Summer marked the first Ohio State commencement to be held in the Jerome Schottenstein Center. Left, Kim Koos of Oberlin hugs her son Adam, who received a bachelor's degree in psychology, before he lines up for the ceremony on Aug. 30.   Photos by Jo McCulty

Goal: Graduation

Medical Center staffer earns degree after 16 years of perseverance

Ohio State Medical Center employee Michelle Vermillion has a fulfilling and rewarding job, working in the Department of Surgery as a research associate in the Division of Transplantation. She has an 11-year-old son who is the apple of her eye. She enjoys numerous supportive relationships with friends and family. At age 37, her life is good -- but until Aug. 30, it was not quite complete.

For all of Vermillion's adult life, a key ingredient has been missing: a bachelor's degree. After 16 years of pursuit, combining full-time work and parenthood with an estimated 60 quarters of classes, Vermillion has earned a most prized possession, her bachelor of science in human development and family science.

And getting to graduation was as sweet as she expected it to be -- including the early completion for seniors, meaning Vermillion finished her last final exam on Aug. 13. At 2:35 p.m., to be precise.

"I've been sitting in class for 16 years, and had to endure it every quarter when the instructor asked, ÔAre there any graduating seniors in this class?' I was never able to raise my hand until this last quarter. Every quarter on graduation day, I've seen people in their robes going to or coming from the ceremony walking by my office window," Vermillion says from her Means Hall office."Sometimes that brought inspiration, and sometimes it brought defeat. Now, it's just a really, really wonderful feeling."

U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher delivers the commencement address, in which he offered graduates his own low-tech prescription for good health. Approximately 1,880 graduates completed their degree programs this summer.

Her son Eli has never known her as anything but a working mom who also attended college. She took only a few quarters off over the years, when major life events -- including his birth -- consumed her time. Eli missed his first day of seventh grade to see Vermillion graduate, and was joined by other family members who came from afar to witness the big event: Vermillion's parents from Tennessee and Arizona, and her brother from Florida.

Vermillion credits family, co-workers (especially supervisors) and friends, as well as adviser Uma Krishnan from the College of Human Ecology, for encouraging her to stay focused and persevere when times got tough."It sounds hokey, but it's beyond true," she says."I've been given opportunity after opportunity and blessing after blessing. I'm extremely fortunate."

In fact, Vermillion deliberately sought full-time employment at Ohio State in part to take advantage of its fee authorization benefit for employees. At age 19, in 1983, she began working part-time on night shifts in emergency room and OB admissions, which was an education in itself. In 1984, she was hired as a full-time clerk in the Division of Transplantation. She began school shortly after that. She considered herself someone who was given a second chance to make up for a missed opportunity a few years earlier, when she declined to utilize a Pell Grant to attend Columbus State Community College.

Now that she has earned what she calls her free degree, Vermillion feels an obligation to give back. As she puts it:"Good begets good." With a specialization in child and family studies, Vermillion will volunteer as a tutor and group leader at the Theresa A. Dowd School for the Homeless in its after-school program.

She is sticking with the job she loves, but plans to pursue a master's degree in education through the College of Human Ecology after taking at least two quarters off to"do some life things" -- buy a house, take guitar lessons and regularly cook complete meals."Eventually, I want to work with kids in some capacity," she says.

In the meantime, Vermillion is functioning as an ambassador for Ohio State's Bridge program, which offers basic credit courses for staff in classes that meet one evening per week. She also speaks highly of the employee fee authorization for up to 10 credit hours per quarter. After benefiting from those programs, as well as from flexibility provided by co-workers and her supervisors over the years, Vermillion urges supervisors across campus to be similarly adaptive to the occasional odd schedule.

"If an employee is responsible and wants to go to school, why can't flexibility exist?" she says."If the benefit is offered and the employee wants to take advantage of it and is a good employee, it will help the division or unit as a whole for that employee to continue his or her education."

That's not to say Vermillion didn't do all she could to maintain a regular schedule. She came in to work early, left late, took classes in the evenings as much as possible and during her lunch hour otherwise. Much of her vacation time was devoted to school needs. During her last quarter, she bought a $15 bike at a yard sale so she could make it to math class in Baker Systems and back to Means Hall without going over an hour for lunch.

Even after 16 years, every early morning and late night minute has been worth it, she says.

