11-6-98
TRUSTEES HEAR REPORTS ON RESEARCH, TEACHING, STUDENT LIFE
COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on
Friday (11/6) heard reports on space-related research conducted
at the university and distance-learning technology developments,
as well as an update on autumn quarter student activities.
Ohio State research reaches into space
Ohio State has showcased some of its more than $20 million
in NASA-funded research during Space Week events coinciding with
U.S. Sen. John Glenn’s return to space. Projects highlighted for
the board Friday focused on astronomy, polar studies and mapping.
“NASA projects such as the Hubble Space Telescope have given
us unprecedented new views of the universe, including the
most distant galaxies ever detected,” said Patrick Osmer, chair
of the Department of Astronomy.
Osmer noted astronomy research at Ohio State includes a
search for planets around stars, studies of stars and galaxies,
use of data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Infrared
Space Observatory, and theoretical astrophysics work needed to
improve understanding of data obtained from space observations.
The university will have a one-eighth share of the upcoming
Large Binocular Telescope Project, which when completed in
2004/2005 will have 24 times the light-gathering power of the
Hubble telescope. For the project, Ohio State will provide a
spectrograph, which will allow astronomers to study objects
formed when the universe was 10 percent of its present age.
Another major proposed effort for the astronomy department
is the Kronos mission, a satellite observatory to be built and
launched by NASA. Bradley Peterson, an Ohio State professor of
astronomy, is leading an international team of scientists,
engineers and managers in the planning stages for the mission.
If the team’s proposal is accepted, Kronos will provide new
observations of some of the most extreme conditions known in the
universe, Osmer said.
Kenneth Jezek, director of the Byrd Polar Research Center at
Ohio State, told trustees that NASA-funded research has enabled
the center’s research team to conduct projects in several areas
related to Earth’s polar regions.
“Spaceborne remote sensing of Earth’s polar regions is
revolutionizing our understanding of polar processes and their
role in global systems,” Jezek said. He added that because
remote sensing can provide all weather, day/night, photographic-
like images of remote and inhospitable locations, research with
these data is revealing for the first time new details about the
ice, land and ocean of the Arctic and Antarctic.
The Radarsat Antarctic Mapping Project (RAMP) is one example
of the Byrd Polar Research Center’s application of spaceborne
technology to look back at Earth. A collaboration between NASA,
the Canadian Space Agency and the Byrd Polar Research Center, the
RAMP objective is to create the first, complete, high-resolution
radar image of Antarctica -- which also will complete the radar
mapping of Earth, a job completed several years ago for the
planet Venus.
Processing of the RAMP data to the final image is ongoing,
but Jezek said the RAMP image already demonstrates how the
margins of the Antarctic Ice Sheet are changing. In addition to
detailed data on the movement of ice sheets, the image provides
information about the Antarctic continent, now buried beneath ice
on average more than a mile thick.
The interdisciplinary Center for Mapping was established as
a NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space in Real-
Time Satellite Mapping in 1986, and is now a NASA Center of
Excellence.
The center has developed both airborne and Earth-based
precision methods to capture data, said Joel Morrison, the
center’s new director. The center also has completed a five-year
project in which scientists oversaw the complete digitization by
geographic layer of the USGS quadrangle maps for the state of
Ohio.
Morrison, former chief of the Geography Division for the
U.S. Bureau of Census, said the center is working to integrate
data-capture capabilities into a completely automated process
that includes data interpretation, storage and analysis, and the
communication of resulting geographic information in multiple
formats. The Center for Mapping also is involved with a
consortium of Ohio universities in the “Ohio View” project that
will result in current satellite imagery of Ohio being made
available to every citizen of the state. The imagery’s uses will
range from identifying prime development locations to mitigating
natural disasters.
“We are following the development of the Digital Earth
project suggested by Vice President Gore and implemented by NASA,
and plan to submit proposals for funding to that project in the
March 1999 time frame,” Morrison added. The center’s role in the
project would involve creating the software infrastructure for
real-time image processing as part of the Digital Earth program,
he said.
Distance education availability is increasing
Despite dramatic growth in technology-based learning
initiatives at Ohio State in the past three years, the university
may be at the crossroads of the next major step in classroom
cyberspace, said Jim Davis, associate vice provost and director
of University Technology Services (UTS).
