Our 2026 Commitment: Balancing Strategy, Innovation and Efficiency

The following message was shared with Ohio University faculty and staff on Jan. 15, 2026.

Dear OHIO Colleagues,

As we launch into the spring semester, we’re spending time at the leadership table talking about achieving balance: pursuing bold innovation while staying grounded in our institutional mission and vision, and continuing investment in our Dynamic Strategy while also taking necessary steps to respond to our fiscal realities.

Several weeks ago, I shared with you some insight into our financial picture as well as the planning work that our leadership team was undertaking to ensure we can achieve a balanced budget and create sustained revenue margin to use for innovation over the next several years. This spring, we will move forward on cost containment measures for fiscal year 2027 while simultaneously continuing to invest in initiatives that advance our Dynamic Strategy.  

With that in mind, know that this spring is going to be busy, and you might find yourselves feeling a little bit of tension as we work to achieve balance between strategic innovation and necessary efficiency.

Investing in our Strategy

As we move our Dynamic Strategy forward, we are continuing to invest in progress:

• We are in the second year of our planned three-year investment in student awards that will open the door to experiential learning opportunities, from internships to research to study abroad and more.
• Last fall, we added 12 new tenure track faculty members as part of our investment in our LEARN and DISCOVER pillars, and we are building on that initiative to add another six new positions in fall of 2026.
• Later this week, we will announce a significant expansion of one of our external healthcare partnerships and our Board of Trustees will consider a proposal to establish an Academic Health Sciences Center, further bolstering our strength in health education and research.

These are just a few examples of the continued work on our Dynamic Strategy.

Meeting our Financial Realities

Even as we invest, we will find ways to contain costs.

In the fall, we asked all division leaders to consider ways to reduce their annual spending authorization, and we will implement many of those strategies this spring to reduce our use of reserves to support operations in FY27. To be clear, some divisions will see reductions in their annual spending authorization for FY27 even as we invest in another year of employee raises and the third year of the freeze in benefits costs for our employees. Divisions will adjust through a mix of new revenue generation and operational changes.

This exercise will demand that we stop activities or initiatives that have less benefit than others, rethink the way we approach our work and regularly remind ourselves of our mission, vision and strategy to help us prioritize.

Finding the Balance

These activities, happening in parallel, can feel dissonate. But in truth, they are very much aligned. We are not waiting to invest until we find the margin to do so, but rather balancing investment and divestment, all while keeping our mission, vision and values in focus.

This work is challenging, especially as we also continue to respond to the shifting landscape of higher education. As we navigate our way through, know that my leadership team and I remain ever committed to holding the door open to an academically excellent education rich with experiences that change lives and build futures.

Together, I know we’ll continue to deliver on that promise.

Forever forward, 

Dr. Lori Stewart Gonzalez
President