TRUSTEES HEAR REPORT ON ENROLLMENT SERVICES, ADOPT A GOVERNANCE 
REPORT, APPROVE CONSULTING POLICY, CONDUCT MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS

	COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on 
Friday (5/1) heard reports on enrollment and related university 
services, adopted a governance report, approved a faculty 
consulting policy, heard updates on Campus Partners and graduate 
student activities, and conducted other business.

Report on recruitment, admissions, financial aid

	Ohio State enrollment officials expect the autumn 1998 
freshman class to be better prepared and more diverse than 
previous classes based on applications and student acceptances 
for the 1998-99 academic year.

	“We are seeing significant increases in academic quality, 
increased diversity and a decrease in the number of students 
seeking remedial math and English courses,” said James Mager, 
assistant vice president for enrollment management.  

	The university enrolled a class with the highest overall 
academic standing ever and record numbers of African-American, 
American Indian and Asian-American students in autumn 1997, “and 
we expect those trends to continue in autumn 1998 and in future 
years, as well,” Mager added.

	Mager was joined by Scott Healy, director of undergraduate 
admissions, and Tally Hart, director of student financial aid, in 
a presentation to the board about recruiting and service 
initiatives.

	Healy noted that a universitywide effort is in place to 
recruit new students.  Faculty welcome prospective students for 
office and classroom visits and write letters to and telephone 
accepted students.  Alumni serve as liaisons to high schools in 
their communities and participate in a variety of off-campus 
events.  And students play a major recruitment role:  Healy said 
student telecounselors have completed 115,000 phone calls with 
accepted students or their families in the past 2 1/2 years.  

	Students also help to host campus tours annually serving 
about 30,000 prospective students and their families.  Organized 
through the Visitor Center, the tours showcase Ohio State’s 
services, housing, programs and academic offerings, as well as 
information on the out-of-classroom experience.  “The visit is 
one of the most influential factors in the college selection 
process,” Healy said.

	Healy also credited many campus units that assist in 
recruitment, including the offices of admissions, financial aid, 
student affairs, minority affairs and university communications, 
the Alumni Association and its alumni recruitment volunteer 
program, the Visitor Center, the Honors Center, and colleges and 
departments.

	 Admissions officials are targeting students earlier -- as 
early as eighth and ninth grades -- and also are increasing 
contact with admitted students later in the process, linking them 
with faculty who outline individual curriculum plans for them. 

	“What we’re really doing is recruiting students not as 
freshmen, but as graduates of the university,” Healy said.

	Hart said improved financial aid services have resulted in a 
streamlined fee-payment process.  She also said a new computer 
system allowed Ohio State to distribute 8,750 award letters to 
prospective freshmen this year, offering $75 million in aid, in 
time to remain competitive with other institutions.  Hart 
anticipates the office will award $250 million in aid to 35,000 
students beginning in autumn 1998.

	Hart noted societal forces -- such as family finances not 
keeping pace with tuition, state budget uncertainties and 
families taking on too much debt -- are changing the nature of 
university financial aid.  “We’re being propelled by family 
economics and the state economy into a world where we no longer 
provide student financial aid but instead will be offering 
student and family financing of higher education,” she said.  

	Upcoming initiatives include a support system for students 
working during college and a program for parents of children in 
grades four through six promoting early savings for college, Hart 
said.

	“It’s also our responsibility to give students the best 
personal economic advice and education on how to manage all debt, 
including consumer debt, and helping them to avoid having 
finances distract their attention from the classroom,” she said.  
“We want to be the expert institution on how to save for 
college.”	

Governance report, affiliated entities

	Trustees adopted the University Governance Project Report, a 
document summarizing and providing guidelines for the board’s 
governance roles and its relationship with the university 
leadership.  With respect to governance polices and practices, 
the board’s objectives include:

	-- striking a balance between long-term planning activity 
and initiatives that fulfill its fiduciary responsibility for 
ensuring the effectiveness of day-to-day management;

	-- developing policies and procedures that minimize 
duplication of effort, and defining the appropriate balance 
between board governance and university management 
responsibility;

	-- and identifying an agenda for action by the board and 
university leadership for the next few years.

	Trustees approved an organizational model and governance 
structure for affiliated entities, which stems from the 
University Governance Project Report.  Affiliated entities are 
organizations that are legally separate from the university but 
have important ties to it.  Examples include the Ohio State 
University Foundation, Campus Partners and the Transportation 
Research Center.  Trustees accepted the recommendations of its 
Affiliated Entities Committee, which had been reported in detail 
at the board’s April meeting and subsequently reviewed by deans, 
faculty committees and other university leaders.

	The recommendations include categorizing all affiliated 
entities for the appropriate level of board involvement and 
supervision; establishing a universitywide process for creation 
and governance of affiliates; and continuing the oversight 
responsibilities of the Affiliated Entities Committee, with 
support from the Office of Legal Affairs.

Policy on paid external consulting
	
	Trustees approved the establishment of a University Senate 
Policy on Faculty Paid External Consulting.  The policy was 
reviewed by trustees in March and approved by University Senate 
in April.

