9/9/96

Contact: Carol E. Kellett, Ohio University, 614/593-9755

ATHENS, Ohio -- A California-based specialist in urban community affairs will be on the Athens campus this year learning about higher education leadership and rural economic issues as Ohio University hosts its first American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow.

Under the national higher education mentoring program, Carol E. Kellett, professor of family and consumer sciences at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), will observe and participate in administrative decision-making as a high-profile "intern" in the Office of the President.

President Robert Glidden will serve as Kellett's mentor during the program. Kellett also will work closely with Provost Sharon S. Brehm. She is one of approximately 30 ACE fellows in the country.

Glidden mentored ACE fellows while he was provost at Florida State University, and was asked to serve as a mentor at Ohio University.

Among Kellett's duties will be working on implementation of recommendations from eight policy committees Glidden appointed in the spring of 1995 to study various elements of the university. After putting recommendations into place that require spending little or no money, Kellett will work with the committees to develop priorities and cost analyses for recommendations that require more significant budget allocations. Kellett's duties also will revolve around community partnerships and economic development.

"I believe strongly in the ACE Fellows Program because it identifies persons of outstanding potential for college/university leadership and gives them a range of experiences and training in a very intensive year," Glidden said. "I regard it as my responsibility and for institutions like Ohio University to offer what we can for the good of higher education in the nation, and this is certainly one way we can do that. The program requires that we assign duties that will provide needed service for the institution and learning opportunities for the individual. I'm very pleased to have a person of Carol Kellett's experience and capabilities at Ohio University for this program."

Kellett has been director of the Urban Families Initiative at CSULB since 1992, overseeing the university/community partnership to meet the needs of low-income immigrant families in ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Before taking the position as director, Kellett chaired the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at the university from 1988 to 1992.

Under the fellowship, CSULB pays Kellett's salary for one year, and she is expected to return to her home institution for at least one year after completion of the program. She will be at Ohio University through June commencement. The host institution's responsibility is to provide the ACE fellow with office space near his/her mentor and to provide some travel funds, Glidden said.

Kellett initially sought a more urban setting for her fellowship, but selected Ohio University after meeting Glidden.

"Though I originally preferred an urban campus, I've found this campus actually faces many of the same issues as a university in an urban area," Kellett said. "In a period of welfare reform, it will be fascinating to be at an institution operating and forming community partnerships in a region facing rural poverty issues."

Kellett said the fellowship will enhance her leadership and management skills in developing and implementing budget plans reflecting strategic priorities; providing faculty and staff incentives and rewards; conducting developmental program evaluations; and coordinating academic affairs and student services activities.

"I'm particularly interested in studying and observing ways in which public policy can influence and be influenced by a campus administrator," she said.

Kellett served on the Central Missouri State home economics faculty for 10 years, and was department chair from 1983 to 1987. Kellett earned her Ph.D. and master's degrees in home economics education from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and her bachelor's degree in home economics from Kansas State University.

The fellowship program, in place since 1965, helps institutions identify and train faculty and staff who have demonstrated the potential to become effective administrators, and provides opportunities for systematic observation and experience in college and university decision-making. The program is the only professional development program in higher education at the national level to provide on-the-job learning for an extended period.