Trustees

The Ohio State Board of Trustees held its monthly meeting on April 5 in Longaberger Alumni House. Ohio State is governed by a board of 11 trustees (including two nonvoting student members) who are responsible for oversight of academic programs, budgets and general administration, and employment of faculty and staff. The governor annually appoints one voting member to a nine-year term and one nonvoting student member to a two-year term.

Regional campus fee increase approved

Access to Ohio State, especially in students' early years of undergraduate study, remains a focus of the tuition and fee structure planned for the University's regional campuses and Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) next academic year.

As was the case with Columbus campus tuition and fee increases approved in March, state budget cuts will affect cost increases for students attending the regional campuses and ATI. The tuition and fee structure approved by Ohio State's Board of Trustees April 5 reflects a 10 percent reduction in Access Challenge funding plus a 6 percent cut in other state support over this fiscal year and next, which in turn results in an almost 10 percent average increase in students' share of resident undergraduate tuition and fees at the regional campuses and ATI.

Regional campus tuition for lower-division students at Ohio State has increased by just $26 since autumn 1998, thanks to a four-year period of significant increases in Access Challenge funding; the statewide funding increased from $12 million in FY 1998 to $65 million by FY 2001 before being reduced to $58.8 million this year and next, noted William J. Shkurti, senior vice president for business and finance. Because Access Challenge -- the state program designed to make college more affordable for Ohioans attending regional campuses and two-year institutions -- has been cut by 10 percent since last spring, regional campus tuition increases will reflect that loss of state support, Shkurti said.

Based on the board's vote April 5, tuition and fees at ATI in Wooster and at Ohio State Lima, Mansfield, Marion and Newark will be affected as follows:

• Beginning summer quarter 2002, full-time regional lower-division students (freshmen and sophomores) will see an increase in their share of tuition and fees of $107 per quarter (8.9 percent), which reflects a $200-per-quarter reduction in fees provided by Access Challenge funding. The student share of tuition will stand at $1,309 per quarter, compared to $1,202 per quarter this year.

• Beginning summer quarter, full-time regional upper-division students (juniors and seniors) will see an increase in their share of tuition and fees of $165 per quarter (12.8 percent), which reflects a $54-per-quarter reduction in fees provided by Access Challenge funding. The student share of tuition will stand at $1,455 per quarter, compared to $1,290 per quarter this year. The combined increases for lower- and upper-division students average just under 10 percent.

• Beginning summer quarter, full-time in-state ATI students will pay 9.9 percent more, or $119 per quarter, in tuition and fees, net of the reduction provided by Access Challenge funding. The student share of tuition will stand at $1,321 per quarter, compared to $1,202 this year.

• The nonresident surcharge for undergraduates on all campuses will increase by 7.5 percent ($219 per quarter for full-time students) beginning summer quarter.

Just two years ago, Access Challenge enabled Ohio State to decrease tuition at regional campuses by 5 percent for lower-division students and hold the tuition increase to 3 percent for upper-division students. Ohio State is maintaining the principles behind that fee structure by applying more of the Access Challenge fee reduction to lower-division tuition to keep tuition lower for those regional campus students and to minimize the differential between upper-division regional campus and Columbus campus tuition costs, said John Riedl, dean of Ohio State Mansfield and executive dean of the regional campuses.

The fees approved by the board were recommended by the regional campus boards of trustees and the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, ATI's administrative home.

Shkurti said those making recommendations took several factors into consideration, including the fact that undergraduates on the Columbus campus will pay approximately one-third more in tuition than undergraduates on Ohio State's regional campuses next academic year. In addition, the regional campuses will be subject to the same compensation increase policies as the Columbus campus next year.

Beginning summer quarter on the Columbus campus, current resident undergraduates will see a 9 percent tuition increase, and new students will pay an additional fee of $474. Current students will pay $5,217, while new students -- freshmen and transfers -- will pay $5,691, or a total increase of 18.9 percent over this year's tuition and fees.

FAES reports on service learning initiatives

Trustees heard a report on service learning initiatives within the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, which highlighted three of the more significant programs and one of the college's exceptional volunteers, Micki Zartman.

Lawrence H. Newcomb, senior associate dean and director of academic affairs, introduced Zartman as a volunteer who possesses a tremendous passion for working with undergraduate students to reach out to urban school children to help them gain an understanding of agriculture.

Three significant service learning programs were highlighted: The dairy barn tours which reach about 5,000 central Ohio elementary school children each year; Scarlet and Gray Ag Day, a day-long program that provides multiple learning stations on campus for 300 to 500 Columbus area school children; and Scarlet and Gray Ag Biotechnology Day, which caters to high school science students and served approximately 100 students this year.

The presentation concluded with FAES students Christina Friedl, Ross Larue and Heather Vaubel presenting testimonials to the impact service learning has had on their lives and career goals.

Trustees hear building lease report

The board received a briefing on the University's long-term leases and subleases with YMCA facilities in Gahanna, Grove City, Hilliard and Powell. The facilities will serve as community partnerships with the University Health System and will provide University Hospitals with more comprehensive therapy and wellness settings.

Each site will be approximately 4,800 square feet attached to the YMCA facility and will offer rehabilitation services, including physical therapy and aquatic therapy programs. Other programs may include comprehensive weight management, prenatal classes and smoking cessation. Terms call for a 20-year initial lease with $70,000 rent per year to amortize construction costs. Rent will be paid by the University Hospitals Rehabilitation Department. All but one of the new sites will replace current leased space.

Board briefed on land transactions

Trustees authorized the granting of temporary construction licenses for approximately two acres and the sale of seven acres to the city of Columbus for the purpose of widening Lane Avenue between Olentangy River Road and High Street.

The city, in partnership with the University, intends to widen the road, install streetscape enhancements and related improvements, and construct a permanent right of way. The city will pay $1.08 million of the $1.14 million appraised property value of the south side of Lane Avenue and will contribute an additional $400,000. Rather than accepting cash for the right-of-way payment, the University will contribute the $1.08 million toward the enhancements of the property. Property on the north side of Lane will be sold at the appraised value of $25,850.

Appointments approved

• Martha Chamallas has been named to the Robert J. Lynn Chair in Law in the Michael E. Moritz College of Law, effective Aug. 16. She is currently a professor in the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Chamallas received a B.A. in sociology from Tufts University and a J.D. from Louisiana State University Law Center. She served as scholar-in-residence at the Duke University School of Law and has held faculty positions at Lousiana State, the University of Iowa and Ohio State.

• Joshua Dressler has been named to the Frank R. Strong Chair in Law, effective Aug. 16. Currently serving as visiting professor of law in the University of Michigan's School of Law, Dressler joined the Ohio State law faculty in 2001. He is consistently ranked among the top five criminal law scholars in the United States. He holds a B.A. and J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

• Eric R. Kunz has been named associate vice president for health sciences in the Office of Health Sciences. He will continue to serve as chief administrative and planning officer for the Ohio State Health System, a position he has held since 1999. He began his career at Ohio State in 1990 as the director of the Office of Budget Planning. Kunz holds a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a master's degree in business administration from Syracuse University.

• Dev S. Pathak has been named interim dean for public health in the College of Medicine and Public Health, effective through June 30, 2003. He is currently director of health sciences administration and professor in the School of Public Health and Department of Marketing. Pathak holds an M.S. in economics from Southern Illinois University and an M.B.A. and D.B.A. in marketing and finance from Michigan State University.