Interim Provost Barbara R. Snyder
State of Academic Affairs Address
University Senate
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Good afternoon. I am honored to address the members of the University Senate today on the State of Academic Affairs.
Since taking on this position last July, I have found the job to be exciting, fascinating, and rewarding. I knew that it would require work on issues ranging from the budget to promotion and tenure to technology. I had no idea that I would have the opportunity to get involved in transportation and parking issues, as I did last week when I was visited by two of our student leaders to raise an important concern about bus routes.
Serving as interim provost is a challenge that has been made immeasurably more manageable by the support I've received from you and from colleagues across the university. My primary objective during this interim period is to help the university maintain the momentum we have enjoyed over the past few years toward achieving the goals of the Academic Plan. And I sincerely want to thank you for helping us continue to make meaningful progress.
I have the good fortune to work with many outstanding members of our university community:
- with wonderful colleagues in the Office of Academic Affairs;
- with faculty members who are not only leaders in the university but also in their disciplines;
- with staff members who are committed to the university and to our students;
- with student leaders who are effective and articulate advocates for the interests of the students they represent;
- with deans who are dedicated to the missions of their colleges;
- with colleagues in the cabinet who genuinely work together to improve Ohio State;
- with engaged trustees who support our President and her aspirations for our university;
- and with a visionary president who is bringing a deeper clarity to Ohio State's agenda while leading real progress.
I am committed to the values and practices that are the hallmark of an effective administration: respect, open communication, careful listening, hard work, collaboration, and informed decisionmaking. In my remarks today, consistent with these values, I want to discuss our progress on our near-term agenda for academic excellence and its implications for all of us.
Before I do that, however, I want to give you a brief update on some of last year's initiatives. First and most important, we made progress on the compensation initiative. Again last year we gave, on average, above-market increases, and preliminary data show that we moved closer to the average salary of our benchmark peers. In the second update of the Academic Plan, released a few months ago, we reaffirmed our commitment to competitive compensation for faculty, staff, and graduate associates.
Second, thanks to the leadership of Executive Dean Michael Hogan and Deans Bell, Freeman, Herbers, Ripley, and Royster, the implementation of the new federation of the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences is proceeding smoothly.
Finally, we will be rolling out a pilot mediation program for faculty and non-bargaining unit staff. This 18-month pilot project is an outgrowth of the SRI survey in 2000 on the retention of women and minorities. The Office of Organizational and Human Resource Development will be responsible for coordinating the program.
Let me turn now to the leadership agenda. This past summer and fall, President Holbrook brought together leaders from across the university to renew our commitment to the Academic Plan, assess our progress, adjust our direction where necessary, and consider strategies to maintain our momentum. The result was a sharply focused agenda with an increased emphasis on research. You heard President Holbrook say in her State of the University address last October that research is more than a thread that links all of our work at Ohio State. It is a steel beam that runs through and supports everything we do.
It is Ohio State's vast research capacity that will enable us to achieve the three principal goals of the leadership agenda:
- pursuing cutting-edge interdisciplinary research for societal benefit;
- providing distinctive educational experiences for undergraduates;
- and developing a 21st century model of outreach and engagement.
President Holbrook charged me with the responsibility for turning these goals into specific action items and then overseeing their implementation. I am pleased to report that we are making progress on all three fronts.
In the area of interdisciplinary research, the opportunities at Ohio State are unique and almost unlimited. While industry and government leaders tout the need for interdisciplinary research, one barrier to such research has been the inability to secure initial funding from agencies traditionally focused on a single discipline. Therefore, the Office of Research, under the leadership of Interim Vice President Tom Rosol, is investing one million dollars this year to support the development of grant proposals for new multidisciplinary centers. We hope to be able to do more next year, by identifying in the upcoming budget process funds to provide three-year cash awards to start three new multidisciplinary centers identified through a competitive selection process.
