10/17/97

ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University trustees Friday were told that a consulting firm hired to assess current and future housing needs for the campus is expected to prepare a presentation for the board in February, with an action plan for the board to consider at its April meeting.

The consultant, Ira Fink and Associates of Berkeley, Calif., has an extensive list of prior university clients, according to Vice President Gary North. The consultant will be addressing such questions as what types of housing are in demand, if housing is renovated or new housing constructed, how will the housing be financed and what effects will this have on rental rates, and what combination of financing, operations, management and organizational alternatives will best meet the university';s housing needs now and in the future.

In other action, trustees:

* Approved a reorganization of the College of Education into the departments of Counseling and Higher Education, Educational Studies and Teacher Education. "Such organizations will facilitate the college's efforts to strengthen its effectiveness in all aspects of its mission: teaching, research and public service," said Provost Sharon S. Brehm.

* Approved a name change for the Institute of the College of Health and Human Services to the Institute for Health and Human Services. The institute collaborates with faculty and staff within the college and in other university departments and colleges to address academic, research and community service programs.

* Recommended continued support for the Center for Intelligent Chemical Instrumentation in the College of Arts and Sciences and the newly renamed Institute for Health and Human Services in the College of Health and Human Services.

* Approved the creation of the Ohio University--Tsinghua University Institute for Genetics and Biotechnology, a scientific collaboration between the two universities to study genetics and biotechnology and provide for commercialization of the collaborator's results.

* Reauthorized a 25-year lease of 33 acres of Ohio University-Zanesville Campus land to the Muskingum Area Technical College.