PRESIDENT KIRWAN CALLS FOR UNIFIED PLAN TO MEET CHALLENGES AND GOALS IN DRIVE FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND TOP RANKING
COLUMBUS -- In his first “State of the University” address to The Ohio State University Senate, President William E. Kirwan called for “a unified, comprehensive, coherent strategy” to direct the university’s efforts and resources toward common goals.
Speaking on Saturday morning (10/16) before the faculty members, students and administrators of the Senate, he said that in the 15 months since he took office as the university’s 12th president, he has learned much about Ohio State and its many strengths.
“In brief, I would describe the state of the university as extremely healthy,” Kirwan said, outlining numerous recent achievements by faculty researchers, the increasing academic quality of the undergraduate student body, the success of the $1 billion Affirm Thy Friendship fund-raising campaign, and the progress being made in the Gateway redevelopment project and the new Science and Technology Campus.
However, he said, the university cannot afford to become complacent. “All of us assembled here today know that we face significant problems and challenges, which -- if not addressed -- could reverse our impressive gains and turn our high aspirations into empty rhetoric.”
Kirwan outlined six areas of critical importance to Ohio State’s future and called on the Senate to assist in devising strategies and solutions for dealing with them.
1. Faculty and staff compensation. Ohio State has been falling in relation to benchmark institutions, particularly in the key areas of new young faculty and specialized staff positions. Kirwan predicted that turning this around will take several years, and called for “fresh thinking” on the subject.
2. A new overall university budgeting system. This fall, Ohio State begins the final steps leading to implementing a new system that Kirwan predicts will provide the flexibility and incentives needed to increase the university’s resource base.
3. Research funding. He asked for Senate guidance in implementing the recommendations of the university’s Research Commission Report, which found that underachievement in securing grants and contracts is a major impediment to Ohio State’s top- tier public research university aspirations.
4. Retention and graduation rates. Ohio State undergraduates must graduate at substantially higher rates if Ohio State is to be considered a top-tier institution.
5. Diversity among faculty and staff. Calling the lack of progress in this area “one of my gravest concerns,” Kirwan said he soon will present the draft plan of a special task force assigned to set universitywide goals and specific strategies for overcoming deficits in the representation of minorities and women among the faculty and top administrative staff.
6. Physical facilities. While there have been some notable new structures completed recently, far too many of the classrooms, laboratories, offices and residence halls are outmoded and dilapidated, he said. Progress is being made in finding private funding to accelerate the pace of renovation on a selective basis, he said, and noted especially his strong endorsement for a major campaign to totally renovate the main library.
“As a university we have identified many problems, and we have a large number of strategies, plans, committees and dedicated individuals making daily contributions to our efforts,” Kirwan said. “What we don’t have, and what we badly need, is a unified, comprehensive, coherent strategy -- a single plan, if you will -- that articulates goals, strategies and metrics.
“Such a plan is an absolute necessity if we, as a community, are to establish a shared understanding of how our limited resources should be directed to our common commitments and institutional goals. And it is the only way that we can systematically calibrate the impact of our initiatives and, thereby, make necessary mid-course corrections based on objective analysis.”
Over the past several months, Kirwan and his vice presidents have begun assembling a plan that draws on several existing planning documents but also contains new thinking, such as in the draft diversity plan. Kirwan said he hopes to have the plan ready for distribution to the Senate and others within the next few weeks, with review and advice concluded by the beginning of winter quarter and a final document submitted to the Board of Trustees in February.
He gave the senators a glimpse of the plan’s contents. “It will describe a core set of values for the university -- such as integrity, the pursuit of truth, freedom of expression, diversity and community. It will articulate a vision of Ohio State as one of the nation’s preeminent public research universities and the nation’s exemplar in establishing a land-grant mission and agenda relevant for the 21st century.”
The plan will have four major goals, aligned with the four themes he outlined in his inaugural address in February:
1. Pursuit of academic excellence. Continuation of strategic investment and academic enrichment programs, a development program for all faculty, recruitment of national eminent scholars and development of such scholars from within Ohio State’s existing ranks.
2. Distinguished undergraduate program. Beyond improving the caliber of students admitted and improving graduation rates, the plan calls for new initiatives to create a more intimate academic environment through living learning programs.
3. Diversity. Kirwan said the plan will be specific about goals, strategies and means of assessing progress and will demand leadership from the top, beginning with himself.
4. Outreach and engagement. As Ohio State was a national leader in fulfilling the land-grant mission in the 20th century, so must it adapt to meet the needs of the 21st century, such as improved K-12 education, economic development and lifelong learning.
Kirwan ended with some thoughts on ways the university’s reward system for faculty could be adjusted to take advantage of “seasons” in the careers of most faculty -- times when they are focused on research, times when they are most inspired to teach and times when they desire to contribute to the larger community. With tenured faculty, there ought to be more flexibility to negotiate responsibilities and allocate rewards according to the specific interests and talents of individuals, he said.
“While we have enormous obstacles to overcome, I am convinced we can be one of those rare universities that actually rises to the top tier of academic institutions, not one of the many that just espouse such an ambition,” Kirwan concluded.
Contact: Lee Tashjian, vice president for University Relations, (614) 292-4373