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Board of Trustees Establishes New Center for Information Technology Education
Contact: Leesa Brown and Mary Alice Casey at (740) 593-1043 (office) or (740) 290-3329 (pager)
ATHENS, Ohio (September 29, 2000) -- The Ohio University Board of Trustees today approved a new Center for Information Technology Education that is intended to better serve students entering information technology fields and foster a rich environment for related research.
The center, which will involve the colleges of Business, Communication and Engineering and Technology, will help establish the university as a leader in educating Ohio's information technology workforce, Vice President for Research John Bantle said. Among its benefits will be collaborative approaches to student recruitment and advising, grant writing, curriculum development and cultivating new corporate partnerships.
"This center is an exciting development in our continuing work to stay on the leading edge of technology in education," said Board of Trustees Chair Patricia Ackerman. "The integration of these departments will allow them to work together in new ways and for reasons that will be attractive to businesses and potential funding sources."
The collaboration involves four university programs in high demand in today's technology-driven market: Communications Systems Management; Computer Science and Electrical Engineering; Management Information Systems; and Manufacturing Information Technology. About 250 students graduate in these areas annually. While the departments will remain separate entities, they will work together to make it easier for students to take classes offered by other programs participating in the center, said Associate Provost for Information Technology Doug Mann. This will help students to experience fewer class closeouts and ultimately graduate on time.
"These are very popular programs. Their curriculums complement each other, not compete," Mann said. "There are many advantages to providing a united front in terms of recruiting students into information technology at a single point and advising them effectively."
A full-time coordinator will be hired for the center, which will have a first-year budget of $67,000.
In other matters, the board:
- Voted to name the terminal at the Ohio University airport the C. David Snyder Terminal and the runway Snyder Field. Snyder, a Cleveland businessman and Ohio University trustee and College of Business graduate, is donating about half of the $1.5 million necessary to design and construct the terminal. The new 7,000-square-foot terminal is about two and a half times larger than the existing structure and will be able to house current staff and services as well as new features such as a commuter airline and rental car counters, baggage area and passenger waiting area. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring and should take about a year. The project coincides with an extension of the airport runway from 4,200 feet to 5,600 feet.
- Approved plans for improvements to Peden Stadium. Work on the $2.3 million project will begin immediately after the Nov. 18 game against Marshall University. The project, which is being funded with private support, will update the field built in 1929. The field will be lowered, 2,000 seats will be added, the drainage system will be upgraded and an irrigation system will be added. A mounded area to the south of the field will be created for lawn seating.
- Voted to hire an architectural consultant to develop plans for a Science Lecture Hall and Smart Classroom Facility northeast of the intersection of Richland Avenue and South Green Drive. The building will contain state of-the-art lecture halls with an 800-person capacity. A significant portion of the estimated $10 million cost has already been donated privately. The hall will include additional spaces to be used by the Faculty Senate, Student Senate, Classified Senate, Administrative Senate and the Board of Trustees.
- Authorized the advertising of bids for $2.8 million in renovation work on Johnson Hall. In addition to mechanical renovations, such as a full electrical and plumbing upgrade and the addition of air conditioning, space will be modified for academic programs and door locks using card technology will be installed.
- Voted to name the Southern Campus' Technical Center after retiring Dean Bill Dingus.
- Approved hiring architectural consultants to develop a master plan for the Lancaster Campus and to complete improvements to Brasee Hall .
- Following a periodic review of its centers and institutes, voted to continue the Center for Corrosion in Multi-Phase System Research, the Child Development Center and the Telecommunications Center and extend the review period for the Avionics Engineering Research Center, the Center for Advanced Software Systems Integration, the Institute for Applied and Professional Ethics, the Edison Biotechnology Institute and the Tropical and Geographical Disease Institute.
- Accepted the University Curriculum Council's review of the School of Journalism and School of Interpersonal Communication.
- Heard a presentation from University Judiciaries officials on 1999-2000 cases and a continuation of a policy to notify the parents of first-year students under age 21 who violate university rules regarding alcohol and other drugs. The pilot policy was implemented in 1999-2000, and a reduction in infractions was experienced. The number of alcohol- and drug-related cases involving first-year students fell 36 percent in fall and winter quarters, compared to the same period in 1998-99, and only eight of 124 cases involved repeat offenders.
- Received a report from the Center for Student Advocacy on its first three years of operation. About 1,000 students use the center's educational and legal consultation services each year. Most issues deal with off-campus housing. The center also focuses on the increased use of mediation to resolve problems outside of court.
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