TRUSTEES

The Ohio State Board of Trustees held its monthly meeting on May 3 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.

Building named for Edward Jennings

The University Board of Trustees approved waiving the stipulation that University buildings and structures cannot be named for persons who have not been retired for at least three years so that the Botany and Zoology Building, 1735 Neil Ave., can be named Edward H. Jennings Hall. President Emeritus Jennings served as Ohio State's executive from 1981 to 1990 and as professor of finance until his March 2002 retirement.

The naming recognizes Jennings' outstanding leadership as the University moved to selective admissions, restructuring and updating of the undergraduate curriculum. During his tenure, the University established the Young Scholars Program for minority students, completed its first private fund-raising comprehensive capital campaign, and saw the construction of such campus landmarks as the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and the Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center.

Gifts result in new named endowed funds

More than $3.7 million in gifts to the University were accepted by the board. The gifts establish 18 new named endowed funds. The board also accepted 198 research contracts and grants awarded to the University in March totaling more than $24 million. New named endowed funds are:

• The Honda/TRC Funds Endowment Fund for the Growth of Transportation, $2 million

• The Honda/TRC Funds Endowment Fund for the Growth of Student Activities, $1 million

• The H. Frederick Krimendahl II Presidential Scholarship Fund for Academic Excellence, $250,000

• The Jane Ann Evans Nielsen Endowed Scholarship Fund in Political Science, $62,155

• The Excellence in Pet Care Endowment Fund, $50,000

• The Dr. Louis (D.V.M. 1942) and Raye Carlin Endowed Scholarship Fund, $50,000

• The Herbert (B.Ch.E. 1934, M.S. 1935, Ph.D. 1937) and Dorothy Joseph Fenburr Scholarship Endowment Fund for Geography, $50,000

• The Ohio State University Civil Engineering Alumni Association Scholarship Fund, $36,361

• The Joan Bisesi Fund for Head and Neck Oncology Research, $31,541

• The McMaster Physics Research Endowment Fund, $30,000

• The John and Cindy Feltz Scholarship Fund, $29,564

• The Joseph Richard and Sally Scott Yerina Endowment Fund for Cancer Research, $28,725

• The Robert A. Waddell Tau Beta Pi Scholarship Fund, $27,592

• The Schulte Scholarship Fund, $25,515

• The Ken Feinthel Athletic Scholarship Fund, $25,060

• The Dana M. Spuhler Memorial Scholarship Fund in Computer and Information Science, $25,000

• The Micki Zartman Service Learning Fund, $25,000

• Crawford County 4-H Endowment Fund, $15,230

Board approves personnel actions

• James S. Foster has been named women's head basketball coach in the Department of Athletics, effective through June 30, 2007. A 24-year veteran of women's basketball coaching, Foster has been the head women's basketball coach at Vanderbilt University for the past 11 years. Overall his teams have won nearly 70 percent of their games. He is a graduate of Temple University.

• Lawrence H. Newcomb has been named to The Sanford G. Price and Isabell P. Barbee Chair in Teaching, Advising and Learning in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, effective June 1, 2002, through May 31, 2007. Newcomb is senior associate dean and director of academic affairs in the college.

• David E. Schuller has been named to The Max Morehouse Chair in Cancer Research in the College of Medicine and Public Health, effective through June 30, 2006. Schuller, professor and chair of otolaryngology, is director of the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute and deputy director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at OSU. He received his M.D. from Ohio State and joined the Department of Otolaryngology in 1971.

• Mauro Ferrari has been promoted to associate vice president for technology and commercialization in the Office of Health Sciences. Ferrari is director and professor (The Edgar C. Hendrickson Designated Chair in Biomedical Engineering) in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Internal Medicine.

• John R. Meyer has been promoted to associate vice president of University Development. He joined the Office of University Development in 1981.

• Linda M. Mizejewski has been appointed chair of the Department of Women's Studies in the College of Humanities, effective Oct. 1, 2002, through June 30, 2006.

Construction activity, purchase approved

The board approved the request for construction bids on the renovation of space in Page Hall that has been vacated by the Fisher College of Business. The renovated area will house the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy and the Public Policy and Management program. The total estimated project cost is $16 million, with funding provided by House Bills 640 and 850 and gifts to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Trustees also authorized the employment of an architect/engineering firm and request for construction bids on the renovation and expansion of the Emergency Department space at University Hospitals East. The estimated project cost is $4 million, with funding provided by University bond proceeds with debt service paid from income from patient services.

