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Keynotes

Spring 2006

 

Academic Freedom and Intellectual Diversity

Ohio State’s commitment to academic freedom has been unwavering since our institution’s earliest days. An April memo that I issued to all members of the Ohio State community reaffirmed that commitment and underscored our support for the principles of academic freedom and intellectual diversity developed and promulgated by the American Council on Education (ACE), the major coordinating body for the nation's higher education institutions, of which Ohio State is a member. The ACE principles are as follows:

  • Academic freedom and intellectual pluralism are core values of America’s higher education system.
  • Government’s recognition and respect for independence of colleges and universities are essential for academic excellence.
  • Colleges and universities should welcome diverse beliefs and the free exchange of ideas.
  • Grades and other academic decisions should be based solely on considerations that are intellectually relevant to the subject matter.
  • Neither students nor faculty should be disadvantaged or evaluated on the basis of their political opinions.
  • Any member of the campus community who believes he or she has been treated unfairly on academic matters must have access to a clear institutional process to address grievances.

To ensure that every member of our university community is aware of these principles and the procedures for addressing concerns stemming from them, this information has been disseminated through our university communications channels, and it appears on the OAA website in PDF format here. In addition, it will be included in orientations for new faculty and new students, in presentations by the Office of Faculty and TA Development, and within the Academic Leader Development series co-sponsored by OAA and the Office of Human Resources.

By encouraging renewed consideration of academic rights and responsibilities across our campus, we seek to nurture the most fundamental academic right, that of the free exchange of ideas. My hope, as chief academic officer of The Ohio State University, is that all members of the university community will reflect further on the foundations of academic inquiry and, so, the very purpose of an institution of higher learning.

 

Leadership Development at Ohio State

Earlier this spring, I was invited to speak to the Board of Trustees about what Ohio State does to ensure that its departments and colleges will have ongoing, seamless leadership at all levels. The members of the board were impressed by the number and variety of opportunities that allow our faculty, staff, and students to hone their leadership skills. Here are some of the programs I discussed with the board.

Faculty Leadership Development

  • The CIC’s Academic Leadership Program, which was developed to hone the leadership and managerial skills of faculty members on CIC campuses*. Participants take part in three two-day seminars that rotate among the CIC institutions. In the last five years, Ohio State has sent 20 faculty members to this program, more than half of whom now hold prominent university leadership roles. They include a dean and seven assistant or associate deans, three department chairs, and our deputy CIO.
  • The President and Provost’s Leadership Institute (Word document), a two-year program for long-term faculty leadership development. Focusing primarily on the nature of effective leadership rather than discrete leadership tasks, the institute aims to create a pool of potential leaders from groups that traditionally have been underrepresented in key leadership roles, especially that of department chair.  Participants are tenured faculty who don’t currently hold significant leadership positions, but who may be in a position to do so within two to five years.
  • Managing Laboratories Workshop Series (PDF), developed for Ohio State’s women faculty and researchers in the sciences to enhance their skills in recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and mentoring, developing budgets, managing conflicts, and setting up collaborations.
  • Ohio State’s First-Year Experience for New Deans, designed to give our new deans an up-close look at the Offices of Business and Finance, Research, University Development, and University Relations. A key element of this initiative is that it pairs a new dean with an experienced dean who has been selected to serve as mentor. The two hold regularly scheduled monthly meetings during the first year of the new dean’s appointment.
  • The Academic Leader Development Series, aimed at training all of Ohio State’s new academic leaders in the roles and responsibilities of a leader, faculty review and development, critical legal issues, staff performance management, and financial stewardship. We encourage the participation of new deans as well as all new associate and assistant deans, school and center directors, and department chairs. The Academic Leader Development Series is meant to serve as a follow-on program for participants in the President and Provost’s Leadership Institute.
  • The Books and Breakfast Program, offered to academic and administrative leaders across the campus to refine leadership skills collectively and collaboratively. This program provides participants with a book on leadership issues that they read prior to each program. Over breakfast, the book is discussed under the guidance of a university leader.

Staff Leadership Development

  • The Leading Edge, a program that provides intensive learning experiences for mid-level staff managers who want to enhance their leadership their leadership skills. This program helps participants design a professional development strategy that suits their ongoing needs.
  • The Women’s Place Staff Leadership Series aimed at expanding opportunities for women staff members. In this year-long series of monthly sessions, participants meet with senior women staff members and other discussion facilitators.

Student Leadership Development

  • The Student-Alumni Council, responsible for coordinating such events as May Week. Its members serve as liaisons to prospective students and their families at the Maximus Scholarship Competition, the Office of Minority Affairs Day, and otherwise as requested by the Office of Admissions or University Honors and Scholars.
  • The Buckeye Leadership Society, which sponsors monthly talks on success and leadership.
  • The LeaderShape Institute, a six-day focus session on action planning, group problem solving, and ethical decision making.
  • Mount Leadership Society, a living-learning initiative specifically developed to set students on a leadership path through Ohio State. The society is one of Ohio State’s 12 Scholars Programs.
  • Our three student governance organizations, the Undergraduate Student Government, Council of Graduate Students, and Inter-Professional Council. The representatives of these groups learn to be responsible leaders and engaged citizens by serving as liaisons from their constituencies to the governing bodies of the university.

