New policy designed to decrease potential for work place violence

By instituting a new work place violence policy, Ohio State is seeking to be proactive on the subject of violence.

"We're really trying to prevent or minimize potentially violent situations," said Mark Ringer, director of consulting services and employee relations for human resources. "The policy is a way to elevate awareness of this topic."

The policy, which went into effect March 22, outlines for employees and administrators the procedures to follow in the event of a violent incident. In conjunction with the policy, the Office of Human Resources and University Police will offer training sessions to managers in prevention and identification of potentially violent situations.

"While we will focus on training managers in the short run, we should also look toward providing some type of violence prevention awareness training to faculty and staff who are not in managerial or administrative roles as well," said Nancy Rudd, vice provost for academic policy and human resources.

The plan, which applies to faculty, staff and student employees, defines work place violence as "any act that results in threatened or actual harm to a person or property in the work place."

Some typical situations that are addressed by this policy are physical altercations between employees or verbal exchanges that lead to threats.

Ringer said work place horseplay -- which some employees might call kidding around -- is not acceptable under the new policy. "There's no place for that in the work environment. We have to be concerned about any kind of threat," he said.

Domestic violence also is an area of growing concern.

"Sometimes spouses may come into the work place with those threats and co-workers may become involved in an unsafe situation," Ringer said. "We're really trying to balance the rights of that person with the rights of that individual's co-workers."

The policy encourages victims of domestic violence to notify the appropriate administrator, University Police or the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program.

"If we know about the situation, there are mechanisms that Human Resources and the employing unit can initiate to keep the person out of harm's way," said University Police Chief Ron Michalec.

The increasing number of incidents of violence across the country prompted the examination of Ohio State's capacity to deal with such situations.

According to statistics collected between 1980 and 1994 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, homicide is the second-highest cause of work-related death, and the No. 1 cause for working women.

The rise in violent crimes on university campuses in recent years also was an impetus for the new policy, Michalec said. "There is a history for these kinds of events. It has happened in schools in the Big Ten and right here in Ohio. It makes sense for us to be proactive rather than waiting for a tragedy to occur," he said.

A committee was formed in April 1998 to formulate a policy for Ohio State. Members included representatives from Human Resources, University Police, University Security Services, Medical Center Security Department, University Faculty and Staff Assistance Program, and Environmental Health and Safety.

The committee collected feedback from campus groups while drafting the policy, including University Senate committees, the University Staff Advisory Committee, the Communications Workers of America union, Legal Affairs and Academic Affairs.

Ohio State has lacked a formal structure for responding to crises.

"This (policy) gives the campus a reliable method for dealing with situations that may arise," said Kimberly Shumate, associate legal counsel for legal affairs.

"It will provide consistency so it doesn't have to be handled within each individual unit," she said. "It should be a help to the administration and a safeguard for employees and students."

The policy outlines specific responsibilities of faculty, staff and student employees, New policy designed to decrease potential for work place violenceas well as University Police and Human Resources, both prior to and in the event of violence.

It also provides for the creation of a Crisis Assessment Team who can be called together to assess and manage incidents involving imminent danger or violence. The team includes representatives from University Police, Human Resources, the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program and Legal Affairs, and, when appropriate, Academic Affairs.

The team will provide a valuable service, Shumate said.

"It's an ability to get people with more experience in those types of situations involved immediately, rather than at some point down the line," Shumate said.

Michalec is excited about the policy's preventive approach that focuses on early intervention. "By being aware of the warning signs, we might be able to help get employees back on track before the situation escalates to the point of violence," he said.

University Medical Center employees are not covered by this policy. They are subject to conduct outlined by the University Hospitals Policy and Procedures Manual. Students who are not employees are covered by the Student Code of Conduct.

For more information about the policy or training sessions, call the Office of Human Resources Consulting Services at 292-2800.

Two OSU alumni step into spotlight at Academy Awards

Ohio State's ties to Hollywood got a little stronger March 21, when two alumni were awarded Oscars at this year's Academy Awards event.

Chris Wedge won an Academy Award in the Best Animated Short Film category and Doug Robie received a Technical Achievement Award for his contribution to "tracking technology."

Wedge, who earned a master's degree from Ohio State's Department of Art Education in 1985 and was a former student at the University's Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD), won for his computer animated film, "Bunny."

photo courtesy of the College of Arts

Chris Wedge won the Academy Award in the Best Animated Short Film category

Wedge is one of the founders of Blue Sky Studios in New York and California. He originally created the seven-minute film to showcase new and innovative computer-animation techniques and to stretch the limits of his company's lighting software. It is the first computer-animated film to use radiosity, an advanced rendering technique that mimics the most subtle properties of natural light.