The board approved the purchase of improved real property at 252 W. Ninth Ave. for $105,000. The acquisition of the property is necessary for development of student housing in the south campus area. The Office of Student Affairs will provide funding.

Student Health Insurance Program set

The board approved the awarding of insurance contracts for the Student Health Insurance Program to the Koster Insurance Agency, Delta Dental of Ohio, Vision Service Plan and American WholeHealth Networks Inc. for a one-year period. The plan is fully funded by student premiums and will be available on an optional basis to eligible Ohio State students. Final rates will be submitted for approval at the June board meeting and will be no higher than 15.5 percent.

Endowment updated, policy formulated

University Treasurer Jim Nichols told trustees that the market value of the University's endowment as of April 26, 2002, was just under $1.02 billion. For the first nine months of Fiscal Year 2002, there have been 92 new endowment funds established, and the endowment has distributed over $61 million to the University.

The board approved adoption of a new investments policy for funds that are not part of the University's endowment, including such income as registration fees, nonresident tuition fees, laboratory and course fees, student health fees and others. The new policy is the result of merging and modifying the former Operating Fund Investments Policy and the Total Return Operating Fund Investments Policy in order to streamline the University's overall investment process.

SciTech Corp. requests loan for new building

Trustees heard a recommendation for additional funding for the next phase of development of the Science and Technology Corp. (SciTech), including a new facility near the existing ElectroSciences Laboratory that will house a mix of academic and technology tenants.

Action on the recommendation will be taken at the June trustees meeting.

SciTech is requesting a $14 million loan from the University to finance the design and construction of an approximately 80,000-square-foot building that will be attached to the ElectroSciences Laboratory, located on west campus off Kinnear Road. The facility will house an expansion of the ElectroSciences Laboratory; CEECAP, an aerospace sensor development center; and various industrial tenants, said SciTech President and CEO Ora Smith.

Smith said it is "a very extensive engineering project," with construction expected to begin in spring 2003.

Trustees also are being asked to authorize SciTech to lease approximately eight acres, which includes the existing ElectroSciences building plus undeveloped land where the new facility will be built.

SciTech is a supportive environment for technology-related enterprises and scientific research and development institutions that partners Ohio State, Columbus and the state of Ohio, and is designed to link world-class research and development and technical expertise to cutting-edge technology-based companies.

In December 1997, trustees authorized the University to enter into a development and lease agreement with SciTech for the development of an enhanced Science and Technology Campus, and later provided for a development loan by the University in an amount not to exceed $21 million. An initial loan amount of $7 million has been used to construct Science Village at 1381 Kinnear Road, rehabilitate a significant amount of space at 1275 Kinnear Road, make improvements at 1224 Kinnear Road, and reserve a portion of the funds for ongoing infrastructure improvements in the Science and Technology Campus, Smith said. SciTech is now borrowing the remainder of the $21 million.

Rainy Day Fund to be replenished

Trustees approved a plan to replenish the University's Rainy Day Fund, a portion of which was used earlier this fiscal year to soften the impact of the state's 6 percent budget cuts. At that time, $5 million, or 50 percent, of the Rainy Day Fund was used to make up for a portion of the losses along with a cash reallocation from college and support unit General Funds. The trustees stipulated then that the fund must be replenished before the end of this fiscal year.

According to the plan approved May 3, the University's non-General Funds units -- those that raise revenues to support their operations without assistance from state funding or tuition dollars -- have been tapped to contribute to Ohio State's budget reduction plan. Units with $1 million or more in annual revenues (minus approved annual costs of sales) will contribute a one-time assessment of 2 percent of their revenues toward replenishment of the fund. The total non-General Funds unit contribution amounts to $3.3 million. Another $1.7 million in uncommitted one-time funds carried over from Fiscal Year 2001 will be reallocated centrally, providing a total of $5 million to restore the Rainy Day Fund to its minimum desired size of $10 million.

In describing the replenishment plan, officials noted that colleges and units supported by General Funds already have contributed one-time allocations of 2 percent and continuing funding of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent to support needed University budget reductions.

Administrators of the non-General Funds units being assessed for the replenishment were informed in January that, under a proposal supported by the President's Planning Cabinet, they would be required to provide the one-time assessment.