97-12-05 Trustees: Leadership Agenda Presented LEADERSHIP AGENDA PRESENTED TO TRUSTEES COLUMBUS -- Ohio State University administrators have defined institutional goals and priorities for the next year focusing on academic excellence, the student experience and revenue growth. An issue of immediate concern is protecting and increasing the university's state subsidy in light of the court mandate to change Ohio's public school funding formula. University leaders also have set long-term goals and have proposed to have at least 20 academic programs ranked in the top 20 nationally by 2010 and to increase the six-year graduation rate to 70 percent in the same time period. Those and other goals and priorities are detailed in the Leadership Agenda developed from discussions among deans, faculty leaders, students, senior administrators and the Board of Trustees. A draft of the agenda was presented to trustees Friday (12/5) by Richard Sisson, senior vice president and provost; Edward Ray, senior vice provost; William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance; and David Williams, vice president for student affairs. "This document will function as a guideline during Ohio State's transition in leadership," Sisson said. "By identifying and concentrating on these strategic priorities, we will ensure that Ohio State's momentum is maintained -- which is the No. 1 priority for everyone at the university." The agenda report includes 15 action items for academic excellence, the student experience and revenue growth, and assigns responsibility for those items to the appropriate administrators. Academic Excellence University leaders say Ohio State should achieve international distinction in education, scholarship and public service, including achieving top 10 status among public universities. A long-term objective is to provide top-notch faculty and high-ability students with the best possible quality teaching, learning and research environments. Action items include: -- Improving the quality of faculty and students and developing a clearer understanding of the university's goal to be a top 10 institution. -- Continuing Academic Enrichment programs and reviewing previous awards to determine if original goals have been met. -- Recruiting and developing top-notch faculty, including those who will attract other distinguished faculty and who will work with the best current faculty. -- Ensuring that university values and priorities -- rather than availability of external funds -- drive internal investment decisions. -- Identifying initiatives and taking actions to improve the graduate student experience and ensuring that scarce resources are spent on real problems, not on symptoms. Student Experience The university seeks to recruit and retain students and enable their timely graduation and future success. In the long term, leaders plan to develop measures of outcomes that can be used to assess and certify that the Ohio State experience is among the best in the country. Action items include: -- Improving attention to student progress, including better advising, mentoring and career counseling; this also involves providing more research, co-op, internship and study abroad experiences. -- Providing a better understanding of diversity issues throughout campus by building a broader sense of community within the student body. -- Promoting outreach programs to engage students proactively. -- Improving regular assessment of student satisfaction in and out of the classroom. -- Encouraging colleges to share ideas about how to get faculty more directly involved in the student experience. Revenue Growth Full funding for academic priorities is an objective in this area. This includes recruiting, retaining and developing the best faculty, staff and students through a combination of competitive compensation levels, staff support, state-of-the-art equipment and selective program enhancements. Action items include: -- Protecting and increasing state appropriations, with immediate attention to ensuring that the K-12 public school funding problem is not solved at the expense of higher education. -- Developing new and expanded markets; possibilities include expanding distance learning initiatives and developing new partnerships with business and industry through co-ops and internships. -- Restructuring budgets so they are responsive to, but not driven by, enrollment pressures and income sources. The budget process also should recognize the varying costs of education by discipline and level of study. -- Promoting external research funding by linking the efforts of the Research Commission and the budget process. -- Increasing private fund raising. # Contact: Richard Sisson, Academic Affairs, 614-292-5881 David Williams, Student Affairs, 614-292-9334 William Shkurti, Finance, 614-292-9232 Edward Ray, Academic Affairs, 614-292-5881 [Submitted by: Von Vargas (vargas.12@osu.edu) Fri, 5 Dec 1997 15:26:16 -0500 (EST)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.