Our university’s leaders are central to the development and articulation of our professional values, to our ability to define and achieve strategic priorities, and to our shared desire to channel good will and energy into achieving the goals of our institution’s Academic Plan. I hope this overview of Ohio State’s leadership development opportunities makes it clear that we are actively building the university’s leadership capacity—at every level.

 

Reaccreditation and Academic Program Reviews

While our leadership development programs are regular, ongoing efforts, a once-per-decade initiative is now front and center of our university agenda. This year and next, Ohio State will undergo a university-wide reaccreditation review with the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission demonstrates our commitment to assuring and advancing quality.

The reaccreditation review requires us to show that we meet core criteria in such areas as student learning and effective teaching; the acquisition, discovery, and application of knowledge; and preparing for the future. Relevant information from faculty, staff, students, and administrators is being collected and analyzed and will then be shared with an external evaluation team that will visit the campus in spring 2007. While here, this group will conduct interviews with members of the university community. In addition, as part of the reaccreditation process, we’ve been asked to do a focused study of graduate and professional education. The site visit team can then assist us by acting as consultants in this special focus area.

Our reaccreditation effort is being led by Vice Provost W. Randy Smith, who as a faculty fellow led our last reaccreditation in 1997. Faculty Fellow Stephanie Davidson, associate professor of speech and hearing, is coordinating the collection of information.

Meanwhile, periodic reviews of another sort have been taking place. On a routine basis, Ohio State’s academic departments conduct an academic program review to appraise and refine their goals and examine progress toward them. This provides an opportunity to analyze resources, courses, and programs and gauge the impact of program decisions on the achievement of goals within the unit, the college, and the university. Analytic and data-driven, the review can emphasize specific topics and issues and readily aligns with specialized accreditation processes. The self-review is followed by a visit and report from an external team of peers as well as consultation among the department, college, and OAA.

In addition to providing oversight for our reaccreditation review, Randy also oversees Ohio State’s academic program reviews. Assistant Provost John Ryan serves as academic program review coordinator. Throughout the process, John is available to advise and support the departments undergoing review. The information that emerges becomes an integral component of a department’s planning and ongoing collaboration with its college and OAA. Departments in the Colleges of Human Ecology and Mathematical and Physical Sciences and the schools in the College of Education have recently completed reviews. Currently, the Departments of Economics; Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology; and Geography are completing reviews. Reviews in the Departments of Art, Greek and Latin, History of Art, and Women’s Studies are underway.

 

College Annual Reports Giving Way to Biennial Dialogues

This year, the traditional annual questionnaire about college accomplishments and goals is being replaced by a biennial dialogue. This conversation, to be based on college-specific data, will give the vice provosts and me the opportunity to engage the leadership of each college in an analysis of strategies to enhance that unit’s academic excellence. This year our focus is on doctoral program quality; undergraduate education; and student, staff, and faculty success. The information and ideas that emerge from the dialogues will help deans develop a leadership action plan to guide their decision-making for the coming years.

This new reporting process is part of a larger effort to integrate and routinize our requests for information. By establishing a simple, sensible cycle of information gathering—from these every-two-year college dialogues and from the periodic program reviews described above—we will be able to connect all of this information to our strategic planning and, so, to meeting the goals of the Academic Plan.

 

Update on State Capital Funding

As you may know, state capital funding for higher education reached its zenith in the 1995-1996 biennium budget, when $600 million was appropriated for Ohio’s public colleges and universities. The changes we’ve experienced since that time are the result of the now-famous DeRolph school funding litigation of 1997.

In its decision on DeRolph v. the State of Ohio, the Ohio Supreme Court shifted the burden of providing school facilities from local school districts—traditionally considered accountable for their own schools—to the state, which the court determined had a responsibility to ensure that local school districts had adequate school buildings.

From zero a decade ago, the percentage of state capital dollars earmarked for primary and secondary education has now risen to more than 50 percent. As a result, capital funding for higher education has been flat—or reduced—and, like all Ohio public institutions of higher education, our university has had to reconcile these flat or declining dollars with the rising costs of capital projects.

Because of this funding paradigm shift, Ohio State has turned increasingly to development dollars, bonds, loans, and cash from the colleges to fund our capital improvements. A worrisome new development is that capital project budgets, even after approval by the state, may be reduced while a project is in process.

In January, the Ohio Board of Regents asked for $450 million in capital funding for the 2007 and 2008 fiscal years. If that request is approved by our legislators, Ohio State’s Columbus campus would receive the largest share of those funds, with most of a potential $83.3 million allocation earmarked for our top priority, the Thompson Library. Brown, Hughes, and Murray Halls and a number of smaller renovation projects across campus would also receive a share of the allocation.

While we have reason to believe that higher education may actually receive a little more this year than it did in the last biennium, it will not be enough to reverse the clear downward trend in funding from the state. And with the percentage of capital funding for primary and secondary education only predicted to grow in the near future, uncertainty looms large about the funding Ohio State will receive. What’s clear is that we must consider alternative strategies to secure our academic facilities needs. Stay tuned for further updates as the capital funding process moves forward.

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