Doors opening on Gateway development

Upon the fifth anniversary of its creation, Campus Partners is approaching another milestone: acquisition of the remaining land needed to construct its signature project, the University Gateway Center.

Representatives from Campus Partners, the city of Columbus and the Gateway developers updated the University Board of Trustees March 3 on the mixed-use urban redevelopment project at 11th Avenue and High Street.

David Williams II, vice president for student and urban/community affairs, led a group of presenters that included Terry Foegler, president of Campus Partners; Ron Druker, president of the Druker Company Ltd. of Boston; Matt Habash, president of Columbus City Council; and Councilman Rich Sensenbrenner.

Foegler said Campus Partners has acquired 85 percent of the site for the estimated $100 million project. Funding for the total project is derived from several sources, including Ohio State, the Druker Co., the state of Ohio and the city of Columbus, he said.

Habash told trustees that Columbus has a long history of addressing issues in the University District.

"Both Ohio State and the city of Columbus are strongly committed to the revitalization of the campus neighborhood east of High Street," he said. "It's clearly a win-win situation for both parties."

Last December, the council authorized the execution of a comprehensive economic development agreement with the Gateway Area Revitalization Initiative (GARI), a Campus Partners affiliate. In the agreement, the city committed $5 million to be put toward the public infrastructure Gateway requires, approved the use of eminent domain to help assemble the project's redevelopment site, and laid out a broad partnership to ensure the project's success.

The council also established a Tax Increment Financing district to capture the new, nonschool property-tax revenues generated by Gateway to help finance a parking structure. The city was instrumental in supporting Ohio State's $4.7 million capital budget request for the Gateway parking structure, Habash said.

The city also has improved the quality of public service in the surrounding neighborhoods since it entered into the partnership with Campus Partners, including increasing cooperation between the Columbus and University police and improving garbage collection and street-sweeping services, he said.

Druker told trustees his company has been working to secure anchor tenants for the University Gateway Center, including a bookstore, a theater and a grocery store. Plans also include 70,000 square feet of University office space.

"We are currently in negotiations with Barnes & Noble for a 60,000-square-foot state-of-the-art bookstore. It will be one of the finest bookstores in the country with a cafe, computer stations, trade publications and textbooks," he said. Barnes & Noble operates many other college bookstores across the country.

Once anchor tenants are identified, Druker said, meetings will begin with local businesses. "Including local businesses in the project is an important part of our plan," he said.

In new post, Halasek is faculty adviser, advocate

Five years ago, Kay Halasek served as faculty chair of an ad hoc committee that oversaw the abolishment of ombudservices at Ohio State. Mediation and advocacy services for staff and students replaced that office, and faculty retained access to numerous departmental and University Senate committees for grievance procedures and support. But some faculty remained dismayed about the demise of ombudservices at the University.

This year, Halasek takes on a task somewhat akin to a specialized ombudservice. She has been named secretary of the faculty, assuming a role in which she will advise and advocate on behalf of Ohio State's professoriate and encourage more faculty participation in University governance.

The position was created in part to respond to faculty who were upset about the loss of ombudservices, said Susan Fisher, professor of entomology and veterinary biosciences, who chaired Faculty Council when a call for such an advocate was raised last academic year. The council, responding to other input, also sought to establish an adviser who could help faculty avoid charges of research misconduct, and inform faculty about the increasing number of governing policies that carry legal implications -- among them, sexual harassment, workplace violence and conflict of interest, Fisher said.

Halasek

Halasek, associate professor of English, will not perform the traditional roles of mediating disputes and processing individual grievances. Instead, she'll advise faculty on procedures and processes they should consult to resolve their individual concerns, and will serve as an advocate for faculty as a collective.

"You could name any office in the University, and chances are it has a direct impact on faculty and the quality of academic life," she said. "My finger will probably be in every pie in the University."

Halasek already has begun the process of sampling the "pies," meeting with officials in the offices of Human Resources, Legal Affairs and Research to familiarize herself with issues likely to concern faculty.

She's already well-versed on promotion and tenure procedures and dozens of other governance issues, as Halasek was among the few faculty to join University Senate while she was still pursuing tenure. An Ohio State faculty member since 1989, she was a senator from 1993 to 1996.

"I started in governance when I was an assistant professor, which is rather unusual. I needed to get my voice in there, because if assistant professors aren't available, who's going to speak for assistant professors?" she said. That philosophy applies to the recruitment element of her role as secretary of the faculty: Halasek plans to promote increased participation in governance among faculty across colleges and across ranks. Also high on her agenda is increased inclusion of regional campus faculty.

In her roles as adviser and advocate, Halasek expects to be both proactive and reactive. In addition to advising faculty, Halasek is expected to advise President Kirwan and Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray on the issues brought to her office. She'll keep a log of all issues faculty raise, and will take up concerns with appropriate administrators on an "as-needed basis. If I see we're reaching a crisis point, I will schedule a meeting with the provost."

"I really do see my function as a conduit -- not as someone who initiates issues, but as someone representing the interests of the faculty constituency," Halasek said. "In most cases, I will listen to faculty. I might also go forward with recommendations for revisions where appropriate. There might be a situation in which in my contact with faculty, I'll come across an issue for which I could construct and propose a revision to a policy, or identify that a rule change is in order."

Though so far Halasek has focused more on informing the community of her appointment than on hearing from faculty, Halasek predicts issues she will address will range from conflicts of interest and infringements on academic freedom to the complexities of dealing with classroom policies or colleagues and concerns about sexual harassment.

