97-07-11 Trustees: School Change, Various Business

TRUSTEES APPROVE COLLEGE CHANGE FOR PUBLIC POLICY AND NAME
CHANGES FOR TWO DEPARTMENTS, REVIEW LIBRARY ALLOCATIONS, HEAR
SEVERAL REPORTS

     COLUMBUS -- During its July meeting on Friday (7/ll) The
Ohio State University Board of Trustees acted on a number of
items of business.

School of Public Policy moved to Social & Behavioral Sciences

     Trustees approved transferring the School of Public Policy
to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.  It had been
part of the Max M. Fisher College of Business.

     The transfer provides a better fit for the school’s
programs, according to administrators, faculty and students.

     “The missions of the school and college are compatible, the
school’s faculty are trained in the social sciences, and its
students come from social science undergraduate programs,” said
Randall Ripley, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral
Sciences.

     Ripley said both the school and college provide public
service through analysis and applications, along with excellent
research and teaching.

     The School of Public Policy and Management offers master’s
of arts, master’s of public administration and Ph.D. degrees.
There are more than 200 graduate students, who are offered
courses worth more than 5,000 credit hours a year.  Faculty
research involves public finance, public policy formation and
analysis, organization theory, operations research and
statistics, crime and criminal justice, administrative law and
information systems.

Two departments get new names

     Trustees also approved renaming the Department of Near
Eastern, Judaic and Hellenic Languages and Literatures as the
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures.  The change
reflects a transfer of the Modern Greek and Yiddish programs to
other units within the College of Humanities.  The name also
indicates changes in the Near Eastern department’s course
offerings, scholarly endeavors and historical emphasis.

     The Department of Black Studies was renamed the Department
of African-American and African Studies.  The new name indicates
an emphasis long-placed on the cultural rather than the racial,
which broadens scholarly activity to encompass all ethnic groups
and cultures represented in both Africa and the African Diaspora,
such as the Caribbean.

Board accepts 6 named endowed funds

     Trustees heard a report from Jerry May, vice president for
development, on development efforts, including the establishment
of the Major General Raymond E. Mason Jr. Professorship of
Military History in the College of Humanities.  Gifts of
$500,314, were received from Maj. Gen. Raymond E. Mason Jr. to
support a professor in the Department of History in the area of
U.S. military policy, institutions and professions, and the
conduct of war by U.S. armed forces.

     May also reported the establishment of six new named endowed
funds with gifts totaling $700,114:

     -- The Samuel Steward/Eric Walborn Endowment Fund,  $40,919,
for graduate studies in the Department of English.

     -- The Charles L. Babcock Rome Scholarship Fund, $16,198,
for student travel and research in the Department of Classics.

     -- The Tom L. Wheeler Jr. Marketing Endowment Fund, $50,265,
in the College of Business.

     -- Clyde R. Swoger Memorial Scholarship Fund, $42,417, at
the Agricultural Technical Institute.

     -- The William Kay Davis Honors Award Endowment Fund,
$25,000, for honor students at the Ohio State Marion Campus.

     -- The Dr. Kermit R. Heidt Scholarship Fund in Veterinary
Medicine, $25,000.

Board hears report on CUE recommendations by USG president

     Trustees heard a report from John Carney, president of the
Undergraduate Student Government, on the specific needs students
identified concerning recommendations from the Committee on the
Undergraduate Experience.  Carney said recommendations that need
further addressing are: evaluating credit hours needed for
graduation; creation of a student information system containing
student records and current information; improving student
transportation and parking; and more emphasis on outreach by
university offices to students in the areas of student life and
advising.  He also recommended extending library hours during
finals week for all quarters.

Shoji wins student recognition award

     The board awarded a student recognition award to Isao Shoji
of HILLIARD.  A senior with a double major in Chinese and
molecular genetics, Shoji was honored for his work as a volunteer
at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital, and as a peer mentor,
helping incoming honors students to adjust to a university
setting.  Shoji is a Japanese tutor, sings in the Men’s Glee Club
and Symphonic Choir, and a member of the Sphinx Senior Honorary

Committee will review University Libraries acquisition policies
     A review of University Libraries’ spending patterns may
result in some changes of policy next year, administrators told
Trustees.

     A committee of faculty and students will recommend how to
allocate new acquisition funds, now used to buy books and
academic journals.  The group will work with Libraries staff to
consider issues such as whether Ohio State should spend more on
computer technology in order to use electronic information.

     “Our concern is that by focusing our limited increases in
resources on the number of volumes of books and periodicals
acquired, we may not be providing the maximum benefit for our
faculty and students,” said Edward Ray, senior vice provost.

     Ray said the review “will provide the University community
and the Libraries staff an opportunity to make an assessment of
the best strategic use of these additional funds.”

     “It seems reasonable to revisit the principle behind our
investments, given the number of years and the amount of money
involved,” said William Studer, director of University Libraries.

Dean reports outreach efforts

     Ohio State University is establishing meaningful and
mutually beneficial collaborations with partners in education,
business, and public and social services, Bobby Moser, dean of
the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
told the Trustees.

     Outreach and engagement includes teaching that enables
learning beyond the campus walls, research that leads to useful
discoveries, and service that directly benefits the public, he
said.

     Moser chairs the President’s Council for Outreach and
Engagement, which encourages efforts such as the Campus
Collaborative to integrate the University District into classroom
projects, and OSU CARES, a project to build interdisciplinary
teams to resolve Ohio issues.

Research Commission outlines goals, progress

     A committee of top administrators and faculty is working to
define the direct link between the quality of research at Ohio
State and the quality of students and faculty, reported Edward
Hayes, vice president for research.

     “Our task is to articulate what faculty feel instinctively:
that research is inextricably bound with everything we do
academically at Ohio State,” said Thomas Pound, a consultant for
the Ohio State University Research Foundation.

     The Research Commission is looking at the university’s
position in terms of its market share, a unique perspective for
academe, Hayes said.

     Robert Perry, professor of physics, told trustees Ohio State
is receiving more research funding, but the mix is changing. 
Federal grants are decreasing while private and industry awards
are on the way up.  He estimates it would take $200 million to
bring Ohio State into the top tier of research universities.

     The commission recently conducted a roundtable with a dozen
education leaders, who shared the experiences of institutions
comparable with Ohio State.  Commission members next will visit
other universities for in-depth discussions.  They will make
recommendations early autumn quarter.

Report on Strategic Indicators

     Trustees also heard a report by Edward J. Ray, senior vice
provost, about benchmarking strategic indicators and their use in
academic planning and budget restructuring.  Ray recommended that
the university define a set of 10 to 12 “vital signs” to help
measure progress in meeting strategic objectives.

                            #

Contact: Ruth Gerstner, University Communications, (614) 292-8424


[Submitted by: Von Vargas  (vargas.12@osu.edu)
               
Fri, 11 Jul 1997 14:25:06 -0400 (EDT)]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.