Diversity lecture series

By Nathan Robinson Beth Loffreda, assistant professor of English at the University of Wyoming, speaks with audience members after delivering the first presentation in this year's President and Provost's Diversity Lecture Series. Loffreda spoke on"Learning from Laramie: The Struggle Over Gay and Lesbian Issues in Contemporary America." The next lecture in the series is at 9 a.m. Oct. 22 in the Ohio Union Conference Theatre, when Ronald Takaki, professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley, delivers"Why Multiculturalism Matters in America."

Study reveals qualities central Ohio employers look for in work force

The workplace skills that central Ohio employees most need to develop are critical thinking, problem solving and working with people, according to a survey of 105 businesses in seven counties.

These are the skills in which there is the biggest gap between what central Ohio employers say they want and what they say local workers offer, said David Radosevich, leader of the survey and assistant professor of industrial/organizational psychology at Ohio State Marion.

The survey included businesses in Marion, Delaware, Union, Crawford, Wyandot, Hardin and Morrow counties.

While more than 70 percent of the jobs at the businesses surveyed required only a high school degree, the results showed that education and training are still important for all employees, Radosevich said.

"The trend is that jobs are becoming more complex and employees are expected to take on more responsibilities," he said."As complexity and job demands increase, employees need critical thinking and problem-solving skills to perform successfully."

Radosevich and graduate student Alicia Diaz conducted the survey for the George H. Alber Enterprise Center at Ohio State Marion. The Alber Enterprise Center provides customized training and other services to help the development of local businesses, according to Radosevich. The purpose of this survey was to determine the work force needs of the local companies.

Radosevich reported the results of the study recently in Toronto at a meeting of the American Psychological Society.

The researchers conducted a mail survey of leaders from a wide range of businesses in the seven-county region, from manufacturing to service-oriented companies. Three-fourths of the jobs in the businesses Ñ 74 percent Ñ required only a high school degree.

Along with critical thinking and problem-solving skills, the other job characteristic most needed by central Ohio workers was people skills, according to the survey.

"More organizations are using workplace teams, and that demands employees who can work well with others in order to perform effectively," Radosevich said."Employers are also looking for employees who can emphasize customer service."

Recruitment and retention of employees is a major issue with central Ohio employers, or at least was an issue when this survey was conducted in July and August 2000. Nearly three-quarters of businesses responding (71 percent) said they had some difficulty in recruiting qualified employees. Nearly half (46 percent) had some difficulty in retaining employees.

As expected, entry-level positions had the most turnover, with more than a third (36 percent) of these positions open each year.

"Businesses have had trouble finding entry-level employees, and when they did find them, they didn't stay long," Radosevich said."If workers found the company across the street was paying 10 cents more an hour, they would leave."

The most common reason cited by respondents for workers quitting their jobs was for higher pay elsewhere.

So-called Gen X employees (those aged 25-35) had an annual turnover rate of 18 percent, compared to 11 percent for baby boomers (those aged 35-54).

Survey results also showed that businesses thought their employees needed a stronger work ethic, better attitude and more motivation, Radosevich said.

"Many employers suggested that younger workers Ñ the Gen Xers Ñ didn't have the strong work ethic that they wanted," he said."Organizations need to determine what motivates younger workers and find ways to meet some of those needs if they want to recruit and retain these employees."

Radesovich said the results of this survey will help the Alber Enterprise Center develop training programs that will best meet the needs of local employers.

New artistic perspectives

By Jo McCulty Michael Mercil and Ann Hamilton, shown here in Hamilton's studio, joined Ohio State's art faculty this fall. In the background are photographs taken by Hamilton for an ongoing series, Face to Face, and a cardboard sculpture by Mercil, titled Duplex.

Ann Hamilton and Michael Mercil bring international art practice to Ohio State

Like many married couples, Ann Hamilton and Michael Mercil are in the habit of finishing each other's sentences. Ask one of them a question, and a stream of ideas, passed freely from one mouth to the other and back, will flow back at you.

Unlike most married couples, however, Hamilton and Mercil have found a way to use their compatibility to collaborate together in their working lives as well as in their personal ones.

Their most recent collabortion involves joining the faculty of Ohio State's Department of Art, where they are teaching a joint year-long graduate and advanced undergraduate seminar on art as a social practice and establishing a visitor's series and an internship program.

"In science, there's a long tradition of working and doing research in the university, but we don't see that tradition working the same way for artists," Hamilton said recently, while taking a break with Mercil in the spacious German Village studio they share.