	The policy is designed to establish guidelines and reporting 
requirements for paid consulting, external to the university, 
that is undertaken by faculty members, including administrators 
with faculty appointments, and that is related to their areas of 
professional expertise.

	Faculty members are encouraged to engage in paid external 
consulting to the extent that the activities are clearly related 
to the mission of the university and do not entail a conflict of 
interest, said Nancy Rudd, vice provost for academic policy and 
personnel.  

	The policy includes approval process requirements, and 
guidelines concerning faculty time spent on consulting and 
faculty use of the university name and Ohio State property in 
connection with consulting.

Board hears report on the Graduate Research Forum

	The board heard a report by Susan Huntington, vice provost 
and dean of the Graduate School, on the recent Graduate Research 
Forum at Ohio State.  The forum, held annually since 1986, is a 
juried event that showcases research completed by Ohio State 
graduate students.  At this year’s forum in April, the event was 
officially renamed the Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum in 
honor of Hayes, who was vice president for research at Ohio State 
from 1991 until his death in March.

	Approximately 195 students participated in the forum, with 
34 students awarded a total of $12,000 for their work.  

	“The research forum is a wonderful way for the public to 
realize the value of research on society,” Huntington said.  “To 
put their participation in the forum on their resume makes our 
students more marketable after graduation.”

	Valerie Alpert, a graduate student in dance, said she valued 
her participation in the forum because it helped to communicate 
her research more effectively.

	“It was a great way for me to articulate what I do in a 
common language people outside the field can understand,” she 
said.
	 
Trustees hear report on the Council of Graduate Students

	The board heard an update from Kathleen Carberry, president 
of the Council of Graduate Students, on the activities of CGS.  
Carberry reported that the 40-year-old organization promotes and 
provides academic, administrative and social programs for 
graduate students.  She said the council is comprised of one 
delegate per 50 graduate students in each of the 10 departments 
in the graduate school, CGS officers and an executive committee.  

	Programs that the council is responsible for include the 
annual graduate student orientation, the Graduate Research Forum 
and a spring picnic.  Carberry said the council recently 
completed a survey of graduate students.  CGS will compile the 
data to make recommendations that will be contained in the 
Quality of the Graduate Experience -- or Q-CUE -- report to be 
released later this year.  

Board hears an update on Campus Partners initiatives

	Terry Foegler, president of Campus Partners, reported on the 
organization’s efforts to date on several initiatives, including 
the neighborhood revitalization plan approved by the board last 
May and adopted by the city of Columbus in July 1997.  He said 
the plan has provided some 250 recommendations regarding 
commercial revitalization, public safety and education, housing 
and homeownership, transportation and parking, and social and 
physical infrastructure in the University District.  

	Some of the recommendations include revitalizing High Street 
into a strong, walkable urban street and creating a pedestrian 
gathering plaza at 15th Avenue by closing that street and opening 
13th, 14th and 16th avenues.  He said the plan recommends the 
majority of High Street to remain intact.  A more detailed, in-
depth report on the High Street revitalization plan will be 
presented at a future board meeting, Foegler said.

	Foegler spoke of Campus Partners’ role as a facilitator in 
several University District organizations.  He highlighted its 
involvement with the Community Outreach Partnership Center, 
helping with programs on job readiness and training, enterprise 
greenhouse business start-up, family stability and community 
building.

Endowment report

	Trustees heard a report from James L. Nichols, university 
treasurer, who said that the university’s endowment stood at 
$898.2 million as of April 27.  At the end of the quarter, the 
fund was at $914.4 million, Nichols said.

	The endowment will distribute an estimated $32.9 million to 
departments and colleges this year, Nichols said, an increase of 
more than 11 percent over last year.

	Trustees also transferred some funds to two new minority 
asset management firms -- MDL Capital Management and Cypress 
Asset Management -- and reappointed other fund managers.

Duga receives student recognition award

	-- Trustees presented a student recognition award to Michael 
Duga of FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.  A graduating senior majoring in 
political science, Duga was honored for his commitment to public 
service through his work as director of legislative affairs and 
executive director of the Undergraduate Student Government.  
While working with USG, Duga championed issues such as federal 
and state student budget concerns and financial aid, and helped 
coordinate visits to Ohio State by President Bill Clinton and 
Vice President Al Gore.  Duga has served as a member of the Board 
of Trustees at the Hillel Foundation and as lead advance for the 
Ronald H. Brown Foundation.

Miscellaneous business

	In other business, trustees:

	-- Approved a loan of $1.85 million to MedOhio Health Inc. 
to develop a health insuring corporation.

	-- Approved 181 contracts totaling $14 million for research 
projects funded in March.

	-- Accepted 76 waivers of competitive bidding requirements
for purchases totaling $15.6 million.

	-- Authorized an amendment to the Bylaws of the Medical 
Staff concerning organization of clinical departments and 
divisions.  The amendment reflects that the Division of Bone 
Marrow Transplantation has been merged into the Division of 
Hematology and Oncology to consolidate functions of the 
divisions. 

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Contact:  James Mager, Enrollment Management, (614) 688-5791
		Scott Healy, Undergraduate Admissions, (614) 292-3474
		Tally Hart, Student Financial Aid, (614) 688-5712