"I never doubted I would finish. I wanted to show my son this is very important to accomplish," Vermillion says."I did it for myself, to achieve something I've worked so hard for. And I did it for my parents. My father sat me down when I was about to graduate from high school and told me that completing a college education would be very important.

"This is a very proud day."

FYE, numerous offices join forces to ease transition for new students

What do University administrators do when 3,500 prospective students sign up for a program expected to draw about 1,000?

In the case of the First Year Experience (FYE) program at Ohio State, planners brace for a busier autumn than they already expected -- and celebrate that fact.

Mabel Freeman, assistant vice president for undergraduate admissions and the First Year Experience, told the University's Board of Trustees Aug. 29 that during freshman orientation this summer, the campus bookstore sold 3,500 copies of the two books selected for the new Buckeye Book Community this autumn."We hoped that 500 to 1,000 students would do this," she said."I think the book sales bode well for first-year students' participation in activities this fall."

The Buckeye Book Community is among a number of initiatives collaboratively launched this fall for the entering freshman class under the umbrella of the Office of First Year Experience. Programs and strategies are designed with a primary goal in mind: to make transition to Ohio State undergraduate life as smooth as possible for the approximately 5,900 new freshmen and 2,100 new transfer students.

"A successful First Year Experience program has to involve the breadth of the campus. This has been a joint effort involving a lot of people," Freeman said."It's clear we're bringing in stronger classes every year in terms of the academic profile. But that's not the only thing keeping students enrolled. We've designed programs that put information in their hands and that allow students to become acquainted with the University. A lot of what we're doing helps them feel comfortable on campus so they can be successful."

The Buckeye Book Community books, Night by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel and Brothers and Sisters by Bebe Moore Campbell, have been selected for students, faculty and staff who want to participate in the campus"conversation" about themes of diversity and change. The program is designed to facilitate discussion based upon a shared reading experience, and will feature Columbus campus visits by the two renowned authors. A discussion with Campbell is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 10 in Weigel Auditorium, and a discussion with Wiesel is at 7 p.m. Oct. 23 in Mershon Auditorium.

Freeman, joined by a number of faculty and administrators across the University representing the numerous offices assisting with development of First Year Experience programming, outlined for trustees a handful of autumn quarter FYE features.

One initiative took place behind the scenes, she noted. Organizers kept tabs on students who signed up at orientation for recitation sections of two common autumn quarter freshman mathematics courses, and worked with housing and registrar's office officials to assign many of these students to live in Stradley Hall. The students still have the roommates they asked for, but through this stealth operation, more than 180 new freshmen will see familiar faces in class and in their residence halls. Because of that familiarity, they are likely to gravitate into study groups, Freeman said. Math teaching assistants also will hold some help sessions in Stradley Hall and the residence hall staff will offer additional support programs regarding mathematics.

Beginning this year, Ohio State's introductory survey course for all freshmen will be taught within each college or advising unit rather than being administered through a single University unit. To complement the courses this autumn, FYE has created the First-Year Success Series, a seven-week series of 70 programs revolving around typical survey course themes, such as financial management, wellness, diversity, leadership and issues concerning alcohol use. Programs will feature guest speakers ranging from Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer to Ohio State football great Archie Griffin, and interactive discussion topics such as"Money Management 101" and"Fighting the Freshman 15." Survey course instructors will incorporate attendance of their students at a certain number of programs over the seven-week period.

Also available to first-year students is an arts packet being sold through the residence halls and the University Honors & Scholars Center that encourages new students to sample the arts scene in Columbus. For $20, students will receive a package of tickets for performances by the city's symphony orchestra, jazz, ballet and theater organizations.

On the faculty front, Freeman noted, senior faculty representatives from departments teaching significant numbers of freshmen will participate in a series of discussions on the teaching of first-year students through seminars offered by the Office of Faculty and TA Development.

Freeman distributed to trustees a resource book also given to all parents and students who attended summer orientation."We want family members at home to have as much information as the student has, so if a student hits a snag and calls home, a parent can point to a University resource identified in the book," Freeman said."These books help us help students become more autonomous."

Finally, Freeman said that during Convocation 2001 with President Brit Kirwan this autumn, all new students will receive a scarlet and gray tassel -- colors not represented by any of Ohio State's colleges.

"We want them to keep these tassels as a constant reminder that at the end of their undergraduate journey, they are going to wear a tassel with the colors of their college," she said."They're going to go through a lot in their first year. We don't want them to lose sight of the goal."