By Jo McCulty In over-stuffed chair on right, Julia Alvarez, award-winning author of In the Time of the Butterflies, talks with students in the Kuhn Honors and Scholars House before her evening lecture Oct. 7. Alvarez was on campus as part of the Buckeye Book Community Discussion.

Honors and Scholars gives high marks to faculty

By Joni Bentz Seal, onCAMPUS staff

More than 6,000 students benefit from the faculty interaction and unique events, curricular challenges and living-learning experiences of Ohio State's Honors and Scholars program. The program attracts high ability students to the University, and prepares them to compete on a national level for scholar, post-graduate and professional opportunities.

After just three months as interim associate provost and director of Honors and Scholars, Linda Harlow has a strong sense of direction and lofty goals for both the students and the program itself. She credits active faculty with making the program not only endure, but thrive in the competitive and ever-changing honors environment.

"A strong honors program cannot survive without positive faculty engagement," Harlow said. "Our faculty are at the heart of the program's success. Students benefit tremendously from the interaction and from the wonderful opportunities that faculty create or facilitate."

Prior to her appointment, Harlow had a great deal of involvement with Honors and Scholars as a faculty member in the Department of French and Italian, as associate dean of the College of Humanities, and as leader of the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Office.

Now, as overseer of Honors and Scholars, her goals include not only maintaining the momentum of the current programming, but recruiting new faculty and enhancing scholastic preparation.

Friends of Honors and Scholars

More than 1,000 faculty, known as Friends of Honors and Scholars, are active in the program. Harlow intends to renew those relationships and recruit newcomers to Ohio State's faculty to join the ranks.

Integral to the programming for Honors and Scholars, faculty advise students, serve as liaisons with college honors programs, lecture or host discussions at Honors and Scholars functions, develop and teach honors courses, and serve on numerous advisory committees, which are active in student programming and recruiting.

"Honors and Scholars is supported by a large number of eminent faculty, which shows tremendous support of the program," Harlow said. "Expanding the Honors and Scholars faculty pool by attracting new talent not only supports our efforts to bring students to their full potential, but introduces faculty to a whole new level of teaching enrichment."

Co-curricular programming

Co-curricular activities continue to be well attended, and offer diverse speakers and facilitators from both inside and outside the University.

"The majority of our programming is organized through the Honors and Scholars Center or is driven by student clubs or organizations," said Program Coordinator Brian Orefice. "What impresses me about Honors and Scholars is the degree to which students are active in the opportunities that the program affords them, and that many take an active role in planning and implementation of future programs."

Fireside Chats are among the most popular of those events, with roughly 10 per quarter on select topics to attract different audiences.

"Topics range from practical advice, like how to apply to medical or law school, to current events and philosophical issues, such as animal rights," Orefice said. "Fireside Chats provide a forum for faculty to talk about the things they love -- their research and their academic expertise -- in an informal setting to a ready audience."

Other events, such as academic achievement recognitions, book discussions, adopt-a-school sponsorship, academic and career preparation workshops, even social dinners at the Kuhn Honors and Scholars House, round out the programming.

"The interaction with faculty allows students to realize the potential for opportunities in their intended disciplines," Orefice said. "It also shows them that faculty are ‘real people' who not only have a sincere interest in an area of study, but also may have other interests, hobbies and passions in common with students."

Scholarly success

Faculty support students by assisting with applications and essay requirements for fellowship competitions, providing letters of recommendation, and offering support wherever needed. Harlow said several advisory committees and subcommittees are playing a key role in recruiting students and developing undergraduate research projects, exchange programs, and high-profile internships.

With the aid of these committees, Harlow looks to recruit top students, increase their academic opportunities, and improve their preparation for success in post-graduate careers.

Bradley Clymer, associate professor of electrical engineering and a member of the Maximus Faculty Advisory Committee, says programs like the honors-sponsored Maximus Competition provide a remarkable opportunity for recruitment. "Students are interested in the very top programs in the country," he said. "When we show them the high faculty participation, the good organization of the honors program and the individual academic programs, and the abundance of variety and individual choice here, Ohio State becomes very attractive to many of them."

