97-10-03 Trustees: Reports on South Campus District, FreshmanClass, Transportation OFFICIALS REPORT TO TRUSTEES ON SOUTH CAMPUS DISTRICT PLANNING, FRESHMAN CLASS CHARACTERISTICS, AND TRANSPORTATION AND PARKING COLUMBUS -- Officials from several campus offices reported their efforts Friday (10/3) to The Ohio State University Board of Trustees. Reports covered planning and development in the south campus district, recruitment of a strong freshman class, recent traffic and parking initiatives, and a proposed contract research organization. Trustees give first reading to South Campus District Plan Trustees took a first look at the university’s South Campus District Plan, the latest in a series of documents that examine planning and development in each of the diverse areas that make up The Ohio State University. After review and input, the board is expected to vote on the document at its Nov. 7 meeting. The south campus district of the Columbus campus is bounded by West 12th Avenue on the north, North High Street on the east, state Route 315 on the west, and a line encompassing parts of King and Neil avenues, Perry Street, and West Eighth, Ninth and 10th avenues on the south. Within the area are three separate and distinct sectors: Health Sciences, academic buildings and residence halls, and the recreational land between Cannon Drive and the Olentangy River. For the Health Sciences area, the plan makes recommendations including land use, design and development of future facilities, and circulation and parking. Most notable is a recommendation to realign roadways to create a Health Sciences quadrangle facing Rhodes Hall. The mall would act as a park and aid in orienting visitors, said Nancy Sullivan, campus planner. In the academic and residential area closer to High Street, where more than 4,000 students live in university dormitories, the plan makes recommendations that include density and future development capacity, and sets guidelines for design and development of new construction and open spaces. It also slightly extends the university’s acquisition line to square off the university’s potential holdings. Properties within the acquisition line often are purchased when they become available, but the university does not actively seek them out, said Robert J. Haverkamp, assistant vice president for business and administration. The plan also suggests a transition zone between the high- rise dormitories and the university’s residential neighbors on the south, by tapering off the height of its buildings on West 11th and 10th avenues, Sullivan said. Also in the area is a proposal for professional student housing, given the proximity to the College of Law and Health Sciences area. Other parcels, many of which are now gravel parking lots, would be developed under the plan. In the recreation land west of Cannon Drive, much change is proposed, but some requires action by the city of Columbus and finding additional funding sources. Much of the land that now is used for recreation fields will be used for new entrance and exit ramps to state Route 315 in the future. While the fields have been relocated to Lane Avenue and Kenny Road on the West Campus in anticipation of that change, the plan calls for retaining a small portion of land for informal recreation use for student residents in the neighborhood. The plan calls for maintaining the green space along the river corridor as part of the overall campus green reserve, but also suggests space for expansion of Health Sciences facilities. Because the area sits in a floodplain, however, the first floors of any new buildings would have to accommodate parking. “This plan is particularly noteworthy for its community input,” said Jill Morelli, university architect. “Not only did our planning team include stakeholders from the Health Sciences area; community residents were invited to join in as well. And we also conducted several open forums in the community for neighbors to provide their input.” In addition, representatives from the city and Campus Partners also served on the planning team, along with core university planners, including Sullivan and Morelli. Board hears characteristics of incoming freshman class Several university administrators reported to the board on characteristics of the freshman class and changes Ohio State has made to ensure their success. The Ohio State University welcomed a freshman class this autumn quarter boasting the best academic credentials of any previous entering class of first-year students, James Mager, assistant vice president for enrollment management, told trustees. Based on preliminary enrollment figures, approximately 5,800 freshmen began classes on the Columbus campus Sept. 24. Official enrollment numbers will not be available until 14 days into autumn quarter. Among the class’s academic highlights: The average ACT score is 24, up from 23.5 last year and 22.8 in 1995; an estimated 181 students in the new class are valedictorians; and about 640 are University Scholars, who typically rank in the top 3 percent of their high school classes and have ACT scores of at least 29 or SAT scores of at least 1300. Mager also said the freshman class is more diverse than past incoming freshman classes, continuing the 10-year trend of rising minority enrollment. “We are continuing on the march to enroll better students and to take better care of them,” said Martha Garland, vice provost for undergraduate studies. Garland noted that many initiatives enhancing the entrance to college for freshmen, ranging from heightened attention to health and safety issues -- such as installation of new lighting and adding bicycle racks -- to continued improvements in academic advising, resulted from recommendations made by the Committee on the Undergraduate Experience (CUE). Interim Vice Provost for Minority Affairs Barbara Rich outlined the range of initiatives the