Diversity Lecture Series
Linda Ammons, associate professor of law at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, delivered "The Facts and Myths About Battered Women" Feb. 4 at the Ohio Union as part of the President and Provost's Diversity Lecture Series. A former executive assistant during Gov. Richard Celeste's administration, Ammons was responsible for the battered women's clemency project in Ohio. Photo by Nathan Robinson

SCBC emphasizes compensation, health care, educational assistance

Improving compensation is job one, President Brit Kirwan told members of the University Staff Advisory Committee (USAC) on Feb. 14, but his administration will do its best to support all of the recommendations made in this year's Staff Compensation and Benefits Report.

"We clearly are going to take this document back and study it and try to the do the best we can to respond to these issues. I don't think there's a recommendation in there that we don't support in principle. The question always comes down to resources," Kirwan said.

Members of the Staff Compensation and Benefits Committee (SCBC), a subgroup of USAC, presented the 2001-02 report to Kirwan; Edward J. Ray, executive vice president and provost; Barbara R. Synder, vice provost for academic policy and human resources; and Larry M. Lewellen, associate vice president for human resources, at an open meeting held in Longaberger Alumni House.

USAC chair Willa Young, director of Student Gender and Sexuality Services, also presented recommendations to administrators regarding policies being developed for a reduction in force.

This year's SCBC report focused on recommendations regarding compensation, health care, domestic partner benefits and educational assistance, among other issues.

"One of the great things about Ohio State is people speak up, and we listen," said Eva Banks, co-chair of SCBC and service representative for the Office of Human Resources. SCBC solicited staff input for the report by holding listen sessions around campus, welcoming feedback to its list-serve and hosting events such as town meetings with Kirwan and the Hidden Benefits Fair.

Compensation is of primary concern to staff right now, Banks said. "As we all know, there has been considerable anxiety within the University regarding the current budget situation," she said.

Kirwan acknowledged that compensation is a priority.

"Our focus right now is trying to meet the compensation goals of this University. We want you to know that job one is ensuring that our compensation goals are met. That might limit what we can do with these other recommendations, in terms of resources, but we will try to be as responsive as we can," he said.

The report commended the administration for undertaking the Competitive Compensation Initiative and encouraged clear communication of compensation goals and guidelines, and suggested that the results of salary surveys conducted by the Office of Human Resources be discussed with staff, either individually or as a group.

The report advised the administration to ensure Universitywide implementation of performance management, to enable salary increases to be based on merit. "We have received many indications that this process does not run as smoothly as it should in many units and colleges around the campus," Banks said.

Health care recommendations centered on University efforts to improve the quality of care while keeping rising costs in check. The report stated USAC's support of the work completed by the Health Care Redesign Committee and endorsed the formation of an oversight committee to make ongoing recommendations for improving medical benefits.

Access to urgent care is a major concern, Banks said. USAC recommended an immediate and significant improvement to the availability of urgent care, particularly for faculty and staff located at regional campuses and Extension offices.

USAC also recommended that improvement to dental and vision benefits be made, including adding adult orthodontia and laser vision correction benefits, and that flexible spending accounts include the option of using a debit card.

For the fifth year, USAC made the recommendation that Ohio State extend all benefits to the domestic partners of University employees, citing recruitment and retention issues, the need to comply with nondiscrimination policies, and the 2001 Ohio State Poll of staff indicating a 61 percent rate of support.

"Your willingness to bring forward this issue is extremely helpful," Kirwan told the group. "It is a very important matter for the University and one I will continue to support enthusiastically. I am hopeful that we will make progress on this issue within the next several years."

USAC made several recommendations regarding educational assistance, including eliminating the three-year waiting period for tuition eligibility for the dependents of newly hired staff and faculty. It also recommended providing retirees who have 10 years or more of University service with tuition assistance when an application is made within five years of retirement, and an alternative educational assistance program for staff who work in locations where attending Ohio State classes is difficult.