And Harlow feels once those students enroll at Ohio State, the mission of Honors and Scholars is to take care of them.

"We have some of the best honors students in the country, and they should be able to go to the same graduate and professional schools and receive the same fellowships as a student from Harvard," Harlow said. "The University needs to play a proactive role in making that happen."

University, city announce task force to study riots

By Elizabeth Conlisk, Media Relations

Ohio State President Karen Holbrook and Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman announced Dec. 18 the creation of the Task Force on Preventing Celebratory Riots, designed to study the root causes of, and seek solutions to, the socially destructive, alcohol-fueled behavior that has occurred recently in off-campus neighborhoods.

"Senseless mob behavior has multiple causes and involves a range of participants," Holbrook said. "We have the expertise right here on our campus and in our community to bring useful and diverse perspectives to analyzing root causes and recommending solutions. We will set an aggressive timetable and devote the resources necessary to enable the task force to be thorough, timely and successful in carrying out its work."

The task force is charged with completing its work by April 7.

"The excessive use of alcohol by young people, whether to celebrate a sports victory or the end of final exams, has led to far too much senseless destruction in our neighborhoods near campus," Coleman said. "Our goal is to bring local leaders together with national expertise to find a lasting solution that keeps our neighborhoods safe."

The task force, comprised of University faculty, students and staff and city and community officials, will be led by David Andrews, dean of the College of Human Ecology.

Andrews has spent the last 21 years developing, implementing, evaluating and administering programs designed to enhance family and individual development. He has focused his research efforts on programs aimed at helping high-risk youth. Most recently, he was instrumental in creating the Center for Learning Excellence, which supports Ohio's Alternative Education Challenge Grant Program and other programs for high-risk youth and is associated with the University's John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy.

The task force will be broadly representative of campus and the community. It includes student leaders; faculty with professional expertise in psychiatry, psychology and educational policy; campus area landlords; and representatives from citizen organizations, behavioral health services, and public safety as well as Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court, and Mike Mentel, chair of the Columbus City Council Safety Committee.

The product of the task force's work will be a report and recommendations to include identifying preventive measures and behavior-changing strategies and a menu of deterrents and consequences for those who participate in dangerous and unlawful activity. The task force will be charged with:

• Identifying and articulating the body of knowledge related to preventing antisocial and violent behaviors on campuses;

• Drawing upon the expertise of those closest to this body of knowledge, both on campus and throughout the United States;

• Examining the effectiveness of prevention/intervention efforts, especially peer-to-peer strategies; and

• Constructing a set of guidelines and policies that would facilitate the effectiveness of local responses.

Andrews said it is likely that the entire task force will be broken into work groups that might focus on alcohol, including availability, open container laws and binge drinking; media influences and responses; peer influences and responses; University regulations and sanctions; community policing and law enforcement; and others to be determined.

Ohio State task force members

Chair: David Andrews, dean, College of Human Ecology

Vernon Baisden, director of public safety

Constance Boehm, assistant director, student wellness, Student Health Services

Briggs Cormier, president, Council of Graduate Students

Louise Douce, director, Counseling and Consultation Services

Mabel Freeman, assistant vice president, undergraduate admissions and First-Year Experience

Stephen Gavazzi, professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science, College of Human Ecology

Andy Geiger, director of athletics

Nidhi Gupta, professional student, Inter-professional Council

Bill Hall, vice president for student affairs

Brad Lander, clinical director, OSU Addiction Medicine at Talbot Hall

Raymond Montemayor, professor, Department of Psychology, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

William Morgan, professor, School of Educational Policy and Leadership, College of Education

Eddie Pauline, president, Undergraduate Student Government

Chantel Porter, undergraduate student

Rebecca Price, undergraduate student

John Reilly, associate legal counsel, Office of Legal Affairs

Barbara Rich, assistant vice president, Office of Student Affairs

Steve Sterrett, community relations director, Campus Partners

Katie Virtue, undergraduate student

Melanye White-Dixon, professor, Department of Dance, College of the Arts, and faculty member of Athletic Council