Davis presented an overview of the university’s strategic
and financial commitments to student-oriented technology.
University Technology Services established the new office of
Technology Enhanced Learning and Research (TELR) this fall.
Stephen Acker, associate director of information technologies for
UTS, is director of the new group. The TELR office plans to work
with faculty, colleges, regional campuses and the Dean’s Learning
Technology Committee to develop policy at the university level,
integrate technology into the teaching and research environments,
and coordinate universitywide distance education activities.
“There has been a significantly increased university
commitment in this area in the past couple of years and there’s
been a significant realignment of resources,” Davis told
trustees. “We are now at a point where strategic integration,
faculty integration, and economic viability all need to be well-
defined.
“If a faculty member says he wants to offer a distance
education course, we can tell him where he can get help, but, as
with most institutions, Ohio State still hasn’t resolved the
issues of pricing and intellectual property.”
A task force on distance education policy, pricing and
revenue distribution has been commissioned by the Dean’s Learning
Technology Committee and is expected to recommend procedures and
costs involved in launching distance education courses, possibly
later this academic year.
Davis defines distance education as meaning a student needs
minimal presence on the Ohio State campus to complete a course.
He defines technology-enhanced learning as representing the use
of technology in a course that enhances the educational
experience.
According to Davis, Ohio State has increased its number of
distance education courses for residential and nonresidential
students from 40 to 100 over the past three years. Twenty-five
courses are Web- and Internet-based, while 75 courses are based
on video and videoconference technologies. Seventeen colleges
and regional campuses are actively involved in the delivery of
distance education, he said.
Davis estimates that about 2,000 courses -- more than 15
percent of all Ohio State courses -- and 25,000 Ohio State
students on all campuses utilize the Web in some form of
classroom work. A recent survey indicates that there are 150
computer laboratories on the Columbus campus, with 3,500
computers connected to the Internet. There also are 85
classrooms on the Columbus campus wired with either video or
Internet technology.
Since 1995, Davis said, Ohio State’s Columbus campus has:
-- Increased the amount awarded as part of three grant
programs for design, development and delivery of technology-
enhanced learning to $2.5 million annually.
-- Increased the number of on-campus e-mail accounts from
50,000 to 62,000.
-- Added two new commercial services for faculty, staff and
students accessing the Ohio State Internet and the Internet from
off campus. More than 35,000 now have off-campus e-mail accounts
with those services.
-- Added 50 online student service features, serving the
areas of admissions, registration and the library. Data provided
by the University’s Student Information System will continue to
improve and expand, Davis said.
Board hears report on autumn quarter activities
David Williams II, vice president for student and
urban/community affairs, reported on autumn quarter activities,
including residence halls move-in, Welcome Week, Buckeye Blast,
Community Commitment, Parents’ Weekend and the National Make a
Difference Day project at Northwestern University.
Williams showed a video highlighting the events and said
these and other activities are part of the Office of Student
Affairs’ efforts to continue to improve the student experience at
Ohio State. He noted that many of the activities were new and
resulted in more student and community participation in campus
activities.
Several students spoke to the board about their
participation in the activities. Jessica Smith, a freshman from
Enon, Ohio, said her experiences with the Welcome Week events
have helped her feel connected to Ohio State.
“It made me feel as though I was an important part of the
university. You would think that it would be hard to be a part
of something so big, but it is not,” Smith said. “I’ve had
nothing but wonderful experiences here at Ohio State thanks in
part to the activities of Welcome Week that have allowed me to
become involved and meet great people.”
Josh Mandel, president of Undergraduate Student Government,
said the fall quarter activities have helped students feel that
they are a part of something significant and made them feel
important and connected to each other and the university.
“I’ve never seen a year quite like this before. The
programming has been relevant and productive,” Mandel said.
“Things are really being done right.”
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Contact: Patrick Osmer, Astronomy, (614) 292-2022
Kenneth Jezek, Byrd Polar Research Center, (614) 292-6531
Joel Morrison, Center for Mapping, (614) 292-1600
Jim Davis, UTS, (614) 292-6553
David Williams II, Student Affairs, (614) 292-9334