First Vision OHIO Convocation
Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2006; Margaret M. Walter Hall Rotunda
Our Challenges | Our Values | Our Goals | Our Future
Thank you Provost Krendl! Good morning! I also would like to extend my welcome to members of the Ohio University Board of Trustees, faculty and student award recipients, and all the members of our University community.
This first Vision OHIO convocation marks a milestone in our University's history. Today, we honor the achievements of students and faculty members. We also look to the future of Ohio University. Nearly 20 years ago, the Third Century of Ohio University was the focus of a colloquium led by President Emeritus Charles Ping. The report from that 1987 colloquium stated that, "Those who would shape the Third Century of Ohio University hold a trust from the past for the future...Born of a revolutionary understanding of government and the role of education in society...the University owes its life to the conviction that education is '...necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind.' " Those words were a prophecy of our future – our Third Century.
Approximately a year and a half ago, I accepted the role as president of Ohio University. In my inaugural address, I challenged our community to create a new vision for our University and to pursue four goals – to enhance our national prominence, diversify our campus, increase research, and expand partnerships.
Under the leadership of Provost Krendl, we have focused on those four goals that will further improve the quality of education we provide. Those goals also will further enhance the quantity and quality of our scholarly discovery that will result in the enhancement of our national prominence.
Before I expand on the importance of Vision OHIO, I want to extend my thanks to Provost Krendl, the members of the Presidential Task Force on the Future of Ohio University, the advisory committees, and all of those who participated in the Vision OHIO forums. I am grateful to you for the time you devoted to creating a thoughtful strategic plan that serves as the roadmap for our future success and lasting endurance as a nationally prominent university.
Our Challenges
As the colloquium report on the Third Century stated, "Those who would shape the Third Century of Ohio University hold a trust from the past for the future," we have a great responsibility to our past and our future. The present challenges we face require us to change and advance our university to a new level as we embrace and hold true to our founding mission.
For the past 15 years, we have experienced a decline in the level of support from the state for higher education, and future state funding continues to look bleak. Our tuition and fees have increased significantly during this same period, placing us at a disadvantage with competing institutions.
The number of students graduating from Ohio high schools is peaking and the percentage of their attendance at college remains low compared to national rates. We also have a strong internal need to design programs with measurable goals, institute a new level of accountability, and allocate our investments and resources more strategically.
As members of the University community, we solely hold the responsibility to strategically position Ohio University as a nationally prominent university. We must make wise and selective decisions that maximize our resources efficiently and effectively. The challenge is how to align our goals and our strengths to overcome the internal and external factors that we can not control. The answer is a university-wide strategic plan – Vision OHIO.
Our Values
As Provost Krendl earlier explained, Vision OHIO is not words on paper that will sit on a shelf and gather dust. Vision OHIO is a living document. The success of its implementation hinges on the participation of each member of our university community from students, faculty, and staff to our alumni and constituents. Our history, pride, and unique setting are the characteristics that distinguish us among all other institutions.
At our core, we value our ability to provide a strong undergraduate education with a liberal arts core. We also value our strong graduate and professional programs. Our students' successes best illustrate that commitment. For example, undergraduate and graduate students in our well-respected School of Visual Communication recently received national accolades at the 60th annual College Photographer of the Year competition at the University of Missouri. Winning 20 awards, our students earned more awards than any other institution in this international competition. We were the only university in the State of Ohio to win any awards.
Our Sports Administration program has been recognized as a national leader in the study of sports administration since its inception as the first such program in 1966. In fact, last year's Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal listed the program as one of "five to watch," describing it as the "granddaddy of them all" and "the cradle of college athletic directors."
We value the spirit of discovery through research, scholarship, and creative activity. The Student Research and Creative Activity Fair is just one example of how Ohio University supports that commitment. Last May, more than 270 undergraduate, graduate, and medical students as well as post-doctoral fellows participated in the fourth annual fair. Sixty-three students were honored for their imagination and ingenuity in the creation of projects that ranged from innovative theater set design to a hydrogen storage tank for the next generation of automobiles.
We value the belief that the learning experience is enhanced by the community of students, faculty, and staff who come from diverse backgrounds. The active engagement among our faculty, staff, students, and alumni enhances the educational experience. This year, more than 130 faculty and staff members assisted the record 29 Ohio University students who have applied for the 2006-07 U.S. Student Fulbright Program grants. That is quite a commitment and a true illustration of how our community is invested in the success of Ohio University students.
