Academic quality of first-year students increases

By LIZ COOK, Media Relations

University efforts to attract and retain academically talented students continue to show progress, according to Ohio State's 15-day enrollment report.

The freshman class of 2003 is the best academically prepared incoming class at Ohio State. The number of first-quarter freshmen attending the Columbus campus is 6,258, representing a 6.3 percent increase above the previous year (5,888). Fifty percent scored between 23 and 28 on their ACTs, improving the entering class ACT average to a record 25.4, compared to 25.2 the past two years. The 2003 national ACT average is 20.8.

In addition, approximately 33 percent of Ohio State's first-year students graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class and 69 percent ranked in the top 25 percent. Martha Garland, vice provost and dean for undergraduate studies, said the report indicates that Ohio State is moving in the right direction.

"Ohio State has been experiencing dramatic results in its undergraduate student profile since 1995," Garland said. "Since our adoption of the Academic Plan and the Diversity Action Plan, our goal has been to attract talented students who can benefit from the educational diversity we provide as a top research institution with graduation being the primary goal."

Retention also has reached record levels. The retention rate for first-year students at Ohio State increased from 86.5 percent in 2001 to 87.1 percent in 2002. The national first-year average for public universities is 74 percent. Second-year retention figures increased from 79 to 79.3 percent; third-year retention rose from 70.8 to 73.7 percent.

Campuswide enrollment of minority students improved for the third straight year despite some decreases among minority freshmen. Record enrollment was noted among African Americans, now at 3,959, up from 3,941. The number of Asian and Pacific Islander students increased to 2,745, a 3.5 percent rise from 2,652, while Hispanic students increased 12.1 percent from 1,034 to 1,159.

Mac Stewart, vice provost for the Office of Minority Affairs, said that minority freshmen have made significant contributions to the academic goals of the university.

"I am pleased with the degree to which our minority students have prepared themselves for the academic rigors of Ohio State," Stewart said. "I have every reason to believe that they will help move the university toward even stronger retention and graduation rates in future years."

Garland added that fostering a diverse learning environment is critical to Ohio State. "The university works tirelessly to develop specific programming in the offices of Minority Affairs and Student Affairs, our academic colleges and departments, and through the First Year Experience program, all of which help personalize and nurture the student experience," Garland said.

Enrollment in Ohio State's professional schools rose 4.4 percent to a record 3,195 and includes record gains among women, climbing to 1,699 from 1,604 a year ago, an increase of almost 6 percent.

Autumn quarter enrollment on the Columbus campus is 50,731, a 2.1 increase above last year. Enrollment at all campuses increased 1.7 percent to 58,254 students. Women are attending Ohio State at a record level of 29,355 (50.4 percent). The number of men enrolled is 28,899 (49.6 percent).

Autumn 2003 enrollment summary

Columbus campus

• Undergraduate, graduate and professional: 50,731 (+2.1 percent; 49,676 in 2002)

• Undergraduate only: 37,605 (+2.0 percent; 36,855 in 2002)

• Professional only: 3,195 (+4.4 percent; 3,060 in 2002)
• Graduate only: 9,931 (+1.7 percent; 9,761 in 2002)

Regional campuses (undergraduate and graduate)

• Ohio State Lima: 1,338 (-5.2 percent; 1,412 in 2002)

• Ohio State Mansfield: 1,640 (+8.4 percent; 1,513 in 2002)
• Ohio State Newark: 2,148 (-3.6 percent; 2,229 in 2002)

• ATI at Wooster: 830 (-8.5 percent; 907 in 2002)

• Ohio State Marion: 1,567 (+2.2 percent; 1,534 in 2002)

• All campuses

• Undergraduate, graduate and professional: 58,254(+1.7 percent; 57,271 in 2002

Larry Lewellen, associate vice president for human resources, responds to a question at the USAC Town Meeting Oct. 23. President Karen Holbrook, seated, and USAC Chair Doug Lance, listen.   By Kevin Fitzsimons

Dialogue generated at town meeting

By SUSAN WITTSTOCK, onCAMPUS staff

At an Oct. 23 town meeting, President Karen Holbrook answered questions touching on topics of compensation, work/life satisfaction and use of limited resources during the hour-long event. Interim Provost and Executive Vice President Barbara Snyder, Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Bill Shkurti and Associate Vice President for Human Resources Larry Lewellen also were present in the Ohio Union's Stecker Lounge to answer questions. The University Staff Advisory Committee hosted the event.

In opening remarks, Snyder said that the compensation initiative will continue to move forward for 2004-05, but that specific guidelines will be dependent upon how the university benchmarks against competing employers this year and whether the state of Ohio is able to adhere to the budget it passed.

To make progress in compensation levels, some workforce adjustments, primarily through elimination of vacated positions, will need to be made. "We hope, and it is usually the case, that few positions have to be eliminated while there are still people in them," Snyder said. "If that cannot be avoided, then we provide severance benefits and make every effort to assist in the job search." She said care must be taken to not pile more work on fewer staff. "This causes burnout and we don't want to see valuable staff leave."

Snyder also discussed performance management reviews and the need for units to find ways to regularly evaluate staff when determining merit-based raises, and announced that Lewellen will convene a group to study the issue in spring 2004.

"Let me add my thanks to USAC for being such a proactive and positive organization on campus," Holbrook said. "I think the spirit of this staff group here is extraordinary. USAC makes a distinct difference at this university."

