1/24/97

ATHENS, Ohio -- Twenty-seven Ohio University faculty, students and alumni will participate in the Pew Higher Education Roundtable Feb. 18-19 and April 6-7 on the Athens campus.

Sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and based at the University of Pennsylvania's Institute for Research on Higher Education, the Roundtable provides an opportunity for colleges and universities to identify major issues and consider effective ways to address them. Some 150 colleges and universities across the country have participated since the Roundtable was founded in 1988.

The aim of the Roundtable is to foster a dialogue among different groups on campus in order to strengthen communication, cooperation and a sense of community.

Pew Roundtable Program Director Ann Duffield will come to campus and encourage discussions on specific issues pertinent to Ohio University and help the group reach a consensus. Taking up the theme emphasized by President Robert Glidden in his State of the University Address, "Developing A Shared Vision" will be the topic of the Roundtable.

"It's an honor for Ohio University to be invited to participate," Glidden said. "But more than that, it's an opportunity for us to engage in wide-ranging discussions about our future with the help of experts who have been engaged in this kind of activity with other excellent universities around the country. We will benefit from the discussion, and we can learn from the experience our Pew collaborators have had with others."