Chairman Celeste, members of the subcommittee, good afternoon. I am Rod McDavis, president of Ohio University and chairman of the Inter-University Council of Ohio.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of Governor Strickland’s proposed budget for higher education.

On behalf of all of the presidents of Ohio’s four-year public universities, let me publicly thank Governor Strickland and the members of the Ohio General Assembly for their unprecedented support of higher education in the last two years. We know how difficult it is to achieve this level of support in very tough budget times. And we want you to know that we are committed to continuing our strong partnership with state leaders as we all work to move Ohio’s economy forward.

We are equally committed to doing the hard work necessary on our individual campuses to utilize our resources wisely, to improve our efficiency and, most importantly, to educate our students and prepare them for the jobs of the future. We know that we are shaping the next generation of leaders, of entrepreneurs, and of researchers who are focused on the next medical breakthrough, the solutions that will lead to energy independence and the inventions of the future.

We do this in partnership with Chancellor Eric Fingerhut, who has put in motion an aggressive 10-year strategic plan aimed at increasing educational attainment and improving Ohio’s economic leadership.

At Ohio University, we have aligned “Vision Ohio” – our institution’s strategic plan – with the chancellor’s goals. I’d like to provide you with a few examples from the 2008-2009 academic year:

• In one year, we have increased our retention rate one and a half percentage points to 80 percent and increased the A.C.T. composite score one-tenth of a point to 23.7.
• Now, more than half of first-year students on the Athens campus are engaged in a learning community – a strategy that we know provides students with a valuable support mechanism early in their college careers.
• The multicultural diversity of our incoming students has increased and the international diversity of our undergraduate student body nearly doubled from the previous year.
• In fiscal year 2008, we reported our highest royalty income to date – $5.9 million.
• Forbes magazine recently ranked Ohio University fourth in the country for the amount of license revenue generated in relation to our research funding.
• The Technology Transfer Office at Ohio University more than doubled its number of patent applications, from 15 in fiscal year 2007 to 32 in fiscal year 2008.
• According to a new study by the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, our small business incubator – the Innovation Center – contributed $15 million in labor income and 386 jobs to the region in 2007.This represents the biggest economic impact to date. And half of the start-ups stemmed from Ohio University research.
• Since July 2008, we have raised $16.4 million toward our $20 million fiscal year goal. Those private funds will support important initiatives critical to our mission of access and excellence, including an international center, the Appalachian Scholars Program, a Chair in the College of Business, the MET Diabetes Research Institute, the Academic and Research Center, and the Ralph and Lucy Schey Sales Centre.
• Finally Mr. Chairman, the number of Ohio University students receiving nationally competitive awards soared, taking last year's total of 50 to 75 – a record for our university. Those awards include the only Marshall Scholar in the state of Ohio, 13 Fulbright awards, and three Goldwater Scholarships.

Similar initiatives are underway at campuses throughout our state. And student success can be reported by each and every one of my colleagues.

We understand that what faculty, students and staff have been able to achieve together is possible because of the unprecedented state support we have received. But we also know that this support comes at a time when public sector agencies and private businesses throughout our state are struggling.

As public higher education institutions, we must be accountable to the public trust; doing so means that we must make similar, difficult decisions as those of our colleagues in the private and public sectors all with an eye toward ensuring quality, access and affordability in higher education.

We have taken seriously the mandate of House Bill 119 to achieve efficiencies of one percent and three percent in fiscal years 2008 and 2009, and we will again rise to the challenge proposed in this budget to achieve a three percent efficiency mark each year.

At Ohio University, we are instituting efficiencies through shared services and by reorganizing both academic and non-academic units. Unfortunately, as I announced last week, we also must seek a reduction in our workforce in order to balance our budget. We know that such shared sacrifice is necessary if we are to achieve an improved economy and future prosperity.

Governor Strickland has called on our institutions to be innovative in our approach to preparing the youth of today to "succeed in the modern economy" and in "modern life."

We are asserting our priorities to support that very vision. It will mean making tough choices but we must address our current realities in a straight forward manner. Higher education must do all it can to be part of the solution for the future of our state. I am here to commit to you today that we will.