Ohio University will keep its requirement that freshman and sophomore students attending the Athens campus spend their first two years in a residence hall, despite the finding that some of those buildings will need upgrades over the next dozen years, President Robert Glidden told trustees today.

Residence halls on the campus' New South Green have housed around 1,700 students for over 30 years and are ready for repair or replacement, Glidden said, which will mean additional capital expenditures. However, a committee of campus and community members, which this week submitted to Glidden a preliminary study of the issue, said that the mandatory residency requirement, or "parietal rule," is vital to students' academic and social experience.

Students living on campus have more time to study, feel safer and have greater opportunities for collaborative, social and active learning experiences than do those living off campus, the committee reported. Students living on campus are more likely to develop diverse friendships and interact with a wide range of students and overwhelmingly report being satisfied with the quality of their experience.

"Ohio University is a learning community," Glidden said. "The historic campus setting in Athens, our emphasis on a multi-faceted experience and the family atmosphere are a major part of what makes this university distinctive."

University officials will next conduct an "intensive and thorough" review of the campus' capital plan to allow for the timely completion of key academic and service facilities that are critical to the university's mission.

In other business, trustees approved a 3 percent raise for Glidden, who is completing his eighth year as president. Glidden's new salary will be $271,000.

Trustees also approved the following:

• changing the Board of Trustees by-laws to create a standing Investment committee, and adding audit oversight to the Budget, Finance, and Physical Plant Committee were approved. The new investment committee will review, monitor and help pick advisers and managers for all university investments, including the endowment and other categories.

• hiring a consultant to oversee planning and renovation of the proposed behavioral and health care center to serve the Appalachian region. The project, which is contingent upon financial support from the Ohio Department of Mental Health, would integrate regional and state services with the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine and the colleges of Health and Human Services, Arts and Sciences, and Fine Arts.

• hiring an associate architect to oversee expansion of the Avionics Engineering research facility. The proposed facility, which will be located at the Ohio University Airport in Albany, will be about 10,000 square feet and will cost between $1.4 to $2 million.

• selecting the Athens firm of Reiser, Valentour and Callahan Architects, Inc., to manage construction of the university's Innovation Center. Located on West State Street in Athens, the 32,000-square-foot facility will house a mixed-use business incubator, including space for a biotechnology laboratory, light manufacturing, and general office space. The project will cost over $5.7 million and will be funded through federal grants from the Economic Development Administration ($1,422,588), Housing and Urban Development ($400,00), the Appalachian Regional Commission ($1 million) and university-generated revenue.

• adding a master's degree program in nursing--the first in the region--and a certificate in health services administration.

• changing the name of the School of Comparative Arts to the School of Interdisciplinary Arts.

• appointing two new members to the Coordinating Council of the Regional Campus of Ohio University-Southern -- James A. Payne, superintendent of the Dawson-Bryant Local Schools, and Jodi Rowe-Collins, Vice President of Operations/Secretary to the Board of the Ohio River Bank in Ironton.

• electing Cincinnati resident Gordon F. Brunner, retired senior vice president for research at Procter & Gamble, as Board chairman for the upcoming fiscal year.

• promotions or tenure for 37 faculty.

• compensation for the university's executive officers (see related Web page).