Office of Minority Affairs sponsored during Welcome Week. The activities included orientation programs for the Freshman Foundation, Minority Scholars and Young Scholars programs and for new graduate and professional students. Other events included a session during which freshmen were matched with their faculty and peer mentors, and recruitment of minority students to participate in the Community Commitment service event. Rich also reported that she and three faculty members conducted a workshop for new faculty on “Teaching for the Success of Ohio State’s Students,” which included emphasis on diversity in the classroom and curriculum. Seventy-six new faculty attended the orientation program offered by the Office of Faculty and TA Development. Tally Hart, director of student financial aid, and Scott Healy, director of admissions, also reported to the board. Hart noted a Service Improvement Plan in the Office of Student Financial Aid has resulted in many measurable improvements, including the achievement of a record level of financial aid on autumn quarter bills. The office’s efforts also resulted in significant reductions in phone call busy signals and the time students had to wait to conduct business in financial aid offices. The office this year has awarded or administered an estimated $250 million in financial aid to 34,000 recipients. Hart said further improvement plans in the next year include installation of a new computer system; automation of most revisions of student records; expansion of student self- counseling via Web and telephone technology; and strategic efforts to reduce student debt. Recruitment this year involved a concerted effort to draw and admit a better-prepared student body, Healy said. The recruitment strategy included telecounseling -- students, faculty and administrators telephoning families of prospective students after they showed interest in the university. In addition, the Honors Program, the Office of Minority Affairs and the Alumni Association played major roles in recruiting this class. Traffic and parking initiatives are recognized by board Sarah Blouch, director of Transportation and Parking Services, reported to the board about some of the many initiatives undertaken by her office during the past year. These included formation of an outreach team to communicate with constituents by better use of available technology, such as through the office’s Web page and existing e-mail services. Citation appeal forms and permit applications soon will be available at the Web site, as will a real-time map to locate campus buses. The bus locator map, at http://blis.units.ohio- state.edu/, is a joint effort by Transportation and Parking Services, the university’s Center for Intelligent Transportation, Department of Physical Facilities, and UNITS, the telephone service provider. A student input team made recommendations that led to changes in bus routes and, working with the Undergraduate Student Government, the office was able to eliminate campus bus passes. To better serve its customers, the office expanded its hours to nights and weekends. And a Welcome Week party for students recently took place at West Campus and was a success, with several hundred students attending and permits sold with little or no wait in line, Blouch said. Safety issues also have been important to the office. Staff members have worked with University Police on several bicycling safety efforts and have ordered a video camera to patrol the West Campus lot that students use for overnight parking. Blouch said she anticipates that the camera, monitored by Wexner Center Security Services, will reduce theft and vandalism in the area. Beginning this fall, the office moved from parking decals to a transferable hangtag permit, which also serves as a keycard for drivers who have garage access. A manufacturer’s defect, which miscoded the cards by 2/1000ths of an inch, required the office to exchange all the keycard hangtags with reprinted cards of the right size. Although the vendor was responsible for the problem, and reprinted the cards at its expense, Transportation and Parking Services went to each garage to exchange cards so drivers would not be further inconvenienced, Blouch said. A pilot program also is in the works this quarter to extol the virtues of walking, which include stress reduction and the health benefits of regular exercise, Blouch said. The office measured distances between parking lots that regularly have available spaces and different areas of the campus, and discovered that the distances, and the time it takes to walk them, are not that great, Blouch said. In fact, it can take less time to walk from outlying parking than it does to search for and find a nearby spot, she said. Board hears report on proposed contract research organization Administrators from the Ohio State University Medical Center and the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute have proposed the creation of a Clinical Trial Management and Coordinating Center. The center would serve as a liaison between pharmaceutical companies that develop therapeutic drugs and university researchers and physicians who conduct clinical trials to test the effectiveness of new drugs. The center would function as a new corporation outside the university. As a full-service contract research organization, the corporation would enter contracts with pharmaceutical companies and administer all services needed for completion of clinical trials of new drugs. Trustees are expected to vote on the creation of the corporation at a later meeting. # Conta Nancy Sullivan, campus planner, 614-292-4458 James Mager, enrollment management, 614-688-5791 Sarah Blouch, director of transportation and parking services, 614-292-9800 [Submitted by: Von Vargas (vargas.12@osu.edu) Fri, 3 Oct 1997 16:24:18 -0400 (EDT)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.