A Plan for HIgh Street: Creating a 21st Century Main Street results from a community-based examination of the span of High Street that runs through the University District.   Courtesy of Goody, Clancy & Associates

Document outlines vision for High Street

Each day, High Street in the University District bustles with pedestrians, bicycles and motor vehicles as thousands of people grab a quick bite between classes, hang out with friends or stop by one of the area's many music stores looking for a CD.

But despite its inherent energy, High Street's sizzle is short-circuited by litter and graffiti. The street is known for its bars and music stores, but for most other goods and services, the residents head elsewhere.

Campus Partners presents a more compelling vision in A Plan for High Street: Creating a 21st Century Main Street. The document was published this fall at the conclusion of a community-based study of High Street's future.

"For a long time, we just accepted High Street as High Street -- it's just going to be that way," said Steve McClary, administrator for the City of Columbus' Planning Office. "We had pretty low expectations for the area. This plan does a very good job of raising our expectations of what High Street can be, not just for the University District, but for the entire Columbus community.

"No other neighborhood in Columbus enjoys this strength of market," McClary said, "and that opens up a tremendous number of possibilities."

Work on the plan began in 1997 with funding from the city and from Ohio State through Campus Partners. A 40-person advisory steering committee, representing High Street's diverse stakeholders, oversaw the plan's development. Goody, Clancy & Associates, an urban planning firm based in Boston, led a team of consultants, which prepared the plan.

Terry Foegler, president of Campus Partners, described the plan as "a shared vision" for High Street. "The plan offers a set of urban design principles and recommendations to preserve and extend High Street's urban character and promote its evolution as one of America's great urban Main Streets."

The plan outlines a four-point mission:

• Restore High Street as the symbolic heart of the University District, providing a variety of public places for people from all walks of life to gather.

• Re-establish it as a vital main street for the district, providing a dynamic mix of retail, entertainment and services.

• Create a place for new economic opportunities, providing jobs and other public benefits to adjacent neighborhoods.

• Reinforce High Street as an environment that supports learning, providing settings and activities that draw Ohio State students, faculty and staff to the district.

The document is a planning tool for the University Area Commission, the city, Ohio State and the private sector, Foegler said.

Similar revitalization efforts have taken place in the Short North, the area directly south of the University District, McClary said, and Clintonville is currently in the planning stages of revitalizing the stretch of High Street running through that community.

"Most neighborhood commercial districts have used some sort of plan similar to the High Street plan," McClary said. "But this area of High Street is an entirely unique area within the city of Columbus. It is the most dense residential area in the city, and it's home to one of the city's largest employers, Ohio State, which brings thousands of people into the area each day.

"So needless to say, there isn't anything cookie cutter about this plan at all," he added.

David Dixon of Goody, Clancy & Associates is the plan's primary author. Dixon likens Campus Partners' efforts to recent main street revitalization projects at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

"But Ohio State remains a step ahead of these other projects because of its desire to keep community members and businesses involved in the planning stages," Dixon said. "Actually, I'm really amazed that so much is happening already."

Over the last couple of years, High Street has seen the addition of Urban Outfitters, a trendy clothing store; the bookstore College Town; and a Blockbuster video store, all of which add to the urban feel of the area, he said.

Along with protecting and enhancing High Street's urban feel, the plan suggests:

• Forming a parking management entity to manage the district's parking and to create approximately 1,500 to 2,100 new parking spaces to serve development and reduce existing shortages.

• Establishing a Special Improvement District to organize property owners and businesses to better manage the commercial district in a manner that promotes essential maintenance, security and marketing to keep pace in a highly competitive, ever-changing retail climate.

• Supporting strategic redevelopment opportunities to energize High Street with a lively "University Gateway Center," transforming the street's most troubled area into a regional destination, which will draw students, residents, visitors and others back to High Street.

"All of this is possible," said Steve Sterrett, community relations director for Campus Partners.

With the continued growth and investment in the Short North area and the hometown charm of Clintonville, Columbus residents could see the face of High Street change in the next 10 years, McClary said.

Copies of the plan are available at no charge by calling Sterrett at 294-7300 or Pasquale Grado, executive director of the University Business Association, at 299-2866.

Trustees approve Academic Plan

Ohio State leaders and constituency groups are collaborating on an implementation strategy for initiatives within the University's Academic Plan, which now carries Board of Trustees approval.

The board on Dec. 1 approved the vision and strategies articulated in the plan documents, authorized the president and provost to move forward with implementation and modify the documents as needed, and stipulated that University officials should report to the board annually on their progress.

The Academic Plan -- a five-year strategy to move Ohio State toward its goal of becoming a truly great teaching and research university -- has been the subject of numerous presentations to interested groups on and off campus during autumn quarter.

President William E. Kirwan and Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray, in an electronic message to campus in late November, described reaction to date as "very encouraging. There seems to be a general consensus that we are on the right track."

At the same time, they said, the administration continues to receive suggestions for modifications and additions that will strengthen the plan further.

The plan's role in enhancing Ohio State's contributions to economic development was outlined for trustees during two guest presentations, one from a representative of higher education and the other from an Ohio General Assembly member.

Marye Anne Fox, chancellor of North Carolina State University, detailed how NC State and the University of Texas at Austin, at which she previously served as vice president for research, have been major players in their respective regions' industry advancements, especially in technological areas. University partnerships with industry, research and labor contributions from students, faculty and graduates, and availability of land and facilities are keys to institutional support of economic growth, she noted. Fox said the Academic Plan is vital to Ohio State's participation in economic development.

