Carrying a torch

Rusty Wilson's graduate study focused on the history of and politics surrounding sports, and specifically the Olympics.     By Kevin Fitzsimons

For OSU alumnus/staffer, Olympics are a lifelong passion

For most of us, the Olympics are framed by a television screen, a distant event which occupies our minds for a few weeks every couple of years and then slips away again into the background.

For Ohio State staff member Rusty Wilson, though, the games have become a lifelong passion, a chance to interact with people from around the world, and a glimpse into an international arena where cultural differences take a back seat to camaraderie and amity.

"It's not just about sports, it's about getting people together," Wilson said. "A lot of people are sort of jaded and cynical about the games, but when you get there, it's viable."

Wilson, exit interview coordinator for student loan services, has been involved with the International Olympic Committee since the summer of 1980, when he interned with the British Olympic Association in London. He is an expert on Olympics history and is working on a book profiling approximately 175 Olympians associated with Ohio State. He also is a collector of Olympic items, such as torches, uniforms and letters.

Wilson earned a bachelor's degree in international studies from Ohio State, and went on for graduate work to study and conduct research on the Olympics. His master's degree was a self-designed major in the politics of sports and his Ph.D. was in sport history, specializing in international sport and the Olympic games.

In 1985, he was head of the U.S. delegation to the International Olympic Academy in Olympia, Greece.

"Every country sends three to four people there every summer for three weeks. You learn about the history and about the true meaning behind the Olympics," Wilson said. "I've been back 10 times since 1985. I've lectured and helped found the alumni association."

In 1996, he was the only non-Greek invited to participate in the lighting ceremonies and an eight-day relay in Greece. "I was in the car right behind the flame. It was a great honor," he said.

Later that summer, he lectured at the Olympic Academy, then went to the Olympics in Atlanta, where he participated as an English announcer for the gymnastics competitions. Wilson has announced Ohio State gymnastics meets, off and on, for 28 years. He also announces swim meets.

In 1996, when the torch passed through Columbus on its way to Atlanta, he was given the chance at the last minute to carry it, but chose instead to pass the honor on to a good friend.

For the 2002 games, he wanted to see his father, Harold E. Wilson, retired director of admissions for the College of Dentistry, have that opportunity.

"When my dad was a kid, he had a big stamp collection and his specialty was the Olympic stamps. When he retired, he brought it all back out again," Wilson said.

Wilson's nomination of his father resulted in him carrying the torch on Jan. 3 when it passed through Columbus. "He just turned 83. I still don't think he's gotten the smile off of his face. It was a big thing for him. It was really nice," Wilson said.

In his own college years, Wilson was a weight lifter. He had Olympic dreams, but only from a distance. "Everybody sort of shoots for it," he said. "I was pretty successful, but never quite to that caliber."

In the process of working on his book about Ohio State Olympians who have represented a national team, Wilson has enjoyed the chance to document the athletic careers of fellow alumni. For the 174 people profiled, 133 are athletes from Ohio State, 35 are coaches at Ohio State with Olympic experience and six individuals are Olympic administrators.

Some are more well-known than others. "Everybody knows about Jesse Owens," Wilson said. "You can go around the world and say ÔOhio State' and they say, ÔOh -- Jesse Owens.' He's the greatest Olympian who ever lived and here he is, from Ohio State."

But Wilson wanted to dig a little deeper. "I'd like to think I've found stuff no one knows. I hope the book will bring to light people who were fascinating in their own time, but who aren't remembered anymore," he said.

People like Bill Smith, a swimmer who fought in World War II, and then went on to break several swimming records in the 1948 Olympics, and Miller Anderson, a top diver who, as a fighter pilot in WWII, was shot down and captured by the Germans. In spite of having his leg injured when he bailed out of the plane with his parachute, Anderson went on to win silver medals in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.

Agriculture student Harry Steel was one of Ohio State's first Olympic medalists. The Buckeye football player won the gold in the heavyweight wrestling division in 1924, making him the first Olympic wrestling gold medalist.

The very first Ohio State gold medalist was James H. Snook, who won in 1920 for pistol shooting. Snook was a student at Ohio State in the early 1900s, and became a professor of veterinary medicine around World War I. He later achieved notoriety when he murdered a graduate student with whom he had been having an affair.

The book will continue on through to current Olympians Lea Ann Parsley and Emma Laaksonen.

