The editor's note at the bottom of this letter has been corrected twice from its original posting.
I've noticed an increasing number of criticisms of content in The Post lately. With respect to statistical information about Ohio University, I've taken notice of inaccuracies of fact. When the errors are big enough, I've written to point them out and/or ask for corrections. Content is important, but the process that leads to the content is also important. Recent events have occurred that lead me to question both content and processes at The Post.
Wednesday's headline, Report shows decrease in OU's diversity
is inaccurate because it is incomplete. Diversity is more than the number of students who aren't white as the article implies. In fact, the report (acquired from the Ohio Board of Regents staff by a Post reporter who didn't identify him/herself as such) includes detailed information on race/ethnicity, age, state of residence, part-time status, gender, PSEOP and first-generation status. A complete view of these diversity indicators would show that the Athens campus and five regional campuses are not as homogenous as the title would imply, nor would they yield a title as sensational. Also, as my colleague David Garcia aptly pointed out, international student enrollment, which has grown at OU in recent years, was not included in your report, even though it was in the Regents report. Finally, the Regents report lags by a year and doesn't include OU's most recent data. Your article suggested that the two most recent years were presented, which also is not accurate. Actually, from 2006 to 2007, the Athens campus undergraduate multicultural enrollment increased by 19 percent. That's 231 more students. How is that a decrease?
In addition to these content issues, here's a process issue. If The Post were really interested in tracking Ohio University's progress with diversity, they could have looked no further than the Institutional Research Web site. A little research on your part would have revealed that much of what was obtained by false pretenses from the Regents could have been obtained locally because it is freely available. Furthermore, my colleague at OBOR told me that five reporters contacted them. Isn't that a little overkill?
Another example of problems with process is from a request I received from Legal Affairs last week. Apparently a reporter wanted to obtain National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) results. Rather than doing their own research, they contacted Legal Affairs with a public information request. The person contacted wasn't personally familiar with NSSE. The reporter then contacted Indiana University, who conducts NSSE. When told that Indiana University wouldn't release the report except to the OU unit that paid for the study, the reporter went back to Legal Affairs, who then contacted me. Again, a little effort directed toward research on your part would have revealed that what you were seeking (and much more) is freely available from the Institutional Research Web site. Rather than making heavy-handed public information requests, I would suggest doing a little research on your own and check out local sources. I think you'll find that we are more open than you would give us credit for.
I've read that The Post sees its job as holding Ohio University accountable. That's fine, but who is holding The Post accountable? As Ohio University's student newspaper, you represent the Ohio University community by your actions and with your publication. When you report only part of the facts, you misrepresent Ohio University. When you make egregious errors of content, you misrepresent Ohio University. When you repeatedly and unnecessarily call our colleagues outside the University, please recognize that you represent Ohio University, and you may adversely impact professional relationships that we work hard to maintain.
Who is holding you accountable for what you print and how you obtain your information?
Michael Williford is associate provost for Institutional Research and Enrollment Planning and an associate professor of counseling and higher education.
Editor's Note: The letter writer asserts that a Post reporter did not identify himself as such in an e-mail to an Ohio Board of Regents staff member. Post reporter David M. Hendricks Jr. did, in fact, disclose that he is a reporter. While Hendricks was not the byline author of the final story, he did obtain the data to pass along to another reporter. A PDF of Hendricks' communication with the Regents has been attached to this article.
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