We value the learning that extends beyond our classrooms to create a total educational experience. The increasing popularity of our athletics programs is creating academic and professional opportunities for our students. This past fall, one Ohio University journalism student was selected by ESPNU to be a featured correspondent for the Ohio football game against Miami.
We value all members of the university community. Shared governance is an example of how that conviction is put into practice. Through shared governance, input from all constituent groups play a vital role in the central administration's decision-making process.
Ohio University's core values and purpose have not and will not change. Our reality is that we live in an ever-changing complex, global society. We must change our operating practices and implement new methods, strategies, tactics, and processes to respond to our changing reality. Implementing a strategic plan for our University is essential to ensuring our future.
Our Goals
Jim Collins, the author of "Good to Great," one of my favorite business leadership books, wrote, "Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline."
Nationally, Ohio University is a good university. But with today's competition, good is synonymous with average. It is time for us to make the conscious choice to become a great university. We must discipline ourselves by selectively investing our time and resources in the initiatives that will advance our mission.
We will enhance our prominence as a national research university and engage our students, faculty, and staff to transform aspirations into achievements. The University Research Priorities Process is spearheading our attempts to unravel the greatest mysteries of our cosmos, develop alternative fuel resources, and improve public health.
In order to provide greater support of our collaborative research efforts, we also must provide the necessary facilities to support this level of discovery. With the approval of the Board of Trustees, Ohio University has begun developing planning documents for the Integrated Learning and Research Facility. This modern, approximately 100,000-square-foot facility will strengthen and advance the university's research, research education, and training capacity. Projected to open in early 2009, this facility will bring together research activities in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering and Technology, the College of Health and Human Services, and the College of Arts and Sciences.
The true beneficiary of the work to be performed in the Integrated Learning and Research Facility will be the citizens of southeastern Ohio, who will be the recipients of enhanced diagnostics, improved and efficacious treatments, and cures. In addition to significant health-care outcomes, the facility and associated research projects will provide invaluable research and research training opportunities for medical as well as undergraduate and graduate students.
We will become a welcoming, globally aware community with a diverse population of students, faculty, and staff. Diversity in all of its forms serves to enrich the experiences of our students, faculty, and staff. A climate that represents and embraces different cultures enhances our ability to provide Ohio University students with the experiences necessary to successfully compete and achieve in an increasingly diverse and complex society. There is no better way to learn about the world than to create an environment in which students of diverse backgrounds – and indeed, students from all over the world – study, live, learn, and socialize together.
This fall, our first-year class made history. Not only was it our largest class in the history of Ohio University, but it also comprised our largest groups of multicultural students in the last 20 years. We also welcomed our first class of 13 Urban Scholars. Modeled after the successful Urban Scholars Program, we created a similar program for students in our region – the Appalachian Scholars Program – which is available on all six of our campuses.
The Appalachian Scholars Program is a need-based scholarship program that actively seeks high school students from Appalachia Ohio to come to Ohio University. Students from the designated counties are eligible for the program, which provides scholarship support to those who demonstrate enthusiasm, motivation to succeed, academic achievement, and financial need.
The Appalachian Scholarship Program builds on Ohio University's commitment to create greater access to educational opportunities for students! This new scholarship program also will stand as another great example of Ohio University's commitment to diversity!
Our continuing commitment to fostering a welcoming environment for all makes diversity both Ohio University's legacy and our future.
Our commitment to our region is underscored by our ability to enhance economic development, to increase access to health care and educational opportunities, and to actively engage members of the Ohio University community to be part of the solution to the challenges in our region. While our primary goal is providing an exceptional educational experience for our students, we will expand our collaborative partnerships to spur regional economic growth and to leverage ideas, expertise, and resources.
Ohio University's Innovation Center, which is one of the oldest university-based incubators in the nation, is one example of how we are working to strengthen the economic foundation of our region. According to a recent study, businesses in the Innovation Center created 211 jobs and generated $7.6 million dollars in labor income in Athens County in 2004. When employees of Innovation Center businesses spent their wages, they contributed another $1.5 million dollars to the local economy.