State Rep. Priscilla Mead of Upper Arlington pointed to the Science and Technology Campus as a prime example of how Ohio State has led development of a hub for bringing ideas and people together in a way that will advance economic growth and "bring world-class opportunities" to the area. Emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between a nationally recognized research institution and the community in which it is based, Mead noted that that partnership will factor into the recruitment of world-class faculty and public and private investment in research and technology.

Discussions have begun on campus about elements of the plan relating to the General Education Curriculum and a proposed calendar shift from quarters to semesters. Calls for proposals have been issued for multidisciplinary research centers and faculty recruitment, and collaboration with constituency groups is taking place to determine actions, responsibilities, resources and timelines for moving forward with plan initiatives.

Other plans include making the strongest possible case to the governor and General Assembly for funding proposals to be considered next year, and issuing a revised statement of the plan early next fall, reflecting the results of the legislative session and any suggestions for improvement that are added to the plan.

Already, administrators have accumulated several suggestions for improvement that are expected to be incorporated in the next version. For example, Kirwan and Ray related in their electronic message, it has been suggested that the plan should be more proactive in enhancing the careers and abilities of University staff, that benchmarks should include four- as well as six-year graduation rates, and that the plan should emphasize the importance of the campus physical environment and its link with University values.

College and department meetings across campus have reflected a variety of feedback, especially a keen interest in the proposed calendar shift from quarters to semesters, a concept which is set to undergo University Senate review this year. Other feedback ranged from support for the P-12 initiative to discussions in several areas centering on how the hiring of "star" faculty from the outside should be appropriately balanced with nurturing and development of Ohio State's own talented faculty.

Kirwan and Ray have noted that the plan calls for annual increases in compensation levels for current faculty that will bring Ohio State more in line with its peer institutions, as well as professional development tools, such as cutting-edge technology, to ensure top-quality work.

Other subjects discussed in campus meetings have included: how the plan interfaces with the new budgeting structure; the plan's impact on salaries and multiculturalism; effects of admissions policies calling for higher standards year-round; staffing required to effectively operate interdisciplinary programs; and distance education's role in the University's future.

Meetings to date have included a number of groups, including the colleges of Education; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Engineering; and Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Similar discussions are expected to continue in the coming months.

Ray urges colleagues to embrace institutional goals

The Ohio State community must rally around the goal to become one of the world's truly great universities and then stay the course in order to experience the benefits of its academic and diversity plans, according to Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray.

"Presidents and provosts, advocates and nay-sayers will come and go in the next 20 years," Ray said in a Dec. 2 address to University Senate titled "Academic Excellence and Constancy of Purpose." "The Academic Plan can be the mechanism for sustaining an institutional ability to stay the course and reach our goal. But it cannot serve that purpose if it is not the common property of the entire University."

Ray said the "work orders" accompanying the University's Academic and Diversity Action plans are expected to be completed by the end of winter quarter. They involve assigning oversight of proposed activities to appropriate faculty and administrative groups across the University, constructing timelines, and ensuring that changes implemented reflect shared governance responsibilities, Ray said.

He described the Academic Plan as a dynamic document that reflects "an understanding of the terrain we must traverse during the first five years of perhaps a 20-year journey. Each year we will have to review where we have been and where we now stand and look five years out again." The constants within the plan are the University's purpose, values, goal and vision, he said, adding that "the pursuit of academic excellence is at the heart of every strategy we pursue."

The Academic and Diversity Action plans advance complementary, and not competing, agendas, Ray said. And in contrast to Ohio State's history, which suggests the University is not effective in moving diversity plans forward, Ray pointed to the current plan's action emphasis. He cited many actions taken by the administration this year to change the landscape for diversity, including: a lecture series, funding to hire faculty and create an ethnic studies program, initiation of diversity and women's issues councils, and the commissioning of an Affirmative Action Committee to develop strategies to promote a diverse campus community regardless of how national legal issues play out.

Ray also asserted that Ohio State's history must not repeat itself, and called on the entire University community to keep the diversity goals -- to enhance both the profile and the climate -- in mind.

"However well intentioned I might be, however well intentioned this predominantly white institution might be, there has been a lack of constant attention, a lack of everyday reminders, a lack of constancy of purpose that makes it possible for the best of plans to get put aside to collect dust," he said. "It is essential that none of us, whether it is intuitive or not, lose track of our diversity agenda."

Efforts to restructure the University budget are expected to advance more rapidly now that the Academic Plan is in place, Ray said. In response to the most frequently asked questions about the process, he said changes in base budgets will be made in an orderly fashion over several years, and that he will meet with deans in December and January to discuss how college base budgets will be adjusted over the next few years. Ray also said new net revenues will be allocated to programs consistent with incentives that support objectives of the Academic Plan.

"The most powerful contribution that budget restructuring can make to the implementation of the Academic Plan is by providing positive and significant incentives for the creation of new courses, programs and creative works and for the reduction or elimination of activities that simply do not meet our institutional needs," Ray said. "For the Academic Plan to be successful, we must restructure our current patchwork system of resource allocation into something that is more focused, more flexible and more clearly aligned in support of our academic goals."

Ray said that though Ohio State fell behind its intended schedule to complete the Academic Plan, Diversity Action Plan and budget restructuring initiatives, the University now is positioned to make "extraordinary progress" this academic year.

"We must seize our opportunities in the year ahead," he said. "However the current course of events may go with regard to our goal of academic excellence, community building and securing the resources and organizational changes we are considering, I do want to close by noting how proud I am to be part of a University that is willing to address such difficult issues vigorously and with the shared vision of making Ohio State one of the world's truly great universities."

For the full text of the speech, visit the Web at http://oaa.ohio-state.edu/speeches/12_2000.html