Additional recommendations were made encouraging increased communication between senior administrators and faculty and staff; exploration of alternative leave options; expansion of child care facilities; and continued attention to policies that support professional development and work/life issues.

Young presented a separate document outlining USAC's recommendations to administrators as they approach a reduction in force resulting from budget constraints.

"We feel strongly about the impending reduction in force and hope to have a working part in how decisions are made," Young said. "The economic circumstances dictate a reduction, but we hope to see as few persons as possible forced to leave the University."

USAC recommended the adoption of a staff severance program, applied consistently across the University, with health benefits and transition assistance, and that the University provide training to supervisors on how to deliver termination news to staff members.

"We certainly are in agreement with the intent and purpose of your recommendations and I am confident that a program along the lines of what you outlined will be adopted by the University," Kirwan said.

The committee also encouraged administrators to make every effort to place persons with eliminated positions elsewhere in the University, and to consider instituting a hiring freeze.

USAC also presented administrators with a statistical summary outlining the status of the committee's previous recommendations. The "scorecard" was created for the first time last year at the request of Ray, and charts the progress of 115 recommendations made by the committee since 1986. Of those recommendations, 43.5 percent have been accepted or steps have been taken toward implementation, 13 percent are pending and 43.5 percent have been suspended or modified by USAC.

The complete SCBC report is available on the Web at www.osu.edu/org/usac/.

Gateway is on its way

Courtesy of Campus Partners This model of the University Gateway Center created by The Druker Co. shows a view looking south on High Street from a vantage point above the Moritz College of Law.

Construction of new buildings expected to begin in 2003

By Randy Gammage, onCAMPUS staff

With the closing of the final six campus area businesses along North High Street at the end of January, the University Gateway Center project is moving forward with a head of steam.

"Our goal is to proceed with the demolition this spring of the existing buildings in the Gateway project area," said Campus Partners President Terry Foegler. Campus Partners is the University-community redevelopment group coordinating the project.

Foegler said that public infrastructure improvements -- water, sewers, sidewalks and burial of overhead power lines -- would follow the demolition, with construction of new buildings expected to begin in 2003. The projected completion date is 2005.

The Gateway project is a planned mixed-use development that will include approximately 210,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space, 70,000 square feet of office space, 150-200 apartments and a parking garage that will add approximately 1,200 parking spaces to the area. It also is expected to attract an estimated 350 to 700 new jobs.

The Gateway project was proposed by Campus Partners during community planning in the University District in 1995 and 1996 as a major redevelopment project near the intersection of High Street and 11th Avenue. It was the key recommendation from a study on rebuilding High Street called A Plan for High Street: Creating a 21st Century Main Street, drafted by a 40-person committee of campus and University District leaders.

The redevelopment area extends between West 11th and West 10th avenues on the west side of High Street and between Chittenden and East Ninth avenues on the east side of High Street. Since 1997, Campus Partners has negotiated agreements to relocate and end leases with more than 26 business owners in the Gateway area to make way for the 7.4-acre Gateway site, Foegler said.

"We are pleased that we successfully worked out agreements with each of the business owners," Foegler said. "A number of businesses have moved or will move to newly renovated spaces, and we believe they are positioned to re-establish themselves as well. We also are pleased that some have chosen to remain in the University area."

Now that the final acquisitions are complete, the door is open for The Druker Co. -- the Boston-based private developer selected by Campus Partners -- to proceed with securing tenants for the project. Druker has retained the services of CEG Development in Dublin as its retail leasing agent, which assisted in securing tenants for the Easton Town Center, said William Whitney, Druker Co. project manager.

One major anchor has already committed to Gateway. Whitney said that Barnes and Noble College Bookstores recently signed a multiyear lease to operate a 50,000-square-foot, full-service bookstore, to be located at the corner of North High Street and 11th Avenue.

He said discussions are under way with a number of potential tenants, and that the agents are looking to attract restaurants, bars, entertainment and youth-oriented apparel shops to Gateway, with representation from central Ohio businesses.

