Surveying the benefits
Photos by Kevin Fitzsimons Scott Austin, design engineer at the Wexner Center for the Arts, purchases honey during the eighth annual Hidden Benefits Fair Dec. 11 at French Field House. The honey products are produced at the OSU Honey Bee Lab at the OARDC in Wooster. The fair is sponsored by the University Staff Advisory Committee and had 50 vendors providing information to faculty and staff.
	Li Wu explains the benefits of acupuncture to Kathy Sandman, research associate in the Department of Microbiology.

Have you heard? Ohio State is 13 & Oh!

With the national attention that the football Buckeyes' 13-0 season is bringing to Ohio State, the staff in Marketing Communications saw a prime opportunity to make sure the University's academic excellence doesn't go unnoticed in the midst of the football frenzy.

In response, they've developed a campaign to spotlight aspects of Ohio State excellence that don't typically get the kind of attention that a national championship athletic competition receives. For example, did you know that one of the world's "Top 100 Young Innovators" teaches at Ohio State? Or, that the nation's largest student community service project takes place right here at the University?

Ohio State fans participating in the festivities in Tempe -- site of the Fiesta Bowl National Championship -- will see banners, buttons, T-shirts and postcards that celebrate "13 & Oh!," a reference to a compilation of 13 facts about Ohio State that help remind those fans just how excellent Ohio State is -- on and off the field. "This has been a truly collaborative effort," said David Hoover, senior director of Marketing Communications, "with support -- and great ideas -- coming from many offices on all of our campuses."

Marketing Communications has developed a top 13 list of points of pride that are included in a postcard that will be widely distributed at pre-game events.

And for those remaining in Ohio, the messages will be getting to them as well. Ads are planned for many of the major Ohio newspapers, along with a "splash page" on the University's Web site, www.osu.edu.

Since there were so many points of pride competing for the "13 & Oh!" list, Hoover said that a Web page is being launched to coincide with the National Championship game that is a complete resource of rankings, bragging points and accomplishments of the University's academic and administrative units.

"The fact is, the popular media doesn't give us nearly as much free press about our academic accomplishments as they do about our athletics, so we have to make the opportunities when we can to get them in front of our constituents," Hoover said. "And we're happy to ride on this wave and take advantage of the attention the Buckeyes are bringing to Ohio State this year. We all win when the Buckeyes win."

ATI's Program EXCEL grooms successful students

By Randy Gammage, onCAMPUS staff

Ohio State's Agricultural Technical Institute has really blossomed since it was established in 1972.

Located in Wooster, about 100 miles northeast of the Columbus campus, it is considered the largest agricultural technical institution of its kind in the country, based on enrollment and programs offered. Retention and graduation rates exceed the national average for two-year public and two-year open-admission public institutions. And, within four months of graduation, 90 percent of ATI graduates are either employed in their field of study or pursuing further education, said Chris Igodan, director of ATI and associate dean of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

"By focusing on hands-on coursework and one-on-one relationships with faculty, we have created a really unique opportunity here at Ohio State ATI," Igodan said. "We have thrived by offering the comprehensive academic support and student services that make a difference in the lives of our young students."

Spearheading ATI's support network has been the eight-member staff of Student Success Services (SSS), which nurtures students from orientation through graduation.

Many of the services offered within SSS are federally-funded through a TRIO grant, known on campus as Program EXCEL. Program EXCEL provides supplemental academic advising, personal and career counseling, professional tutoring, career readiness assistance, and academic mentor study groups to 210 funded students at ATI, said Ginny Knowlton, project director for Program EXCEL and director of Student Success Services. Those support services help meet the two overall TRIO goals: increased retention and increased graduation rates of participating students.

Program EXCEL grant participant eligibility requirements are strict, Knowlton said. To receive assistance, students must be enrolled (or accepted for enrollment) in a program of post-secondary education at a sponsoring institution and have an established need for academic assistance. All participants must be low-income (as defined by the United States Department of Education), first-generation college students or have a disability.

A winner of an Ohio State Distinguished Staff Award in 2002, Knowlton has been one of the driving forces behind Student Success Services.

"I kind of grew up with the institute -- Ohio State ATI was three years old when I joined," Knowlton said.

After graduating from Bowling Green State University, she was hired as the first full-time recruiter in the admissions office in 1975, and traveled an average of 10,000 miles a year throughout Ohio to speak with high school students and various groups about unique, technical and hands-on educational opportunities at ATI.

That type of attention has helped elevate enrollment numbers at ATI from around 265 students in 1975 to more than 900 students this year.

As the admissions office expanded, Knowlton took on additional roles. In 1988, ATI received its first of five consecutive TRIO grants, and Knowlton became director of Program EXCEL.

Although the program provides a variety of learning services, the academic mentor study groups play an integral role by providing students the opportunity to share study strategies and learn course material with their peers in a small group setting.

Study groups are led by paid academic mentors, who guide the sessions, plan study activities, attend training meetings, and meet with faculty members to coordinate sessions with class objectives, said Dee Dee Snyder, Program EXCEL's academic mentoring coordinator.

In the 11 quarters since the mentor study group project was piloted, more than 72 study groups have served approximately 800 students in difficult-to-grasp classes ranging from anatomy and chemistry to physiology and technical courses.

"Because the groups are targeted toward hurdle classes and the mentors have excelled in these classes, they can share successful techniques on how to navigate the class," Snyder said. "Students also relate well to their peers, and we have some extremely creative academic mentors."

Consider Jonathan Scott, a second-year turfgrass management major and one of the few to earn a solid A in the Intro to Turfgrass Management course. He devised a game he calls Turfgrass Monopoly to help students in his group prepare for a midterm, and he actually recruits students for his 10-week study group.

"I've learned that mentoring can be very gratifying," Scott said.

Doug Voshel, a 31-year-old freshman also studying turfgrass management, can testify to the power of the Program EXCEL study groups. A heating and air conditioning installer since high school, Volshel was seeking a career change and quickly discovered his study skills were a bit rusty. He attended study groups in math and Intro to Turfgrass Management.

"I'm a good student with the study groups," Voshel said. "Without them, I'd be having trouble."

For information about Student Success Services, Program EXCEL or Ohio State ATI, visit the Web at www.ati.ohio-state.edu.