indiana from the Big 10; the University of California schools at Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego, Davis and Irvine; and Washington, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Arizona, Colorado and the Georgia Institute of Technology. “For the academic planning process to be successful, appropriate peer institutions, goals and indicators need to be established at the college and departmental levels as well,” Ray said. “At those levels, the lists of appropriate peer institutions could differ substantially from unit to unit.” Business Building Named for Bernie Gerlach Trustees named a building now under construction in the Fisher College of Business for the late John B. “Bernie” Gerlach Sr., an alumnus, businessman, community leader and philanthropist. Co-founder, chair and CEO of Columbus-based Lancaster Colony Corp., Gerlach was one of the most active supporters of Ohio State throughout his life. At the time of his death in late January, he was serving as co-chair for Ohio State’s five-year “Affirm Thy Friendship” campaign and was chair of The Ohio State University Foundation Board, of which he was a founding member. He and his family also provided generous support to the a number of areas at the university, including human ecology, the arts and athletics. Gerlach was particularly committed to promoting the Fisher College of Business, where in 1982, along with family and friends, he established a faculty chair in honor of his father, John J. Gerlach. Since 1990, he had chaired the national campaign committee working to support the Fisher College fund-raising drive. “Bernie was the driving force behind the college’s campaign and an architect of our success,” said Dean Joseph Alutto. “He was an example to all of us and will continue to be an example to the countless generations of students who will pass through Gerlach Hall and be enriched by the educational programs and opportunities he helped create.” The Gerlach Graduate Program Buildings Building, scheduled for completion by June 1998, will feature a stock market laboratory, a communications laboratory, and a career services area. Trustees seek bids, award construction contracts Trustees authorized seeking construction bids for the $20.7 million Heart and Lung Institute, a new facility at the site of Upham Hall on West 12th Avenue in the University Medical Center. The institute will concentrate in one location the resources necessary to conduct an intensive program of teaching and research in the diseases of the heart and lung. Trustees recently agreed to speed up the construction process for the institute by transferring to it some spending authority from other projects. The university recently was able to recruit noted researcher Pascal Goldschmidt-Clermont from Johns Hopkins University to direct the Heart and Lung Institute. Funding for the project comes from bond proceeds and the state. The institute is expected to be completed sometime in 1999. Trustees also approved construction contracts for a $2.9 million research facility in the basement of Pressey Hall on the west campus. Researchers in the 10,000-square-foot Transgenic Animal Facility will conduct immune deficiency research with cancer, AIDS and other medical applications. Funding comes from bond proceeds as well as grants and contributions from colleges and other units. Construction is expected to be completed by June 1998. Board establishes chair, names library room, accepts endowed funds Trustees established The Howard D. Winbigler Designated Chair in Engineering with an annual distribution of $75,000 from the earnings generated by the Howard D. Winbigler Memorial Fund in the College of Engineering. Winbigler was a 1915 graduate of the college who had a highly successful career in manufacturing. The funds will be used to support the work of an outstanding professor of engineering, who will be appointed for at least five years. The money will cover research and travel expenses, as well as support of graduate and undergraduate student assistants. The first chairholder will be Jose B. Cruz Jr., who is stepping down as dean of the College of Engineering to return to his faculty position of professor. Trustees also named the library conference room in Fisher Auditorium at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster. The recently renovated room will be called the Helen H. Enlow Conference Room in honor of the late Enlow, a librarian at OARDC for more than 30 years. Through a $37,650 bequest, Enlow made a possible an endowment for ongoing support of the library’s collection and to help furnish the conference room for video conferencing, computer demonstrations, training and more. The board also accepted eight new named endowed funds with gifts totaling $285,290: -- The James E. Pfeifer II K-L Row I-Dot Scholarship Fund, $33,638, for a senior sousaphone player in The Ohio State University Marching Band. -- The S. Wynn and Marion B. Goodman Scholarship Fund, $30,000, for students at the Mansfield campus. -- The Charles H. and Mary E. Ensminger Scholarship Fund, $25,063, for Perry County students. -- The Licking County 4-H Endowment Fund, $16,643. -- The Trumbull County 4-H Endowment Fund, $15,708. -- The John T. and Betty Jean Baird Agricultural Leadership Fund, $35,062, to support undergraduate student development activities in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. -- The Norman Browning Jr., M.D., Family Research Fund, $25,874, for research in adult psychiatry. -- The Ralph J. Woodin Graduate Scholarship Fund in Agricultural Education, $25,304, for doctoral study in the field. Miscellaneous business In other matters, trustees: -- Authorized the university to purchase a property at 1612- 1614 Highland Street for $105,000 from Robert Marsico of Akron. Although there are no immediate plans for the site, the property falls within the acquisition lines of the university, said Anne Dorrian, director of real estate and property management. Funds for purchase of properties within the university’s south campus acquisition zone already have been allocated. -- Approved 176 contracts totaling $12.53 million for research projects funded in March. For the fiscal year through the end of March, federal support is up 14.7 percent to 588 contracts worth $90.6 million and state support is up 11.5 percent to 103 contracts worth $8.2 million. All categories of research support are up for the fiscal year a total 6.7 percent to $132.1 million. -- Heard a report by James L. Nichols, university treasurer, who said the endowment fund had a market value for April of $682.2 million. Trustees also established a policy for the management of the university’s non-endowment investment portfolio. -- Waived competitive bidding requirements for $10.8 million worth of purchases for the October-December 1996 period and $4.4 million in purchases for January-March 1997. Competitive bid requirements can be waived in the event of an emergency, when sufficient economic reason exists or when the goods or services can only be purchased from a single source. -- Reappointed three members of The Ohio State University- Mansfield Board. Serving three-year terms are Jeffrey Molyet, Lydia Reid and Paige Squires. # Contacts: William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance, (614) 292-9232 Edward J. Ray, senior vice provost, (614) 292-5881 Jill Morelli, university architect, (614) 292-4458 Jerry A. May, vice president for development, (614) 292-2970 Written by David Bhaerman, University Communications, (614) 292-8422 [Submitted by: Von Vargas (vargas.12@osu.edu) Fri, 2 May 1997 16:35:07 -0400 (EDT)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.