OHIO leaders discuss Dynamic Strategy, enrollment, JED Campus and Carnegie Classifications at Oct. 30 ‘University Updates’

Ohio University President Lori Stewart Gonzalez hosted the first “University Updates” event of the academic year on Thursday, Oct. 30.

University Updates are held throughout the year as part of OHIO’s ongoing efforts to further connections and dialogue throughout the University community. At each event, OHIO leaders provide information on current projects and initiatives through short presentations. All students, faculty and staff are invited to watch the events in person or via livestream.

The next University Updates event will be held in February 2026, and additional details will be shared closer to the event date. 

OHIO Leadership presentations

Ohio University President Lori Stewart Gonzalez discussed the University’s progress in implementing the Dynamic Strategy. Gonzalez noted that with so many people on campus engaged in moving OHIO forward, the University has been able to strengthen its strategic direction, advance academic and research excellence, deepen community and alumni engagement and enhance employee experience and culture.

Through recrafting Ohio University’s mission statement to summarize the DNA of campus, and creating an advisory committee of faculty and staff, Gonzalez said that OHIO has been able to effectively lean into its strengths and have a clear direction of where to go next. Gonzalez discussed how the dynamic strategy has guided OHIO’s growth in research and creative activity through new faculty hires in the areas of healthy aging, energy, artificial intelligence and the environment. She also emphasized the University’s focus on meaningful experiences through increasing experiential learning by 60 percent.

Gonzalez celebrated how OHIO has deepened its community engagement through connecting degrees to Ohio’s workforce needs through Regional Higher Education campuses and strengthening alumni relationships through initiatives like alumni mentoring. She added that the University has enhanced its culture though gathering employee perspectives through the ModernThink survey, as well as freezing health benefits for employees.

Gonzalez concluded by addressing some of the Dynamic Strategy focus areas for the coming year under the Learn, Discover, Engage and Work Pillars.

Vice President for Enrollment Management Candace J. Boeninger provided the University community with an update on preliminary census enrollment for fall 2025 across Ohio University’s campuses, centers and modalities. The presentation featured a discussion of OHIO’s recent success in first-year retention and the drivers of that success. She shared how OHIO’s headcount enrollment totaled 30,692, a 3.6 percent increase from fall 2024 preliminary census enrollment, as well as how the Athens campus welcomed another record entering first-year class with 4,550 students, with a near record Ohio resident enrollment, just under 4,000.

Boeninger noted how preliminary enrollment growth this fall has been supported not only by new students, but also by continued year-over-year improvement in retention for Athens and the regional campuses, gains in online undergraduate and graduate enrollment, steady medical enrollment and modest gains in graduate enrollment, including enrollment increases in doctoral programs in the University’s focused areas of research.

She also shared enrollment trends and student success initiatives, noting that opportunities for growth extend beyond the traditional Athens undergraduate population, which currently represents about 55 percent of total enrollment.

Boeninger highlighted continued progress in student retention and persistence, noting that for first-time, bachelor’s degree-seeking undergraduates who entered in fall 2024, the fall-to-fall retention rate reached 84.7 percent, a recent record and an increase of more than half a percentage point over the prior year.

Dean of the College of Health Sciences and Professions John McCarthy spoke about Ohio University’s partnership with JED Campus, a four-year program designed to help schools evaluate and strengthen their mental health, substance misuse and suicide prevention programs. McCarthy said that JED Campus allows OHIO to map its mental health and well-being assets and then strengthen those assets with the help of external tools and experts on mental health and suicide.

McCarthy said being a JED Campus is a public signal of OHIO’s commitment to the campus community and the mental health of students. McCarthy noted that the entire University is involved in the JED Campus program, and the OHIO JED Campus team has representation from every facet of Ohio University. He also provided an overview of the JED Campus program timeline, including the year one Healthy Minds Survey, the strategic implementation of years two and three and the assessment of year four.

McCarthy said that OHIO is currently in the year two phase of JED Campus and that recently formed subcommittees are currently implementing a strategic plan based on data from last year’s Healthy Minds Survey and guidance from OHIO’s JED Foundation liaison. Work has already begun on environmental safety and gatekeeper training. An overarching goal is to have a majority of people on campus trained in some form of mental health first aid or suicide prevention and to build on peer, staff, and faculty supports that are already in place.

Vice President of University Communications and Marketing Robin Oliver discussed how the redesigned Carnegie Classifications impact Ohio University. Oliver said Carnegie classifies around 4,000 universities in the US and is best known for their “R1” designations. In 2025, Carnegie moved to a new “Institutional Classification” system based on award level focus, academic program mix and size. Under these criteria, Ohio University’s Athens campus was labeled a “Professions-focused, Undergraduate/Graduate-Doctorate, Large” institution. Oliver emphasized the uniqueness of this classification saying that it puts OHIO in a category with only 1% of universities.

Oliver shared that the profession-focused designation means that more than 50% of graduates complete career-aligned degrees such as health, business, journalism and communications and education. At OHIO, Carnegie determined that more than 70% of students are graduating in what they determined are career-aligned fields. Oliver said this reflects the University’s commitment to experiential learning and career outcomes, as well as a unique asset in terms of marketing Ohio University.

Oliver added that Carnegie also launched a new “Access and Earnings” classification that classified OHIO as an “Opportunity College or University – Higher Access, Higher Earnings,” meaning that it provides access to a student population that reflects the locations it serves and graduates are earning more compared to peers in their job market.

Oliver concluded by noting the classifications of three of OHIO’s Regional Higher Education institutions. Ohio University Chillicothe was also named a “Professions Focused, Opportunity College,” and Ohio University Southern and Ohio University Zanesville were each named a “Special Focus Nursing, Opportunity College.