Parsley, an Ohioan who has a master's degree in nursing from Ohio State and is working on her Ph.D. in community health, is competing in the sliding sport of skeleton in the Salt Lake City Olympics. Laaksonen, a sophomore from Espoo, Finland, is taking a three-week break from the Buckeye women's ice hockey team to serve as co-captain of her homeland's hockey team. In the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, at age 16, Laaksonen was the youngest member of Team Finland when it won the bronze medal.

Wilson isn't attending the games in Salt Lake City, but he does plan to be heavily involved in the 2004 games in Athens.

"Because of the Olympics, I've got friendships around the world that transcend languages and boundaries," he said. "It may be cliche, but learning about other people's cultures is one of the main philosophies of the Olympics."

Wilson is proud of Ohio State's long association with the Olympics. "Sports is not the end all, but let's face it, it's an important facet of the University and life. Sure, it's supposed to be fun, but it's real-life drama right in front of your face. There is a serious side to it," he said.

Kirwan named to presidential advisory board on historically black institutions

President Brit Kirwan was recently appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The advisory board will help identify ways to strengthen the role of historically black colleges and universities and to provide quality educational opportunities for minority and disadvantaged students.

Kirwan joins 20 other professionals on the board, which includes representatives of historically black colleges and universities, other institutions in higher education, business and financial institutions, and private foundations.

The board will:

• advise the U.S. secretary of education on the progress in closing the achievement and attainment gaps between African Americans and other groups of students;

• issue an annual report to the president on the participation of historically black colleges and universities in federal programs; and

• recommend ways to increase the federal role in strengthening the academic programs and resources of historically black colleges and universities, and to report the findings to the president.

In accordance with this appointment, Bush signed an executive order on Feb. 12 that pledged to increase funding for historically black colleges and universities, and historically black graduate institutions, by 30 percent between 2001 and 2005. The Bush administration's proposed budget for fiscal year 2003 calls for a 3.6 percent increase in funding for both historically black colleges and universities and historically black graduate institutions, to $213.4 million and $50.8 million, respectively.

Mac Stewart, vice provost for minority affairs, said he hopes Kirwan's position on the advisory board will help to strengthen Ohio State's ongoing relationship with historically black colleges and universities.

"For the past several years, we have worked with many of these institutions to recruit top-notch graduate students to Ohio State," Stewart said. "I think his appointment to the board will serve to further this relationship."

By Shannon Wingard

Metros sets sights on helping OSU reach its instructional technology potential

By Randy Gammage, onCAMPUS staff

Susan Metros believes that a grassroots approach through which distance education evolves from the distributed use of technology in the classroom will help advance distance education and technology at Ohio State.

"We find some of our best online teachers are the ones who have been using technology in the classroom," Metros said.

Metros assumed the newly created position of deputy chief information officer and executive director for educational technology and distributed education at Ohio State on Nov. 13. She is responsible for accelerating the growth of technology-enriched education in classrooms and over networks and will lead the development of programs, support services, guidelines, policies and strategies related to distributed education technologies. Since arriving on campus, Metros has been doing a lot of legwork. She has met with deans, faculty and students to discuss the potential of distance education at Ohio State, and has met with the many instructional support staff in the colleges. "I'm really impressed with the quality of work in this area, and with how the academic community is willing to work together to share ideas and resources," Metros said.

By Kevin Fitzsimons Susan Metros

She said the key is to keep these people connected and to help create "a point of presence," or a central location on campus, where staff, faculty and students can receive technology assistance. Metros' vision is to create collaborative opportunities for instructional technology staff within the colleges and departments that will facilitate the sharing of information, data, software licensing and resources, and will provide professional development, technology infrastructure and support services.

She has also become a member of the University's Distance Education Committee, which is preparing to forward its final report to Edward J. Ray, executive vice president and provost, and subsequently to the University Board of Trustees. Metros said the committee has identified four focus areas in its distributed and distance education model: technical support or infrastructure; faculty development and support; student services; and business services.

As for student services, Metros said that students being educated from a distance have a different set of needs that should be addressed, including access to library resources, interactive or socialization needs, and the desire to feel a sense of community. As for business services, Metros said the committee is exploring creating a unit that would provide the expertise in market analysis, business plan development, cost/benefit analysis, program assessment and marketing to faculty or units developing distance education or distributed education courses.

In her new role, Metros will work closely with Chief Information Officer Ilee Rhimes and the staff of the Offices of the CIO.

"We're fortunate to have someone with Susan's background and experience in the area of educational technology," Rhimes said. "We're looking forward to Susan serving as leader and advocate for the innovative use of technology to support the technology- enriched programs for delivery in the classroom and over networks."

