Provost Office Projects & Initiatives

Provost Sayrs and Dr. Bill Burke, dean of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine at Dublin, are working with the OHIO deans to better understand and align the needs of prospective students, employers, and community partners in the region. They are meeting with local representatives in the business, education, health, and technology sectors to discuss how OHIO’s educational offerings can best meet their needs.  

The Provost’s Office is partnering with Faculty Senate to analyze and benchmark OHIO faculty salaries. Associate Provost of Budgeting and Planning John Day and Faculty Senate Professional Relations Committee Chair Aaron White are co-chairing the group, which will present its findings in May 2023. 

The abrupt shift to online learning in spring 2020 and continued COVID-related disruptions have affected all levels of education. Decreased third-grade reading attainment, increased absenteeism in grades 8 to 12, the cumulative impact of stress and isolation, and other pandemic-related trends have the potential to affect student learning at the university level for years to come. At the same time, students who continue to a college education already have shown significant motivation and persistence.  The Pandemic Effects Working Group is identifying priorities and developing strategies to address the impacts of the pandemic on student achievement, which may include new approaches to innovative pedagogy, curricula, K–12 and community partnerships, and support services.   

OHIO has a deep commitment to experiential learning and a long history of engaging the region as a learning laboratory and connecting students and community members in mutually beneficial ways. Faculty and staff from several colleges and administrative units have come together to expand educational offerings and partnerships that help students move along a continuum from knowledge of place/cognitive engagement to supporting place/civic engagement and from caring about place to caring for place.