The Board of Trustees received an update Feb. 4 from William J. Shkurti, senior vice president for business and finance, about how original budget projections for fiscal year 1999 compared with audited financial statements for the year. Shkurti explained the variances to trustees, telling them that general fund resources were 1.4 percent over budget, while expenditures were .95 percent below budget. Both resources and expenditures were above budget for earnings accounts, particularly for the hospitals.

Shkurti said the general fund estimates were within the acceptable margin of error of plus or minus two percent and that variances in earnings budgets also reflect year-end audit adjustments to the financials.

Trustees also approved a routine mid-year budget report. Reporting on general fund resources, Shkurti said an increase in fee income and use of the enrollment reserve will offset the $1.7 million net subsidy reduction due to implementation of the Ph.D. enrollment cap. Other funds increased $75 million to reflect the addition of University Hospitals East.

Shkurti said the FY 2000 General Fund budget remains balanced, but margins going into FY 2001 are very tight.

Trustees approve construction work

Trustees authorized the University to hire construction managers for work at Larkins Hall, Robinson Laboratory and the Fisher College of Business, and to seek construction bids for University Hospitals.

The $136 million Larkins Hall renovation and replacement project calls for renovating existing facilities, replacing the Peppe Aquatic Center, and constructing a new building. House Bill 850, future capital appropriations, University bonds and Department of Athletics sources provide funding.

The Robinson Laboratory project calls for demolition of the existing lab and constructing new space for the Mechanical Engineering Department on the current site. The cost is estimated at $62 million, with funding provided by House Bill 850, future capital appropriations and gifts to the College of Engineering.

At the Fisher College, a construction manager will be hired to oversee the Executive Residence project, to be completed in 2002 at an estimated cost of $28.4 million.

Board approves new master's degree

Trustees approved the establishment of a Master of Physical Therapy degree program in the School of Allied Medical Professions. The program would become effective upon approval by the Ohio Board of Regents.

Movement to graduate-level physical therapy education reflects rapid changes in the national health care environment, which have led to an increased need for physical therapists to function as independent practitioners and in supervisory roles. It also responds to the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education's 1996 vote that it will grant accreditation only to entry-level programs that will be offered at a post-baccalaureate level by January 2002.

May gives report on development

A $1.5 million gift from Barbara Trueman, a 1960 graduate of Ohio State's College of Education, will establish the Trueman Chair in Equine Medicine and Science.

The board accepted the Trueman gift and other endowed funds during its meeting Feb. 4.

The annual income on the Trueman gift will provide an endowed chair to be held by a nationally eminent faculty member in the College of Veterinary Medicine who is distinguished in the field of equine medicine and surgery.

The announcement highlighted a report by Vice President for Development Jerry May. May reported on the establishment of 16 new named endowed funds, two chairs and one named professorship with gifts totaling nearly $2.3 million.

• The Joe R. Engle Designated Chair in the History of Christianity, whose trust will ultimately fund the position. Current funding is provided by the College of Humanities.

• The John A. Prior Professorship, $251,391.

• The Barbara B. and John R. Clugh Dental Scholarship Fund, $31,068.

• The Kyle Eric Althauser Memorial Scholarship Fund, $75,089.

• The Gary G. Marconi Scholarship Fund in Chemistry, $64,794.

• The Donald R. Newkirk Scholarship Fund in Health Service Management and Policy, $54,296.

• The Earl J. and Arden H. Frederick University Scholar Fund, $33,429.

• The Donald L. Kidwell Memorial Scholarship Fund, $31,350.

• The Kyle Eric Althauser Memorial Study Abroad Fund in Agriculture and Natural Resources, $30,000.

• The Richard Clarke Arnold and M. Ruth Jones Endowed Fund, $25,000.

• Butler County 4-H Endowment Fund, $25,000.

• Diversified Ophthalmics Endowed Scholarship Fund in Optometry, $25,000.

• The Bernard V. Fultz Family Scholarship Fund, $25,000.

• The Wendell A. Glick Ceramic Engineering Scholarship Fund, $25,000.

• The Edward M. Kowalski Memorial Scholarship Fund, $25,000.

• The Richard W. Parker Memorial Scholarship Fund in Mechanical Engineering, $25,000.

• The Ada Richardson Pressman Scholarship Fund in Mechanical Engineering, $25,000.

College of Law highlights interdisciplinary education

Trustees held their regular February meeting in Drinko Hall, which houses the College of Law. Dean Gregory Williams introduced a presentation to the board about the college's reputation as a leader in a movement toward more interdisciplinary legal education.

The foundation for the college's success is the strong interdisciplinary connections of its own faculty.

More than one-quarter of the law faculty hold an M.A. or Ph.D. in a separate field. Faculty members are affiliated with numerous other departments, from history and anthropology to political science and the Mershon Center.

In recent years, faculty have taught classes, presented papers or participated in conferences in more than 40 units across campus.

"Our faculty are doing cutting-edge empirical analysis and comparative law work," said James J. Brudney, professor of law. "I'm collaborating with scholars from other Ohio State departments as well as with other institutions. We are raising the College of Law's profile for diverse audiences across the country."

The primary institutional support for interdisciplinary research is the college's Center for Law, Policy, and Social Sciences. The former Center for Sociolegal Studies was renamed in 1999 to reflect its mission: Interdisciplinary work that is scholarly, draws on a range of social science perspectives and has practical policy-related value.

In addition to numerous law faculty and students, the center includes faculty and graduate fellows from seven other departments.

Since the mid-1990s, the College of Law has established four new clinics:

• The Justice for Children Project, providing direct legal representation of children and their interests in the local court system.

• The Mediation Clinic, enabling law students to mediate multiparty complex cases involving community disputes.

• The Housing Clinic, which opened last summer and has already handled more than 200 landlord-tenant matters representing students across the University.

• The Legislation Clinic, which begins operation in the next academic year and will give law students a hands-on learning experience working with legislators, committee staff and other key players in the legislative process.

Steven Huefner has been hired to lead the clinic. Huefner, a Columbia Law School graduate, was lead articles editor for the Columbia Law Review; clerked for a Washington, D.C., circuit judge; worked at a Washington law firm; and has spent the past four years as assistant legal counsel in the U.S. Senate.

"The new legislation clinic will enable law students to develop legislative analysis and lawyering skills, foster new scholarship on the challenges facing the state legislature, and offer important public policy service to Ohio legislators," Brudney said.

The center's Web site -- www.osu.edu/units/law/ -- describes interdisciplinary research by fellows from all departments associated with the center, with links to Web pages maintained by those fellows as well as publications, conferences and other center activities. Hundreds of individuals, from as far away as Croatia and India, have visited the site since November, spreading awareness of the center's interdisciplinary work.