Spirit of Women

By Jim Brown Lori Stewart, program manager in the OSU Medical Center department of communications and marketing, admires the tile she painted in honor of her mother for the Chlois G. Ingram Spirit of Women Park. The park was dedicated May 4 with the unveiling of thousands of tiles that have been hand-painted by their donors in honor of special women who have made a difference in their lives. The park, located between the University Hospitals Clinic and Dodd Hall, is named in honor of Chlois G. Ingram, who had a long-standing, meaningful relationship with University Hospitals as a Ògray ladyÓ volunteer during the late 1950s and early 1960s. To honor and preserve her memory, the Ingram family made a major contribution toward construction of the 1 1/2-acre park. Approximately 2,000 hand-painted ceramic tiles have been used in construction of the park honoring extraordinary women. The grounds are designed with a fountain as a cornerstone. The OSU Medical Center was one of the original six sites designated as a National Center of Excellence in WomenÕs Health by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

WSJ survey of recruiters rates Fisher College 14th

The Fisher College of Business was ranked 14th of 244 MBA programs from around the world in the Wall Street Journal's first-ever ranking of business schools accredited by the AACSB, the International Association for Management Education.

In addition, the college was ranked:

• third in terms of long-term return on the recruitment investment;

• sixth of the top 10 public schools;

• seventh in terms of overall value for the money invested in the recruiting effort; and

• ninth of the top 10 small schools, with enrollment of less than 500.

The Wall Street Journal and Harris Interactive interviewed 1,600 recruiters, asking them to rate 188 U.S. and 56 international business schools with which they have had recruiting experience in the past two years. The schools were rated on 27 different attributes.

The survey found that being small was a virtue for many of the schools. Half of the top 10 and 14 of the top 25 have fewer than 500 full-time MBA students. Fisher College, with an enrollment of 278, is among the smaller schools ranked. The recruiters reported that students from smaller programs seem to be more collaborative and personable than their counterparts at larger schools.

"It is apparent from the rankings that the quality of Fisher graduates and their value to companies is significant," said Joseph A. Alutto, dean of the college. "This continues the growing recognition for our program, but it is important to understand that we still have further aspirations for excellence and impact.

"Clearly, our graduates make a difference for their employers and the overall reputation of the Fisher College. That, taken together with a first-rate faculty, continuously improving programs, staff who really care and alumni who are increasingly supportive, bodes well for the future."

Unlike other rankings, which include feedback from students or other deans, the Wall Street Journal surveyed business recruiters to gain a "real-world" perception of the colleges' product: their students.

"We have found that once recruiters visit the Fisher College and meet our MBA students, they are pleased with our students' caliber and their focus on establishing careers that will be sustainable over time," said Jeff Rice, associate to the dean for career services. "Our students value on-campus interview opportunities with companies that support career development and prepare thoroughly for them. This focus is an attribute that recruiters have praised in our students and clearly is an attribute respected by participants in the Wall Street Journal ranking."

The survey results were published in the April 30 edition of the newspaper, and are available as an e-book online at WSJbooks.com. There is a $15 charge for the book.

The Wall Street Journal welcomes feedback to the survey. Readers of the publication can submit their comments via the Harris Interactive corporate Web site at www.harrisinteractive.com/bschools. Journal readers also may submit comments on the survey results report via e-mail to Ron Alsop at bschoolguide@wsj.com.

The Journal had a five-part mission in developing the survey, including rating as many full-time business schools as possible on as broad a range of characteristics as possible, by as many MBA recruiters as possible. The newspaper used the services of Harris Interactive in an effort to avoid bias. It plans to conduct the survey again in 2001 and also plans to rate other programs in the future.

Anna Rzewnicki is media relations coordinator for the Fisher College of Business.

OSU creates offices specializing in serving undergraduates

Ohio State senior Kristin Huchton imagined during most of her undergraduate career that one day, she would attend graduate school to pursue an advanced degree in chemistry, her undergraduate discipline.

Lengthy talks with her faculty adviser, Associate Professor of Chemistry Terry Gustafson, led her to change her mind. And she is extremely grateful to him for his guidance. Next fall, Huchton will begin pursuit of a master's degree in education. She now envisions a career as a teacher certified to teach high school chemistry and physics.

"It was very helpful to have Dr. Gustafson's support while I was figuring out what I want to do," Huchton told the University Board of Trustees May 4 during a presentation on undergraduate advising. "He said, ÔWhat is it you want out of this? What is exciting to you?'

"He helped me figure out what was important to me, not just what was expected of me."

Huchton was part of a panel describing Ohio State's academic advising structure to trustees in light of a reorganization of the bulk of undergraduate advising.

The board approved the establishment of the Office of Undergraduate Studies, and authorized the University to combine the advising resources of University College and the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences Administration to form a new unit called the Office of Undergraduate Student Academic Services (USAS). USAS will report to the Office of Undergraduate Studies, which will be overseen by Martha Garland, vice provost and dean for undergraduate studies.

Garland explained that under the new organization, degree-granting colleges are being encouraged to directly enroll freshmen who have chosen their majors. Historically, University College has served as an "intake" college for students, who typically entered their major home colleges as juniors. Coinciding with the steady increase in direct enrollment is the amalgamation of Arts and Sciences and University College advising resources, which will allow for enhanced effectiveness in taking care of first-year students, Garland said.

"Academic advising has been identified as a very important element of student success. With this new structure, we will be able to place new students as close as we possibly can to their academic area -- and the advisers who specialize in those areas -- as early as possible," Garland said. A unit titled "Exploration" will be available within USAS to help undecided students select a major and consider various career options.

Initially, USAS also will advise students who intend to enroll in undergraduate professional programs with preliminary entrance requirements, such as business and allied medicine, for example. The expectation is that soon, all colleges will uniformly enroll decided students directly upon their admission to Ohio State and assume advising responsibilities of those students, including guiding those who have difficulty meeting requirements by informing them of other academic programs within the institution related to their interests.

The overall advising structure at Ohio State will remain the same: Students will be assigned to a professional academic adviser, whose full-time job is guiding undergraduates through their academic, personal and development decisions. These advisers ensure that students are meeting their general education and graduation requirements, track prerequisites for the majors for which they are responsible and advise students on how best to approach those requirements, and refer students to a number of available support services.

Within their major areas, students are increasingly assigned to a faculty adviser responsible for guiding students about specifics of the discipline and the variety of academic and industry career options available in the field.

"The professional advisers help students with academic difficulties. Professors are really good at helping students think things through in the discipline," Garland said. And under the new organization, "Students will have two, and only two, advisers. And these advisers will have two defined sets of purposes for serving students."

A hiring strategy accompanying the reorganization will create a more stable pool of advisers by emphasizing employment of full-time professional academic advisers rather than part-time graduate students, whose limited and short-term availability in the past has led to adviser turnover, especially among those serving undecided students.

"Advisers have to learn a complicated body of curricular material. I feel really strongly that this is important work," Garland said. "When students have a good adviser on the technical side, and a good adviser in their discipline, they are well-served."