Board of Trustees agenda for March 22-23 meetings released, University highlights key topics for discussion, consideration

The Ohio University Board of Trustees will convene March 22-23 for meetings on the Athens Campus.

Key agenda items, efforts, and initiatives that OHIO’s Board and senior leadership will discuss include:

Financial update and fee approvals

When: Joint Committee, March 22

Ohio University Vice President for Finance and Administration Deborah Shaffer will provide a financial update, including the FY18 forecast, FY19 budget planning and tuition and fee approvals.

The discussion is expected to include University planning assumptions, processes and timelines to inform the request for approval of Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine tuition and fees, off-campus and eLearning graduate tuition and fees, broad-based and course fees and an undergraduate non-resident fee waiver.

The administration also anticipates bringing the final Regional Higher Education rate structure, including The OHIO Guarantee, to the March meeting for approval.

Career and Experiential Learning Fee update

When: Joint Committee, March 22

An update on the proposed Career and Experiential Fee, which has been discussed in open forums and in meetings with academic leadership, regional higher education leadership, the President’s Council and the Budget Planning Council since its approval by the Board in January 2018, is also planned.

The Career and Experiential Learning Fee will support programs and resources to provide a seamless, coordinated approach to career services across the institution, assure OHIO undergraduates receive individual, customized career services and expand access to experiential learning activities for all Athens and regional campus undergraduate students.

Athens Campus undergraduate and graduate students already have access to all services and resources from the centralized Career and Leadership Development Center. The Career and Experiential Learning Fee will allow a significant enhancement of those services and increase access for students who were not previously fully served across all campuses.

The program allows for collaborative, shared costs and a shared supervision model of an additional eight career development experts on the Athens Campus.

Park Place Planning Strategy update

When: Joint Committee, March 22

Administrators will share preliminary Park Place Planning draft ideas with the Board of Trustees for their feedback.

The Park Place Planning Strategy is a University-led planning process with a charge of identifying the highest and best use of space along the Park Place and South Court Street Corridor.

Over the past year, the work group, with representation from the city, student, faculty and administrative bodies has engaged in a process with community members, faculty, staff and students to gather and analyze interior and exterior programmatic needs and ideas.

Based on the feedback the working group received, a series of principles were developed to guide future improvements. They include: improving the basics, allowing for convergence and connections, creating places and spaces shared by the community and fostering engagement and service.

The working group, whose work temporarily paused during the presidential transition and resumed a few months ago, also reviewed strategies for small houses around College Green and recommended making investments in them to protect the history of the University and Athens, as well as provide space to support future programmatic needs.

Initial recommendations from the Planning Strategy are anticipated to include repurposing 29 Park Place and requesting approval for design through construction for the 29 Park Place and Konneker Alumni House.

Housing Development Plan update

When: Joint Committee, March 22

Vice President for Student Affairs Jason Pina will present a Housing Development Plan update to the Board. The Department of Housing and Residence Life has spent several months updating the assumptions and feasibility of the plan, which was approved by the Board in 2011.

The presentation will include a history of the work that has taken place to date, an overview of the current housing portfolio, a better understanding of students living on campus and a breakdown of capital improvement investments projected over the next six years.

Capital projects

When: Resources, Facilities and Affordability Committee, March 22

The board will consider three new capital project budget expenditures that were reviewed and approved by the Capital Funding and Priorities Committee. They are:

• Chillicothe Campus – Academic Success Center Stevenson Renovation, $2.88 million. This project will centralize student services and improve the student learning and support environment. It includes renovating the existing restrooms to meet ADA requirements, increasing technology access for students and addressing deferred maintenance.
• Innovation Center roof replacement, $900,000. This project, funded with Century Bond deferred maintenance funds, replaces the Innovation Center roof.
• Bob Wren infield artificial turf, $600,000. This project is fully funded by external restricted gifts and will install turf on the infield to provide a more consistent playing field than natural gas. It also includes relocating existing utilities and installing site drainage. The donations were raised by the Athletics Department and were driven by athletes and families of athletes focused on safety and health considerations.

Beavercreek update

When: Joint Committee, March 22

University officials will provide an overview of the University’s property in Beavercreek, Ohio, and will detail several promising opportunities. The presentation will include a description and overview of the Russ Research Center property, a conceptual design for a conference and training center, key and emerging regional partnerships such as Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and programmatic initiatives already under way.