Ohio University's Environmental Scan Team held its first of two public forums yesterday.
Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit led a discussion about how a changing environment will affect Ohio University. The goal of the scan teams is to identify trends OU believes are most likely to influence President Roderick McDavis' six-year plan to increase the university's financial strength, according to a preliminary report.
Present at the forum were members of the scan teams responsible for submitting reports about culture, demographics, economics, higher education, infrastructure, politics, regional problems and technology.
Discussion at the forum focused mainly on recognizing what OU does well and how to use those strengths to stay competitive with recruitment and improve its brand.
We need to build on historical strengths. We need to take them and understand trends and move forward
said Daniel Weiner, executive director for the Center of International Students. This place creates a very powerful environment for students to learn in a number of ways.
The group touched on the importance of the residential student experience but also emphasized the roles online courses and international education play in developing OU's brand.
The market that we used to think of as 'our student' is shrinking said Joe McLaughlin, chair of Faculty Senate. We can't keep thinking of maintaining our strength; we've got to get better.
The next forum will be today at 4 p.m. in Walter Hall room 235.
This first set of public forums is part of the second phase of the environmental scan. The four-step scan is set to conclude in February when the teams' recommendations are officially published. OU will hold more forums after the recommendations are made public.
What I hope will happen is that we develop a set of manageable recommendations Benoit said. We're not ready to say just what those are yet because this is a moving target.
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Pat Holmes
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