The appointment became effective in January, but Halasek most likely won't be able to move into her office until spring quarter. She'll join Gerald Reagan, secretary of University Senate, in Independence Hall.

Halasek, also director of the first-year writing program in the Department of English, plans to split her days between her English faculty/administrative post and her job as secretary of the faculty. A mother and a specialist in composition pedagogy who someday would like to be promoted to full professor, Halasek already is used to budgeting her time.

"It is a real balancing act. I really have to compartmentalize my life," she said. "I'll spend a half-day in each position, but will be flexible as needed. That will help me manage those roles."

By spring or early summer, Halasek intends to post a Web site that will include a changing monthly commentary and a mechanism by which to poll faculty. The site will include a hotlink to her e-mail address, halasek.1@osu.edu. "I want to use technology in a way that will make me more available," she said.

But Halasek also emphasizes that despite the need for a faculty rule change to officially define the job, she is prepared to hear from faculty now, and looks forward to it.

"I enjoy having the opportunity to be out in the University community working with my colleagues," Halasek said.

"And I have enjoyed my work in faculty governance -- it draws out skills I hope to cultivate further, such as looking at a problem, considering alternatives and solutions, and solving it. I guess, at heart, I'm a problem-solver."

SCBC proposes salaries, benefits

For its 1999-2000 recommendations, the Staff Compensation and Benefits Committee has set as priorities a 5 percent salary pool increase for fiscal year 2000, domestic partner benefits, a Universitywide study of staff development and work/life, and improved communications.

Additional recommendations endorse: parental adoption leave benefits; increased publicity for flextime policies; staff training opportunities; expanded Ohio State child care; elder care referral services; health and wellness services; tuition assistance programs; retirement benefits; and a redesign of the paid/unpaid time-off policy.

SCBC, a subgroup of the University Staff Advisory Committee, presented its annual report on Feb. 22 to President Kirwan, Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray, Vice Provost for Academic Policy and Human

Resources Nancy M. Rudd, and Associate Vice President for Human Resources Larry M. Lewellen.

In the area of compensation, SCBC cited the need to bring the University just ahead of market averages and to improve the recruitment and retention of quality staff as reasons for the recommended 5 percent increase. If 5 percent is not available, the report recommends that the University work with academic and support units to target increases for staff positions that fall significantly below state and local market levels.

"Obviously, we would like to have a 5 percent increase if that is possible, but before we commit to a specific number, we have to know what the University's revenues will be," Kirwan said. "Given that we expect state support to increase by only 4 percent, it will be tough to reach that 5 percent mark."

Ray confirmed that a 5 percent increase was unlikely. "With respect to salary, quite honestly it will be a stretch for us to do 4 percent this year," he said. "In terms of funding, it looks like this will be the tightest year since 1995."

He said reasons for the budget crunch are numerous, noting in particular the financial impact of embracing higher academic standards, which keep undergraduate and graduate enrollment numbers steady, thus affecting tuition and state subsidy revenues.

The administration will present finalized salary recommendations to the Board of Trustees in the spring. Recommendations by the Faculty Compensation and Benefits Committee of the University Senate also will be taken into consideration.

SCBC also called for giving a $700 increase to the base salary of Distinguished Staff Award winners, in addition to the existing $1,500 one-time cash award, to align the awards structure with similar faculty awards. "We are in complete agreement on the staff awards issue and we will make the change you suggest," Kirwan said.

SCBC recommended domestic partner benefits. Although USAC has historically viewed this benefit as an equity issue, SCBC presenter Jeanne McGuire, health physicist for environmental health and safety, told administrators domestic partnership benefits "has increasingly become important for the University's recruitment and retention." Local employers, such as Nationwide, Longaberger and The Limited, offer domestic partnership benefits, as do several of Ohio State's benchmark institutions.

Kirwan expressed his support, but said implementing the benefit would require action by the Board of Trustees. The University will continue to press for trustee acceptance of this benefit by encouraging open dialogue, he said, and will observe the experiences of other major employers in the community and elsewhere who have recognized its importance to their workforce.

Another priority for SCBC is the work of the Commission on Staff Development and Work/Life, a joint project between USAC and the Office of Human Resources to conduct a study that will provide information on staff needs and focus for initiatives. SCBC recommended that the study be administered as a Universitywide initiative with key findings, recommendations and action steps presented to the Board of Trustees.

On the subject of communication, SCBC recommended that the University communicate with its staff utilizing a variety of means, including e-mail, newsletters and brochures. The committee also recommended mandatory new employee orientation.

Without designating fee waivers as a highest priority recommendation, SCBC recommended again that a 100 percent waiver be granted for dependent fee authorizations and that prorated fee authorization benefits be extended to part-time employees who hold at least a 50 to 74 percent FTE position.

Kirwan, Ray and Lewellen cited high cost as the reason the University does not already offer dependents a 100 percent fee waiver.

"The challenge is the price tag," Kirwan said, explaining that the benefit could potentially cost the University $2.5 million in lost revenue, on a continuing basis.

The report also included recommendations to:

• Address the need for alternative tuition assistance programs for staff employed at regional campuses.

• Allow retirees with at least 10 years of service to obtain some fee authorization benefits, as long as application is made within five years of retirement.

• Continue research on the feasibility of offering a paid time-off bank.

Ray suggested that SCBC track the outcomes of its recommendations. "Next year, give us a scorecard to grade ourselves," he said. "It might help us to move forward more aggressively. FCBC does that and I would welcome that kind of feedback."

For a complete listing of recommendations, see the SCBC report at www.osu.edu/org/usac/.

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