A special element to the Gateway plan is the inclusion of a brick-paved, tree-lined pedestrian walkway area called University Way, stretching from High Street to Pearl Alley and the planned new parking structure near 10th Avenue, Whitney said. University Way will be surrounded by restaurants and entertainment facilities, and will accommodate outdoor dining and special events.

From the outset, developers have stated that entertainment, restaurant and retail space will be major components of Gateway, as well as offices and student housing, said Steve Sterrett, director of community relations for Campus Partners. Plans call for retail space to be located on the first floors, with office and housing space occupying most of the upper floors of the new buildings.

Two of the larger buildings will have apartments on the upper floors, Sterrett said. While not built exclusively for students, the one- and two-bedroom units are designed with young faculty and graduate and professional students in mind. The Gateway parking garage, to be located one block east of High Street, will be flanked by townhouses on either side.

The total cost of Gateway is estimated at nearly $125 million. The University Board of Trustees set aside $25 million in University endowment funds during the creation of Campus Partners for real estate and related investments, most of which has been used to assemble the Gateway site, Foegler said. The city of Columbus has authorized $5 million to be used in the redevelopment area, which would be used for a variety of public improvements, including water lines, sanitary and storm sewers, wider brick sidewalks with trees in grates and burial of overhead power lines, Foegler said. The state of Ohio has also pledged $4.5 million toward developing the parking structure.

City expected to support latest Campus Partners initiatives for High Street

While the University Gateway Center project will be receiving much attention in the coming months, several other initiatives involving the University District are moving forward with broad community support, said Steve Sterrett, director of community relations for Campus Partners.

At the heart of the action will be Columbus City Council as it considers adopting urban design guidelines, Campus Partners' published plan for rebuilding High Street and a proposed special improvement district (SID).

City Council is expected to consider legislation next month to adopt urban design guidelines for High Street in the University District as a companion to an urban commercial zoning overlay adopted a year ago, Sterrett said. The authority of the existing University Area Review Board would be extended to jurisdiction over property along the High Street corridor.

At the same time, City Council is expected to adopt A Plan for High Street: Creating a 21st Century Main Street as an official city plan. Both the University Area Commission and the Columbus Development Commission have recommended adoption of the High Street plan.

Published in fall 2000 by Campus Partners, the document is the result of a community-based study of the future of High Street in the University District. The plan offers a set of urban design principles and recommendations to preserve and extend High Street's urban character and raise expectations of what High Street can be, Sterrett said. It applies to a two-mile stretch of High Street from Fifth Avenue to Arcadia Avenue.

The plan outlines a four-point mission: Restore High Street as the symbolic heart of the University District; 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; and reinforce High Street as an environment that supports learning, providing settings and activities that draw Ohio State students, faculty and staff to the district.

While the Gateway Center was the most significant recommendation coming out of the High Street plan, the document also called for the creation of a special improvement district -- the University Uptown Improvement District. Property owners along High Street in the University District will begin circulating petitions this month to create a SID which would provide a higher level of clean and safe services for the area, Sterrett said. The Short North is already benefiting from such an arrangement.

Improvement districts are being widely used across the country as a tool to make city commercial areas and neighborhoods better places for business and property owners, customers and residents. Under Ohio law, a city or township may establish a SID by a petition of property owners who agree to assess themselves to provide supplemental services. The SID is accountable to the property owners, who elect the organization's board of directors.

Campus Partners President Terry Foegler said property owners in the University District would benefit from increased property values.

"The goal is to provide a higher level of service in that area than the public would normally expect," Foegler said.

Enhanced services would include daily pickup of litter, graffiti removal within 24 hours, removal of illegally posted handbills, and improved maintenance of streetscapes in conjunction with the city of Columbus, Foegler said.

It also will entail expanding the role of the Community Crime Patrol; its current 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. presence would be extended to include daytime and evening hours. "We would see them as playing more of a hospitality role during the daytime hours, as well as serving as an extra set of eyes and ears for the police," Sterrett said.

Boundaries proposed for the SID are roughly Ninth Avenue to the south and Northwood Avenue to the north.