OSU selected for NIH compliance review

By EARLE HOLLAND, Research Communications

Ohio State is one of five research universities that will be visited by a team of federal experts this year to assess how well the institution is following specific guidelines on a host of research compliance issues.

A team from the National Institutes of Health will be on campus Aug. 20-21 for this "proactive compliance site visit." In the last three years, NIH teams have made similar visits to 26 other research institutions.

At issue is the extent to which Ohio State follows specific federal research guidelines. In its letter informing the university of the upcoming visit, the agency explained that, "the purpose of the proactive compliance site visit is to assess the level of understanding of selected NIH and federal requirements by discussing institutional policies, procedures, and practices that you (OSU) have developed to ensure your institution's compliance."

Todd Guttman, assistant vice president and regulatory counsel in the Office of Research, said that the NIH hopes to nurture partnership relationships with the biomedical community through these site reviews, and, in doing so, minimize or eliminate incidents of noncompliance.

Guttman emphasized that the site visit isn't an audit or an investigation. However, if problems arise during the review of Ohio State's practices in these areas, the university is expected to correct those as quickly as possible, Guttman said.

"We see this as a positive opportunity to cooperatively work with NIH to further improve the university's current compliance processes and procedures. In those cases where the reviewers note a need for improvement, we can work with the agency to devise corrections," Guttman said.

Judith Neidig, director of the Office of Responsible Research Practices in the Office of Research, said, "The NIH visit  indicates that Ohio State's research program has reached the level where this type of cooperation is helpful in insuring that we are functioning as a major research enterprise."

The reviewers will focus on the university's processes and procedures in the areas of financial management of sponsored projects, financial conflict of interest, invention and patent reporting, training and education and other issues related to the oversight of clinical research.

In recent years, problems in these areas at several well-known research universities have led to the federal government temporarily halting all clinical research at those institutions until the appropriate changes and corrections could be made on those campuses.

"Although the university does not anticipate any serious problems," Guttman said, "the visit will give us an opportunity to review and improve all of our processes and procedures in these areas."

Tom Rosol, interim vice president for research, said, "Compliance has become an important issue at the major research universities nationally. As our programs grow more sophisticated and as our concern for the welfare of our study subjects heightens, we need to constantly insure that we are complying with all the required guidelines and safeguards.

"We are committed to doing things the right way at Ohio State and facilitating the increased number of compliance issues that faculty have to deal with."

The first day of the site visit will consist of an opening plenary session, followed by breakout sessions during the morning and afternoon. During these meetings, NIH officials will discuss the specifics of Ohio State's compliance with university officials, research faculty and members of the university's institutional review boards.

The second day of the visit is devoted to a half-day education and outreach seminar, given by members of the site team. This session is directed specifically at principal investigators and faculty and staff who are involved with sponsored research. During that session, NIH officials will offer presentations on an overview of compliance, the partnership needed between administrators and scientists, and discussions of "at-risk issues" for the biomedical research community.

The seminar will be held from 8:30 a.m.-noon, Aug. 21, in Meiling Hall. Pre-registration is required and is available by e-mailing a request to ohio@masimax.com.

"This seminar is an excellent educational opportunity for our research faculty and members of their study teams," Rosol said. "We are urging all of them to attend this free session as a way of insuring that their work complies with the latest applicable guidelines."

Snyder named interim provost

By SHANNON WINGARD, Media Relations

President Karen Holbrook has named Barbara Snyder, who currently serves as interim vice president for university relations, as interim executive vice president and provost of Ohio State, effective July 28.

Snyder will fill the position until a permanent replacement for Ed Ray, the current executive vice president and provost, is selected. Ray has been named president of Oregon State University.

Barbara Snyder

For the interim position, Holbrook said she wanted to select an individual with leadership ability; an understanding of operations in the Office of Academic Affairs; the respect of faculty, staff, students, deans, vice presidents, and a strong working relationship with each group; an understanding about the university, the Academic and Diversity plans; and an effective working relationship with the Board of Trustees, the University Senate and the student governments.

"All of these criteria describe Barbara Snyder," Holbrook said. "I personally look forward to working with her in this role and know that Ohio State will benefit greatly from her leadership."

Snyder is a vice provost in the Office of Academic Affairs and professor in the Moritz College of Law. A 1976 Ohio State graduate, she earned a law degree from the University of Chicago and practiced law in Chicago. She has been a member of the law faculty here since 1988, and currently holds the Joanne W. Murphy/Class of 1965 Professorship in the Moritz College of Law. From 2000 to 2001, she served as the college's associate dean for academic affairs.