Mercil picked up on the thought, and said,"Unlike a lot of other fields, our professional practice is not based within the university. So, how do you bring your practice to the university, and the university to your practice?"

Both halves of the Columbus couple are well-established as artists with international reputations.

Hamilton is known for site-specific installations, using methods as diverse as weaving, photography and performance art, which require visitors to interact with the art. Her many honors include receiving a MacArthur"genius" Award (1993), representing the United States at the Venice Biennial (1999), and being a featured artist in the PBS television series, ART:21. (Art:21 will re-air on WOSU-TV from 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 18.)

Mercil also creates installation art, including a recent multimedia project detailing the history of Ohio State football for the recruitment lounge in Ohio Stadium, as well as more traditional work involving drawing and sculpture. He is well-known for developing public art projects and working as a consultant for cities planning art projects, including Columbus. In 1989 he was an NEA Artist Design Fellow in St. Paul, and he has received McKnight and Jerome Foundation Fellowships. Mercil was director of Ohio State's Foundations Program in the Department of Art from 1997 to 1999.

Mercil and Hamilton worked with landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh on the award-winning design for Fort Duquesne Boulevard Park in Pittsburgh, and are working together again on a public art project for Teardrop Park in New York.

They are excited to be a part of Ohio State's community. Having experts in hundreds of fields as colleagues was part of the appeal to joining Ohio State's faculty, Hamilton said.

"Our research goes beyond traditional boundaries. I don't think we're unusual in that, but it will be great to be at the University, where we can more easily find a conversation that crosses disciplines and bump into other ideas," she said.

The visitor series they are organizing is intended to reach outside the Department of Art and will include poets and authors, in addition to artists and curators. Rather than having a traditional lecture with the speaker-and-lectern format, they'd like the presentations to proceed more like conversations.

"We want them to be accessible and open with the opportunity to have a genuine discussion," Hamilton said.

Some of the discussions may take place at Hamilton and Mercil's studio, an 8,400-square-foot warehouse with separate areas for his and her studios, a kitchen and offices. A number of assistants were at work while Mercil and Hamilton conversed recently. In Hamilton's studio, the walls and several large tables were covered by a recent project: 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheets of paper, each featuring a narrow horizontal black and white photograph, mostly portraits, taken by Hamilton with a pin hole camera in her mouth.

Establishing an internship program, to give students the chance to participate in and see the behind-the-scenes work that goes into being a professional artist, is one of Mercil and Hamilton's priorities as faculty. They plan to have at least two students a quarter doing an internship at the studio.

Hamilton envisions other possibilities as well.

"I do a lot of work in other places because I do site-specific installations. Next spring, I'll be going to Ireland and to Sweden. I'm hoping that we can have students participate in the process, maybe for an intensive week or two," she said.

While Columbus may seem like an unconventional choice as a home for artists who find their work around the world, Mercil said the choice works for them.

They are asked the question often enough that he has a ready answer:"I say there are two reasons we live here and two reasons we stay. We live here because of Ann's family and this studio, and we stay because of the Wexner Center and we're 10 minutes from the airport," he said."That combination works for us."

The Wexner Center is a huge draw.

Hamilton's involvement with the center includes a visual arts residency in 1994-95, which culminated in a 1996 retrospective exhibition, the body and the object: Ann Hamilton 1984-1996. In 1998, she used a Wexner Center commission to collaborate with choreographer Meg Stuart to stage appetite.

Hamilton is currently working with choreographer and composer Meredith Monk for the performance of mercy, co-commissioned by the Wexner Center. mercy will be presented at 8 p.m. Oct. 12 in Thurber Theatre. About 30 students will be participants and performers in the production, which uses music, dance and technology.

As faculty, Hamilton and Mercil will now have access to students, and can provide them with opportunities to get involved in professional projects, such as mercy.

"Meredith is a perfect example," Mercil said."Ann is working with her not because of her position at OSU, but because of their professional association. Yet now, with this position, we'll be able to take that experience and share it with the art, music and dance departments."

Hamilton's work causes her to spend about six months of the year outside of Columbus. By becoming a part of a local institution, she and Mercil hope to plant deeper roots in the area.

"It's also about trying to ground ourselves here," she said."Part of the appeal of joining the University is about joining something that's here and being a participant."

Working together will offer the couple one other perk:"The advantage of this job is we'll get to see each other more this way," Mercil said, and shot his wife a sly grin, which she promptly tossed back.

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