Community task force members

Mitchell Brown, director of public safety, City of Columbus

Kim Carmine, Central Beverage

Don DeVere, president, Indianola Forest Association and resident of University District

Walter Distelzweig, deputy chief, City of Columbus, Division of Police

Amy Edwards, senior vice president of communications, ADAMH Board of Franklin County

Wayne Garland, Buckeye Real Estate

Pasquale Grado, executive director, University Community Business Association

Ron Hupman, president, University Area Commission

Cheryl Keeler, regional director, AFSCME, Ohio Council 8

Ty Marsh, chief of staff, Mayor's Office, City of Columbus

Mike Mentel, chair, Columbus City Council Safety Committee

Thomas J. Moyer, chief justice, Ohio Supreme Court

Angela Pace, news anchor, WBNS TV

Pat Steane, property manager, Kohr-Royer-Griffin Realtors

Jim Stowe, executive director, Community Relations Commission, City of Columbus

Ex officio members

President Karen Holbrook

Mayor Michael Coleman, City of Columbus

Improving state's schools focus of Ohio Collaborative

A team of approximately 100 faculty experts representing Ohio's colleges and universities has been assembled to assist state governing bodies in developing policy and programs to improve the performance of Ohio's schools.

The alliance is the work of the Ohio Collaborative for Research and Policy for Schools, Children and Families, an initiative created by Ohio State's P-12 Project and announced in February 2002. The administrative center is at Ohio State.

The collaborative also will make its services available to school districts interested in conducting research and will provide research and policy analysis that serves the districts' needs, said Daryl Siedentop, director of the P-12 Project and Ohio Collaborative.

'We expect that the work of the Ohio Collaborative will require bringing together regional and statewide teams to work on specific projects and to prepare proposals to compete for state contracts.' -- Daryl Siedentop, director, Ohio Collaborative

"We expect that the work of the Ohio Collaborative will require bringing together regional and statewide teams to work on specific projects and to prepare proposals to compete for state contracts," Siedentop said.

The collaborative recently was awarded a contract with the Ohio Department of Education to conduct a statewide study of the supply and demand for teachers at various levels and grades in Ohio, and draft recommendations to help the state build an internal capacity plan to conduct the study themselves in the future, Siedentop said. Results will be published in a report titled "Conditions of Teaching 2003," by June 1.

The study is expected to help the state identify teacher shortages in specialty areas, and forecast shortages in the future.

"We already know there is a critical need for math, science and special education teachers, but we are going to determine how critical the need is, and if there are shortages in other areas," Siedentop said.

The study will involve an examination of databases from the Department of Education and the State Teachers Retirement System, and will require a survey of school districts to determine which positions are vacant and which have been filled. It also will include surveys of 51 colleges and universities that license teachers in Ohio, to gauge the number of students currently preparing for teaching positions.

Other initiatives undertaken by the Ohio Collaborative include:

• Sponsorship of a one-day seminar in May 2002, in conjunction with the Columbus Education Association and Columbus Public Schools, exploring the relationship between school size and student achievement. That seminar was in support of the bond issue on the November ballot -- which subsequently passed -- created to raise money for Columbus school buildings, Siedentop said.

• Hosting of a June 1, 2002 statewide symposium, "Scientifically Based Research and Educational Quality: New Opportunities for Schools and Higher Education."

• Preparation of an educational pamphlet, "School Readiness: Crafting a Successful and Sustainable Strategy," in support of Gov. Bob Taft's Families and Children First initiative.

In the future, Siedentop said the plan is to secure additional state contracts, and establish relationships with school districts throughout the state.

"Typically, public schools don't have the resources to conduct policy analysis and research, but universities do," Siedentop said.

Additionally, the Ohio Collaborative soon will be under new leadership, which will allow Siedentop to focus on other P-12 Project initiatives. A search conducted through the College of Education has identified a new director, and negotiations are expected to conclude in early February, Siedentop said.