The Offices of the CIO are working to implement a campuswide Information Technology Strategic Plan (see related story, this page), which will more effectively align technology initiatives with those of the University's Academic Plan. Also, in collaboration with Bobby Moser, vice president for University Outreach, and various academic units, Metros will be leading the development and implementation of a Universitywide distributed/distance education strategic plan.

"The beauty of technology is that it doesn't stop at the classroom door but has the potential to enrich the lives of a broad spectrum of citizens, so outreach and engagement efforts are extremely important as the vehicle to extending the University's influence," Metros said.

She said the role of distance education is changing dramatically.

"The Web is forcing us to redefine distance education," Metros said. "It doesn't have to do with distance anymore; it really has to do more with time and place rather than geography."

Besides the traditional role of convenience, distance education is now being used as a relief valve for closed courses, and promotes accessibility to students with disabilities. It also provides a pathway from high school to the University, and from two-year colleges into a four-year degree program, Metros said.

Prior to joining Ohio State, Metros served as assistant vice president of educational technology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she consulted and provided expertise on educational technology policies, online courseware and curriculum development and delivery, and information technology planning, and managed a staff of 30 employees. Prior to that, she directed the University of Tennessee's Innovative Technology Center, and held concurrent faculty appointments as professor of art specializing in computer-enhanced design and adjunct professor of instructional technology curriculum and evaluation.

Metros also has joined the faculty of Ohio State's College of the Arts as a professor of industrial, interior and visual communication design. Her current research is focused on redefining the Web's graphical user interface to promote emotional and intellectual engagement, especially in teaching and learning.

Metros is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, including the Computerworld 2001 Honors Program Laureate Medal, has been invited to present papers internationally and is widely published. She also is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the National Learning Information Infrastructure, which is focused on transformation in education and new ways to approach distributed learning.

PlanIT kicks off Information Technology planning process

Are you ready to PlanIT? That's the question that Chief Information Officer Ilee Rhimes and Technology Strategic Planning Director Catherine Bindewald will be asking often in the next few months.

PlanIT is the name they have given to the extensive process of developing an Information Technology Strategic Plan for Ohio State. In recent weeks, they and other members of the CIO's staff have been discussing the IT strategic planning process in face-to-face meetings with deans and department heads and in print and Web media, as well. After a lengthy period of gearing up, they have arrived at the nuts-and-bolts stage of the process.

Rhimes said it is important to note that technology is no longer just a collection of disparate tools; it has become a transformative, enterprise-level engine that is mission-critical to an organization's success and competitiveness. He expects Ohio State's Information Technology Strategic Plan to become a vital component in the University's successful operation, enabling the campus community to:

• be strategically aligned with the Academic Plan;

• share the IT vision;

• maintain an IT environment that empowers students, faculty, staff, business partners and lifelong learners;

• spend University resources on the right priorities; and

• benefit from the economies of scale.

Rhimes and Bindewald said they will be rigorous in making IT strategic planning a collaborative effort and have fashioned PlanIT's approach to emphasize active participation by the key constituents. They believe its success hinges on close interaction among the OSU Project Core Team, executive sponsors and OSU stakeholders as well as on support from the larger community.

PlanIT entails first defining the current environment, then envisioning the future state -- where the institution should be technologically in the future. If the planners can idealize where Ohio State wants to be in three to five years, they can work to identify the goals and resources that will take it there. In addition, every one of the initiatives to be established will have defined links back to the Academic Plan.

Between now and the end of summer quarter, PlanIT will be engaging campus planners, members of the campus community and the interested public through a well-defined process. Technology Days seminars will be held first to bring in "thought leaders" as featured speakers and experts who will help the planners craft a vision of an IT organization that encompasses technology leadership, services and infrastructure. Then additional campus input will be sought to develop an Enterprise IT vision and guiding principles for the plan.

Bindewald said the goal is to create an IT Strategic Plan that will be "actionable" in the sense that the initiatives identified are technically and financially feasible and will drive competencies that OSU needs to achieve its business goals and objectives.

Planning participants and supporters will be kept informed of events and progress through PlanIT News, to be periodically published on the CIO's Web Site at www.cio.ohio-state.edu. For more information about PlanIT, contact Ilee Rhimes at 292-6553 or rhimes.1@osu.edu, or Catherine Bindewald at 247-6980 or bindewald.2@osu.edu.

next page...