Holbrook opened the floor to questions, prompting several related to state legislature activities. The morning of the town meeting, the Lantern had published an article about House Bill 271, currently pending in the House Finance and Appropriations Committee, which proposes a freeze on salaries of state executives, including those at Ohio State who make at or above the governor's salary of $130,292. Holbrook pointed out that salary levels at universities are well below what senior administrators in the private sector receive. "What's more important is comparing how salaries here are comparable to other institutions," she said. When the positions became vacant, the university would have a very difficult time hiring qualified individuals at the level of the governor's salary, she said.

Finding ways to offer quality-of-life benefits in addition to increasing compensation was raised in several questions. Providing parental leave, professional development opportunities, and additional recognition programs could all make a difference in staff and faculty lives, Holbrook said.

"We are now creating an action agenda for work/life, across staff and faculty, and a small work group is already working to generate ideas," Snyder said earlier in the hour, while giving the opening remarks. "We haven't been sitting on our hands, but most of our energy has been tied up recently in the faculty study." The results of a survey of faculty measuring their work/life satisfaction was recently released; a similar survey of staff was conducted in 2001. (For details, visit http://hr.osu.edu/hrpubs/facultyworkifeinfo.pdf.)

An attendee asked if Ohio State might consider following the lead of private companies that are cutting back on work/life offerings due to financial difficulties. "What we're doing is going in the opposite direction, looking for ways we can make people's lives here better, not reducing services," Holbrook said. "We'll have more pressure to be more efficient with the funds we use."

Another attendee asked if Ohio State could move more aggressively toward providing domestic partner benefits, in light of the Defense of Marriage Act, a bill under consideration in the Ohio legislature.

"The Defense of Marriage Act would prohibit the statutory benefits of a legal marriage to domestic partners, but it doesn't prohibit employers from giving access to health care benefits because that's not a statutory benefit," Lewellen said.

"We've been working extremely hard on this -- gathering extensive benchmark data; being in touch with other institutions and the city, as well as other large employers; and providing information and preparing proposals," Snyder said. "At this time, however, we have to honestly say that we cannot predict a timeline on benefits."

The university's latest proposal includes, in addition to domestic partners, sponsored dependents such as aging parents and grandchildren. "We think this is a great design and I can say that it is a high priority," Snyder said.

In response to a question, administrators said faculty and staff should not look for the university to offer an early retirement incentive. A buy-out in the early 1990s proved to be expensive for the university when many older, experienced faculty and staff left. "What we found on the staff side is we had to end up replacing almost everybody who left and the replacements who came in were almost as expensive. Consequently, we found ourselves having to make cuts elsewhere," Shkurti said. Finding places to make cuts now would be difficult, he said. "Because we've pared back so many jobs in the past, everybody here is very important for what they do."

The construction of the new Recreation and Physical Activity Center, a replacement for Larkins Hall, was criticized by an attendee for being too expensive. The new facility will replace an inadequate building which was hurting the university's ability to attract the best students, Shkurti said, and will give the university a recreation center similar to its benchmark institutions and more appropriate for a large campus. Funding for the new center will be provided through a combination of user fees, state capital dollars and private fundraising. Faculty and staff will be required to pay a fee to use the new facility.

Andersen to deliver Distinguished Lecture Nov. 20

By JEFF GRABMEIER, Research Communications

A diagnosis of cancer foretells a frightening turn in one's life road. The impact this diagnosis can have on the lives of men and women is the subject of the University Distinguished Lecture by Barbara Andersen, professor of psychology and obstetrics and gynecology. The lecture will be at 4 p.m. Nov. 20 in the Wexner Center Film/Video Theater. Andersen's lecture is titled "Being 1 in 3: Psychological, Behavioral, and Biologic Responses to Cancer and Finding a Path to Optimize Quality of Life."

The free, public lecture will be followed by a reception.

Barbara Andersen

Andersen will discuss how decades of research have documented the upheavals in a cancer patient's emotions and everyday activities following diagnosis and treatments. But more important, psychological research in cancer is leading the way for patients to learn how to lower their stresses, cope in positive ways, change their negative health behaviors, and, perhaps, alter biologic systems designed to fight the disease. Andersen will talk about how patients can effectively improve their lifestyle and recapture meaning in their lives.

Andersen has authored three books and more than 150 research articles on behavioral medicine topics. Her research has been continuously funded since 1985, and the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Cancer Society and the Department of the Army have supported her current research on biobehavioral aspects of cancer. In 1995 she was one of 50 women scientists invited to the White House to attend a briefing on the Clinton administration's initiatives in science and technology. In 2000 she received Ohio State's Distinguished Scholar Award and, in 2003, the Outstanding Contributions in Health Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association. She joined Ohio State as a faculty member in 1989.

The University Distinguished Lecture Series was inaugurated in 1996 as one of the university's highest honors for a senior faculty member. The lectureship is awarded in recognition of outstanding academic achievement, particularly, but not exclusively, in research, scholarship or creative activity. The President's and Provost's Advisory Committee reviews nominations and recommends candidates to the president and provost for final selection.

The Office of Academic Affairs presents an award of $5,000 to the University Distinguished Lecturer to designate for a purpose that promotes the academic goals of the individual's college and/or of the university. Andersen has designated that her award be used in support of the Graduate Program in Clinical and Health Psychology.