Ohio University will merge administrative offices and cut jobs to save money, officials announced yesterday.
The departments of Housing and Residence Life will be combined into the new Residential Housing office, which will fall under the Division of Student Affairs.
There are clearly some duplicative efforts in both shops
and it will provide a one-stop shop for students said Kent Smith, vice president for Student Affairs.
Christine Sheets, assistant vice president for Auxiliary Services, will head the new office. She will keep her previous salary of $105,343, which is currently in-line with the national median. Some of the areas that reported to her will now report to other sections of Finance and Administration.
Smith said he's asked Sheets to examine both departments in the coming weeks to find areas where the university could lose administrative jobs and determine how much money it could save.
It is too soon to offer any estimates for savings or specific plans for job cuts, Sheets said, adding that she learned about the new job yesterday.
I need time to reflect look at the detail and build my confidence with the right thing to do for Ohio University
she said.
This new, consolidated office will improve efficiency when dealing with student housing, Smith said.
Anything from a room change to applying for a housing loan
you have a singular place to go
he said. You know where to call for anything from a housing-related issue.
Housing and Residence Life have 25 contract staff members and 10 full-time classified staff members.
Residence Life handles the programming arm of student housing, while Housing manages transactions such as contracts and room assignments.
As part of the reorganizations, Conference Services, which rents both space and catering services to businesses for conferences, will now report to Baker University Center. The office previously fell under Auxiliary Services, but now reports to Sujit Chemburkar, executive director of Baker University Center and University Events.
We think it's a better fit with Baker University Center because it's the largest entity that could be utilized on campus for a conference
Smith said.
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Chris Kardish