Snyder was named to her current academic affairs position in August 2001. In that position, she works closely with the Office of Human Resources to manage academic personnel appointments, leaves, and promotion and tenure review. She also coordinates searches, evaluations and appointments of deans, directors and chairs, as well as a number of faculty and staff recognition programs.

Search committee selected

Holbrook has appointed an 18-member committee to head the search for a new senior vice president and provost. Glen Hoffsis, dean and professor of veterinary medicine and executive dean of health sciences, will chair the search committee. The search process will get under way this summer, and the committee is expected to have a new provost selected by the beginning of 2004.

"The selection of a search committee to conduct a national search is very important to the institution. The members need to be broadly representative of the constituency that reports directly to the provost, understand the academic mission and goals of Ohio State, and will convey to the university community, as well as the outside community, that this is a very serious, important and entirely open and unbiased search," Holbrook said. "I have thus identified what I believe is an outstanding group of individuals to represent Ohio State and to recruit, screen and identify the very best candidates."

Members of the committee are: Deborah Ballam, professor of business; Paul Beck, chair and professor of political science; Joseph Branin, director of University Libraries; Bernard Erven, professor of agricultural, environmental, and development economics; Evelyn Freeman, director and professor of teaching and learning; William Hall, vice president for student affairs; Joan Herbers, dean of biological sciences; Kerry Hodak, graduate student and vice president of the Council of Graduate Students; Douglas Lance, chair of the University Staff Advisory Committee; L. James Lee, professor of chemical engineering and director of the NSF Center for Advanced Polymer and Composite Engineering; William McDaniel, professor of African-American and African studies and music, and director of jazz studies; Deborah Merritt, director of the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy and professor of law; Terry Miller, Ohio Eminent Scholar and professor of physical chemistry; Electra Paskett, chair and professor of cancer research in the School of Public Health; Stephen Pinsky, professor of physics and chair of the University Senate Steering Committee; David Schuller, director of the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute; and Mac Stewart, vice provost for minority affairs.

Elizabeth Conlisk, director of media relations, will serve as interim vice president for university relations after Snyder leaves the post at the end of this month. Conlisk will hold the position until William Murphy, the newly named vice president, joins the university on Sept. 2.

Trustees adopt new tuition plan

By DAVID BHAERMAN, University Relations

Because of changes in the state budget just before it was adopted, Ohio State students will be paying more this fall, university officials said July 11. Lower than expected levels of state funding led Ohio State's Board of Trustees to adopt a new tuition plan for undergraduates that is different from what the board initially approved in late spring.

The state budget that was passed by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Gov. Bob Taft late last month supports higher education significantly less than originally had been proposed by the governor in February and the Senate in May. "The state's share of instruction is lower now than it was four years ago," Bill Shkurti, senior vice president for business and finance, told trustees.

But recognizing the university's financial needs at the Columbus campus, the state's final budget provided for greater flexibility in tuition increases than it had in earlier versions.

For all undergraduate students on the Columbus campus, this will mean an increase of 12.9 percent, or between $684 and $756 for the upcoming academic year. For undergraduate students at the regional campuses, tuition will increase 9.9 percent, or $456 for the academic year, before applying the Access Challenge credits the state provides to reduce tuition at campuses offering access to all Ohioans.

"We appreciate the work that the governor and legislature did to minimize reductions to higher education in this difficult financial environment," Shkurti said. "However, the late changes in the budget process require the university to rework its budget for the next two fiscal years in a way that will require higher tuition for our students," Shkurti said.

Even with higher tuition levels, Ohio State will continue to be an investment of high value to its students and the citizens of Ohio, officials said.

Under the new plan, instructional and general fees for new students at the Columbus campus of the state's flagship university, at $6,624 a year, will rank seventh among the state's 13 public universities. A full-time junior or senior undergraduate student will pay $5,991 per year, while a continuing underclassman will pay annual tuition of $6,540.

"Although the university had planned to keep tuition increases for continuing students below 10 percent as the Academic Plan is fully implemented, continuing declining levels of state support mean that the university must increase tuition more than it had planned in May, when the board approved a 9 percent hike and a $100 surcharge for new students," Shkurti said.

Preliminary plans now call for the university to provide half of the additional increase above 9 percent for student financial aid and the other half for technology, including technology in the classroom, online registration and improved support services.

"It is very important to the university that we continue to increase financial aid in order to offset the impact of these tuition increases on lower and lower-middle income students," Shkurti said. "Likewise, the university will continue to strive to increase operating efficiencies and generate cost savings to improve services to our students."

Shkurti told the board that the university will recommend fiscal year 2005 tuition increases for both new and continuing students of the full extent permitted by the legislature in order to make up for the continued lack of growth in state support. He also reminded the board that a mandatory recreation fee for students will be implemented to support the new recreation center when it opens in 2005.