In the Graduate School, we are also investing in multidisciplinary work. Dean Susan Huntington and her colleagues have developed a proposal to fund the creation of new minors for graduate students. For example, a student pursuing a graduate degree in international business could also receive a minor in East Asian languages. This is an exciting opportunity not widely available, yet one which will address the growing demand for multidisciplinary expertise.
Our intensified focus on research is also reflected in the pending proposal to allow departments to hire research-track faculty. Creating these positions gives us the opportunity to broaden our faculty and bring to Ohio State grant-funded researchers who can make valuable contributions to our university and state. They will help increase our research productivity and enhance the learning experience of graduate students with whom they work. The proposal is the product of a joint effort by the Offices of Academic Affairs and Research, with very helpful input from Senate leaders. The draft rules would allow each department to decide, by faculty vote, whether to create a research faculty track within the department. Several of our benchmark peers already have research faculty. Although the number of such faculty is relatively small at peer institutions, their impact is significant. With your support this spring, we will adopt rules to allow departments to determine whether hiring research faculty will advance their departmental missions.
Many of you have told us of financial and other institutional barriers to multidisciplinary research and teaching. Senior Vice President Bill Shkurti and I have asked the Senate Fiscal Committee, as part of a broader charge, to examine financial barriers to multidisciplinary work. A subcommittee of Fiscal has been working hard to produce recommendations that will come to us later this quarter. I have also appointed a committee of faculty members who do multidisciplinary teaching and research to advise us about non-financial barriers. We will implement the recommendations of these two groups over the summer to ensure that we facilitate, rather than impede, multidisciplinary teaching and scholarship.
The second part of the leadership agenda focuses on the undergraduate experience. While research is the foundation of graduate study, we are also committed to making research a key part of our undergraduate programs. We are in a unique position to provide undergraduates with rich and distinctive educational experiences through research - experiences that will better prepare them for graduate study and for positions of leadership in the knowledge economy.
Although a record number of students participated in the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum last year, we must increase the number of research opportunities for undergraduates in every discipline so that any student who wants the experience can have it. We've asked all colleges to provide reports on current research opportunities for undergraduates and plans for increasing those opportunities. The information provided in those reports will guide the development of strategies to enhance the undergraduate research experience in the next academic year.
The students we are attracting today and the students we want to attract tomorrow will expect to engage with faculty members in significant research experiences. And that is not all we will need to do to enhance the undergraduate experience for our current and future students. Today's students are increasingly technologically sophisticated, and this affects the way they learn and, accordingly, the way we must teach.
Our CIO, Ilee Rhimes, and his team developed a plan to improve technology for teaching and learning. This year we are increasing the number of so-called "smart" classrooms, those permanently equipped for technology-enhanced instruction. We are upgrading additional student computer labs for use as both labs and smart classrooms. We will also improve student access to information by providing a new one-stop integrated web page for student services such as registration and financial aid, and by developing a web-based degree-planning tool for students.
Deputy CIO Susan Metros is heading our technology-enhanced teaching and learning effort, working with faculty to help them transform their teaching using technology. One result is increased faculty-student contact through virtual office hours and online class discussions.
We already enjoy a productive partnership with Vice President Bill Hall and his staff. The Multicultural Center and other collaborative efforts with the Office of Student Affairs allow us to continually improve services to our students.
Diversity is a critical element of the Academic Plan and likewise of the leadership agenda. One action item calls on us to enhance educational diversity through expanded recruitment and financial aid, as well as renewed efforts to improve the campus climate. Vice Provosts Martha Garland and Mac Stewart and their staffs have developed a plan to ensure that we continue to attract a diverse student body. We are already implementing many of its elements by providing increased funding for recruitment and for the awarding of additional Morrill Scholarships to students entering this fall.
Our greatest challenge will be to live up to the leadership agenda's call to improve the campus climate for diversity. A truly welcoming climate does not merely tolerate diversity; it supports and celebrates diversity. We must not accept even subtle forms of devaluation and disrespect. Achieving this goal will require the genuine commitment of every single member of the Ohio State community.
