Editor's Note: This letter was sent to President McDavis, interim Provost Krendl and carbon-copied to Vice President for University Advancement Leornard Raley, The Post and The Athens News.
Wednesday morning Ohio University faculty received an invitation to attend a forum to advise a task force led by interim Provost Kathy Krendl, that will be responsible for developing a comprehensive strategic plan advancing (President) McDavis' four primary goals and objectives for the institution. These include transforming Ohio University into a nationally prominent research institution ... Unfortunately, the new front door to Ohio University's Web site suggests that the university administration is not really committed to those goals.
The new front door is insulting to those of us -students and faculty alike -who work hard to create an intellectual environment that values excellence. It diminishes all of us by pandering to an eighth-grade vision of school and will certainly discourage the best students from accepting offers of admission. Moreover, it will send a strong message to others -prospective faculty members, potential employers of our graduates, grant agencies and taxpayers -that we, as an institution, patronize students by dumbing down our image as an educational institution and, most of all, do not take our research mission seriously. We urge you to find a more dignified way to make our university truly stand out in the eyes of all who enter through our electronic front door.
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