Officials considering revenue enhancements

Provost outlines early budget picture to University Senate

Though Ohio State administrators are anticipating a tight budget for the 2000-2001 academic year, they're trying now to "think outside the box" about how to maximize revenues, Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray told University Senate Feb. 12.

"The fundamental problem is that from one year to the next, we need a 5 to 6 percent increase in revenues to provide increases in support for student services, financial aid, instructional technology, research facilities and equipment, and compensation that will permit us to keep pace or make gains relative to our peers, while meeting other institutional needs," Ray said. "Right now, revenues are growing at 4 percent."

The gap amounts to a difference of between $6 million and $12 million in a general funds budget expected to approach $700 million in expenditures.

Among the revenue limitations are the 6 percent tuition cap imposed by the state, limited state subsidy increases caused by steady or declining enrollments, and a less than ideal level of external research funding, Ray said. He noted that the steady undergraduate enrollment the University has seen in recent years is by design, and that Ohio State's experience with respect to doctoral enrollments reflects a national trend for decreased enrollment among master's and Ph.D. candidates.

Ray added that increasing new first-quarter freshman enrollment for the entering class in autumn 2000 -- and thus driving up enrollment and generating more state subsidy -- is not being considered among options to increase revenues next fiscal year.

"We're pretty much wedded to the idea that we should target the class size at 5,800," he said. "We've permitted increases in freshman admissions in the past to make up for expected reductions in enrollments in other areas. Now, we're setting hard targets for ourselves. I think most of us are committed to the notion that that's the right thing to do."

Administrators are monitoring central expenditures, considering looking at cash balances that could be shifted to maximize interest earnings, and anticipate that increased distance-learning initiatives will generate increased revenues. Ray also said a state legislative effort to enable faculty and staff ownership of commercialized technology eventually will help increase University revenues.

Ray also told Senate that colleges with available resources were able to supplement the central compensation pool with up to .5 percent of the raise package in their unit last year and that such possibilities would be considered this year.

Ray and President Kirwan said University officials continue to encourage stronger state support for higher education, which eventually could increase the state instructional subsidy.

Kirwan has been active in talking with legislators, Gov. Bob Taft and business leaders about the need to increase state funding of Ohio universities and colleges. Ohio ranks 46th in the nation in state support of higher education.

"I think coalitions are starting to come together, and people understand we have to enhance our funding from all sources if we're going to meet our aspirations," Ray said.

Kirwan, who noted Ohio reports a lower-than-average participation in higher education, said he expects to be among the membership of an upcoming ad hoc commission that will examine how Ohio fares nationally in terms of competitiveness.

"I've traveled around the state the past several months talking about the importance of quality higher education and its relation to success in the new economy," he said. "I find that there's an increasing awareness that Ohio is slipping further behind economically and a greater understanding that we must invest more in higher education."

Technology partnership awards honor innovation in knowledge transfer

The first-ever Technology Partnerships Alliance Awards have been presented this year to Ohio State faculty and companies reflecting the best practices in collaborations that transfer knowledge and technology into business success.

Recipients are:

• Arthur Epstein, Distinguished University Professor of physics and chemistry and director of the Center for Materials Research;

• L. James Lee, professor of chemical engineering and director of the Center for Advanced Polymer & Composite Engineering;

• A partnership between Honda of America Mfg. Inc., the Transportation Research Center and the OSU College of Engineering;

• Edison Welding Institute (EWI) in Columbus; and

• General Electric Aircraft Engines Division of Cincinnati.

The awards themselves -- a transparent arc of windshield glass with an embedded invisible radio antenna placed on a base of a metal/ceramic composite -- symbolize the partnerships they celebrate.

The antenna technology was developed in Ohio State's ElectroScience Laboratory and is available in the marketplace as Sungate Glass by PPG Corp.; the base composite was created in OSU Materials Science and Engineering labs and is being commercialized by the BFD Inc. in the Business Technology Center.

"These awards honor organizations and individuals who know that innovation cannot be left to chance -- that it must be pursued systematically, fostered and nurtured through a culture that celebrates change, sustained by incentives that reward research excellence, and enhanced by partnerships that reflect the value of collaboration," President Kirwan said.

Ohio State created the Technology Partnerships Alliance to strengthen University partnerships with business and the public sector, and to fortify the community's technology enterprise infrastructure.