The third part of the leadership agenda addresses outreach and engagement. Our focus on research must also inform and enhance our outreach efforts. President Holbrook has shared her intention to create a freestanding office devoted to outreach and engagement that will coordinate our outreach initiatives with our research expertise to meet the most important needs of the community and the state.
The success of all of these efforts depends on the work of our faculty with the support of our staff. Under the leadership of Associate Vice President Larry Lewellen, we are addressing issues that affect the ability of many faculty and staff members across the university to perform to their fullest potential.
As an employer, Ohio State has a responsibility to develop policies and support systems that facilitate faculty and staff members in managing their home lives and in fulfilling their professional potential. And as a university, Ohio State has a responsibility to our students and to the people of Ohio to ensure that our faculty and staff have the support they need to do great things in classrooms, labs, studios, and offices across all of our campuses.
These are not issues that affect only women, and I'm not talking just about childcare. These are quality-of-life issues that encompass eldercare and dependent care, schedule flexibility, domestic partner benefits, parental leave, and professional development.
We've completed surveys on work environment and work-life quality for staff and faculty, and, through the G-QUE study, have similar data for graduate associates. The data show a strong correlation between a supportive environment and the level of commitment to Ohio State. The data also show that we have a number of gaps to address, and now, it's time to take action. We will put out a draft action plan on work-life issues later this quarter, and a central element of that proposal will be university-provided parental leave. A program has already been approved that will allow faculty or staff who need additional paid leave because of a catastrophic medical or family situation, or for childbirth or adoption, to receive donated vacation leave from other faculty or staff in the same college or unit. The details will be distributed soon.
The data from the faculty survey and reports from faculty leaders tell us that we must do a better job of supporting professional development. Past efforts have not received widespread support. I am convinced that top-down plans will not work and that any effective plan must originate with our faculty. Therefore I will be asking a faculty member to put together a committee of colleagues from across the university to develop recommendations for improved professional development.
We also remain focused on the needs of our graduate associates identified in the G-QUE study. Graduate associates are part of the compensation initiative and the work/life action plan, and we will continue to work with the Council of Graduate Students on these matters and on increasing our subsidy of their health insurance.
I am committed to push forward with policies and initiatives that will make a difference for faculty, staff and graduate associates and that will work for the university. We can be a leader in work-life practices, and by doing so, gain a significant advantage in recruiting and retaining faculty and staff.
Our efforts in this area - and all of our university initiatives - ultimately must spring from and support the Academic Plan.
In the months ahead, we will undoubtedly continue to deal with limited state funding. The particular issue this year is the proposed repeal of the temporary additional one cent sales tax, which was critical in balancing the state's budget. Last year, we fought several legislative proposals that would have severely affected Ohio State. Faculty members and students testified on our behalf; government affairs staff members, led by Vice President Ellyn Perrone, worked around the clock; and President Holbrook personally appealed to legislators.
They were supported by faculty, led by Professor Dick Gunther; students, led by the three student government organizations; staff, through the University Staff Advisory Committee; trustees, and alumni advocates. In my 16 years as a faculty member here, I have never seen such an effective advocacy effort across all parts of the university community. It shows what we can do when we truly work together to serve the best interests of our university.
This is an exciting time to be at Ohio State. The caliber of our faculty, a growing research portfolio, the quality of our students, a committed staff, and dynamic college leaders create an unprecedented opportunity for Ohio State to become one of the nation's premier public universities. The new leadership agenda maps out a clear path to excellence that builds on our strengths, enhances our national reputation, and provides our students and our state with the benefits of a truly great institution.
I am continually impressed with the spirit of collaboration that is so evident in my work with deans and other administrators, faculty, staff and students. I am truly honored to work with you at this important time to accomplish our goals and keep our momentum strong. Thank you.
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