Using radiosity, Wedge and his crew were able to create a dimensionality and organic realism never before seen in a computer-animated film.

The dark, film-noirish "Bunny" sets new standards of mood and cinematic storytelling in computer animation. "Bunny" is the touching tale of a tattered old rabbit, baking alone one night in her kitchen, when she receives a troublesome visitor -- a hairy moth -- that seems to stalk her.

Robie earned a Ph.D. in computer and information science in 1992 and also was a student at ACCAD. Prior to the evening ceremonies, Robie was presented with a Technical Achievement Award for the design and implementation of the TRACK system for camera position calculation and scene reconstruction.

The TRACK system is an integrated software tool that uses computer-vision techniques to extract critical 2D and 3D information about a scene and the camera used to film it.

Robie started the concept of tracking live action for computer generation when he was working on his Ph.D. at Ohio State. He currently works for Digital Domain in Los Angeles, which is owned in part by director James Cameron. As head of the film's software development team, Robie worked extensively on Cameron's "Titanic."

Campus office provides a home for faculty, TAs

When Blaine Lilly wanted feedback on his teaching style and effectiveness, he turned to the Office of Faculty and TA Development (FTAD) for help.

A consultant did classroom observations and mid-quarter reviews of his class and gave Lilly, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and industrial welding, helpful suggestions on how to further improve his teaching.

"Whenever I want to know how I'm doing (in the classroom), I turn to them," Lilly said. "They really are a useful office."

This is one example of the many services that are offered for educators at Ohio State through Faculty and TA Development.

"I think anyone at Ohio State would say teaching is central to our mission -- it is very important that we support those who do it," said Nancy Chism, director of the FTAD office. "We work to better the environment for teaching."

Located in Room 20 in the basement of Lord Hall, the office was created in 1987 as part of the Instructional Development and Evaluation unit of the Office of Learning Resources, with a mission to support teaching at Ohio State. FTAD serves an average of 2,000 faculty members and teaching assistants per year.

Some of the services FTAD offers include one-on-one consultations; a library of books, periodicals and subject files on college teaching; presentations, workshops and conferences on college teaching; and help with preparing teaching portfolios.

The office also published Teaching at The Ohio State University: A Handbook, that provides a basic overview of teaching in a college or university setting. It includes chapters on student development and special populations, course design and syllabus construction, effective lecturing, active learning, constructing tests and grading.

"Very few college teachers receive formal training before beginning to teach," Chism said. "Having this resource is very helpful. It is good to have a confidential place to seek help for their questions."

The office also holds an orientation the week before fall quarter for new faculty and teaching assistants, which introduces them to Ohio State, University resources, and processes and methods for how learning occurs during college years.

The New Faculty Network assists new faculty in meeting colleagues across fields, exchanging experiences, sharing problems, and discussing issues such as the first-quarter experience, getting feedback on teaching, managing time to balance different roles and developing a personal philosophy of teaching.

The Faculty and TA Development office also offers the Faculty of Color Teaching Network to support faculty who have other demands outside teaching, from serving on committees to mentoring their students of color who come to them for support.

Nationally, FTAD is considered one of the top faculty development offices, and is known for its leadership and teaching assistant training, Chism said. Ohio State was the first campus to hold a conference on TA development in 1986.

"We brought TA training out into the open. Since then, there has been better preparation around the country," Chism said. "We also focused on teaching for black student retention. Other methods focused on everything but teaching, with the approach of 'how can we fix the student to make them fit.' We at Ohio State gave a different message of, 'how can we change ourselves to make everyone fit.'"

This led to the Commitment to Success Program, a multicultural faculty and TA development initiative that aims to increase the retention and successful completion of all students with an emphasis on students of color, women, gay, lesbian, and bisexual students, nontraditional students, and students with disabilities, said Christine Stanley, associate director of FTAD.

The program was piloted last winter and spring quarters in the colleges of Law and Social Work and the Department of Mathematics, she said. Five more departments will soon participate in the program.

There is no charge for consultations or other services with the Office of Faculty and TA Development, and all consultations are kept confidential.

Chism is a member of the Professional Organizational Development Network in Higher Education, a national association for people working in faculty, instructional and organizational development. In October, she won the organizations's Bob Pierleoni Spirit of Professional award for her contribution to faculty development.