The award recipients were honored Feb. 21 at the 2000 Technology Partnerships Awards Dinner, at which Kirwan delivered remarks and introduced Ohio Gov. Bob Taft as keynote speaker. The dinner followed a roundtable at which representatives of Ohio's business and higher education communities discussed forces driving the formation of technology partnerships and explored strategies for building university-business alliances.

Award recipients

Epstein spent 12 years in research and research management at Xerox Corp. before joining Ohio State. In his 14 years at the University, his research program has garnered more than $12 million in grants and industry contracts and he has disclosed more than 30 inventions. Most of the resulting patents have been licensed. His light-emitting polymer portfolio has been licensed to a Fortune 500 company and is the basis of a new commercial initiative. His best-known invention is the world's first plastic magnet.

Lee has succeeded in linking fundamental research in polymer engineering to the solving of critical industrial problems. His research group is recognized as the world leader in liquid composite molding, a new technology used widely in aerospace, civil infrastructure and the automotive industry. In 17 years at Ohio State, he has secured more than $10 million in external research support, including five active awards from the National Science Foundation. The center he directs conducts research sponsored by 22 companies.

Honda Manufacturing, the Transportation Research Center and the College of Engineering share a strong partnership to enhance automotive research capabilities and opportunities. A $6 million endowment established by Honda in 1988 has grown to a market value of $40 million with ongoing contributions from the Transportation Research Center's surplus funds. The endowment provides automotive engineering opportunities for students and supports chairs in ergonomics and material forming. One major collaborative project has advanced the technologies in intelligent vehicle highway systems.

EWI, established in 1984 through cooperative efforts that included Ohio State participation, is the largest nonprofit engineering organization in the United States dedicated to advancing and applying welding and materials joining technology to benefit industry. EWI provides information, assistance, research, consulting and training to more than 400 member companies. Through the Cooperative Research Program, EWI sponsors research projects primarily at Ohio State and directly relates the research to the needs of its industry members. EWI and OSU's welding engineering program share a facility on the Science and Technology Campus.

GE Aircraft Engines Division brought GE's University Strategic Alliance Program to Ohio State's Gas Turbine Laboratory. Under this program, world-class research is conducted using actual engine hardware under real-world operating conditions. The alliance provides GE Aircraft Engines privileged access to Ohio State intellectual capability and a mechanism for employing top-quality students, and benefits OSU by providing an opportunity for faculty to work closely with company technologists.

Huber Fellows named

Three members of Ohio State's College of Social and Behavioral Sciences faculty have been named Joan N. Huber Faculty Fellows. The three -- Mari Riess Jones, professor of psychology; Ellen S. Mosley-Thompson, professor of geography; and Catherine E. Ross, professor of sociology -- will each receive an annual cash award of $5,000 for three years to further their research.

The fellowship program recognizes outstanding scholarly achievements of faculty who are not already Eminent Scholars, chairpersons, Distinguished University Professors or Distinguished Scholars. The fellowships are named in honor of Huber, who served as dean of the college from 1984 to 1992 and as senior vice president for academic affairs and provost until her 1993 retirement.

"The Huber Fellows are continuing the strong tradition of scholarship exemplified by Joan Huber," said Randall B. Ripley, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. "They are also excellent teachers and serve the University and their discipline in multiple ways. They are a vital part of what allows Ohio State to contribute so much to the people of Ohio, the nation and the world."

Jones joined the faculty in 1968. Her research focuses on the dynamic aspects of auditory attentions, perception and memory. Considered one of the most important theoretical contributors to the field of auditory attention, Jones has received numerous professional recognitions and awards, including fellowship in the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Mosley-Thompson assumed a full-time research position with the Byrd Polar Research Center in 1979. She joined the geography faculty in 1990. Her work is directed at understanding the Earth's climate over the last 500,000 years through careful analysis of chemical and physical properties preserved in ice cores. She has been recognized by the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council and National Science Foundation. She also has served as president of the Atmospheric Sciences Section of the American Geophysical Union and chair of NASA's Universities Space Research Scientific Advisory Board. She played a leading role in forming the U.S. Global Change Research Program, a $1.8 billion multiagency effort.

Ross joined the sociology faculty in 1993. Her research takes a social epidemiological approach to the unequal distribution of physical and psychological well-being by looking at socio-economic status, ethnicity, work, gender and family, and the mediating processes that link social structure and individual well-being. She has co-authored a book, Social Causes of Psychological Distress, with Ohio State colleague John Mirowsky. Ross has received grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Aging and the National Science Foundation, among others, and she is one of the few sociologists to serve on the National Institute of Mental Health Task Force on Basic Behavioral Science.