Some of our students also are doing their part to assist our region. Last year, while working with the Voinovich Center for Leadership and Public Affairs, Ohio University Master of Business Administration students helped local businesses secure more than $20 million in loans, $30 million in new government contracts, and nearly $1.5 million from individual investors. Starting this year, all students in the M.B.A. program will conduct project-related work at the Voinovich Center as part of their 15-month academic curriculum. Fifty M.B.A. students will work with more than 700 regional businesses in the 2005–06 academic year. Students will develop and amend business plans, provide financial assistance, offer counsel and advice, and incorporate technology into business operations.
Beyond growth in economic development, Ohio University is committed to providing for the health and care of the citizens in our region. Our ability to achieve that mission is thanks in large part to the College of Osteopathic Medicine, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary.
OUCOM's impact on the nature and quality of medical care in Appalachia was recognized by Ohio Magazine in its November issue. The magazine named OUCOM faculty and staff "Ohio Heroes" for the support they provide to the college's community service programs. The health of our citizens in the region, state, and beyond are an integral part of our mission.
One of the most important goals of Vision OHIO is to align resources with institutional goals. We will implement a new budget and planning process that takes a careful university-wide view at how to generate new revenue streams. This process will reward productivity and effective stewardship of resources to define, measure, and support quality. This process will manage existing resources more effectively and pursue opportunities that will generate additional revenue sources consistent with the goals of Vision OHIO. A three-year transition period has been identified as the target date for launching a new budget and planning system.
Our Future
Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "The future is literally in our hands to mold as we like. But we cannot wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow is now." What will the Ohio University of the future look like?
In many ways, the new Ohio University will be a return to its original mission identified in its 1804 statutory charge. For more than 200 years, Ohio University has been a pioneering institution of higher learning, providing an exceptional and distinctive educational experience.
The charge focused on advancing knowledge on the frontier and serving as the center of culture and learning for the Northwest Territory. But in the 21st century, knowledge is no longer a fixed body of information or a static set of scholarly skills, and the frontier is not defined by geographic boundaries. In setting the institutional goals of Vision OHIO and implementing the strategies and processes necessary to do so, Ohio University will build on its reputation as Ohio's first and finest and secure its central role in determining Ohio's Future.
Our future is developing a supportive, learning-centered research university which encourages all academic and academic support units to work individually and collaboratively to achieve Vision OHIO.
Our future is a nurturing, engaging environment that supports and encourages all members of our university community to be part of the solution to the challenges in our region, state, and nation concerning issues such as pre-k through 12 education, economic development, and health issues.
Our future is establishing a common intellectual experience for our first-year students; providing more opportunities for personal growth and academic development beyond the classroom; and weaving a strong sense of personal and civic responsibility among our students.
Our future is supporting high-quality, distinctive graduate education programs that serve the needs of our region and state; developing programs and policies that prepare graduate students for their careers; and investing selectively in graduate education and research in the areas of health and wellness, new technologies, energy and the environment, and social, economic and cultural development.
Our future is growing scholarly and creative activity and research that leads to increased sponsored research and improves the national prominence of Ohio University.
Our future is recruiting, supporting, developing, and retaining exceptional faculty and staff, and academically talented undergraduate and graduate students; providing support to departments, faculty, and staff to increasingly develop nationally prominent teachers, scholars, and researchers; creating an office of faculty and staff development that coordinates all professional growth activities; and establishing recruitment and hiring practices that lead to an increasingly diverse and inclusive academic community.
Our future is implementing a budget allocation process with a metric driven accountability system; employing strategies for enrollment management, operational efficiencies, and endowment development; and establishing an information technology infrastructure and a system to evaluate contributions of academic support units in accomplishing Vision OHIO.
Our future is supporting programs that encourage faculty, staff, students, and alumni to apply for nationally competitive awards, honors, and memberships to prestigious academies and societies; developing strategies to enhance our sponsored cultural events and competitive athletic programs that marry excellence on the field or court with excellence in the classroom; and creating strategies for communicating and marketing the people and resources that enhance the national recognition of Ohio University.
Our future is daily realizing our two-century record of excellence through the dedicated commitment and outstanding achievements of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni!
I leave you with a quote from Dr. Benjamin Mays, a former president of Morehouse College, who I first quoted in my inaugural address. He once said: "It must be borne in mind that the tragedy in life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideal, but it is a disaster to have no ideal to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin."
Our ideal is greatness! It now is up to us to reach for the highest star!
Thank you!
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