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MEAGAN HALL
09.07.17
Ohio University President Duane Nellis has made it his goal to be accessible to people at OU and in Athens, and there are several ways people can take advantage of that.
Nellis took office in June. Before the beginning of Fall Semester, he worked to connect with students around town and on campus.
“I have interacted with many students as I walked around campus, sat in on classes, dined uptown, or visited various departments where students have held summer employment,” Nellis said in an email. “I want our students to know I enjoy talking to them; they should feel comfortable coming up to me and saying ‘hello’ when they see me.”
Forums are one way Nellis is working toward communicating with students and making them more comfortable around him. He is also planning to meet regularly with Student Senate and hopes students can bring concerns there.
Meagan Hall | FILE
President Duane Nellis greeting a family on campus during his first day as Ohio University's president on June 12, 2017.
Students can also voice concerns by calling or emailing his office. The office’s phone number is 740-593-1804, and its email is president@ohio.edu.
If his office is not the right one to address their issues, the office will get the student in touch with the right one.
“I have already been getting email from students and I try to be responsive,” Nellis said in an email. “I intend to be very open to dialogue.”
“I want our students to know I enjoy talking to them; they should feel comfortable coming up to me and saying ‘hello’ when they see me.”Duane Nellis, 21st president of OU
If students are interested in talking to Nellis in person, they can schedule a meeting with him through the Office of the President.
Nellis had a reputation for being people-oriented during his time his time as president of Texas Tech University, according to a report by The Daily Toreador, the student newspaper at Texas Tech.
“He’s very people oriented and has an impressive scholarly and administrative record,” Lance Nail, dean of the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration at Texas Tech, told the publication in 2013.
Tim Traxler, an Athens County resident, noticed Nellis’ focus on community during one of the January presidential search forums. It gave him the impression Nellis would be receptive to university-community relations.
“We’d probably see him more in the community, more than we’ve seen President McDavis,” Traxler said in a previous Post report. “He just seemed to be someone who’s interested in the community and engaging with solving problems in the community as well as the university.”
McDavis was a self-proclaimed “external president,” according to a previous Post report. He focused more on connecting to people outside the university during the second half of his presidency because he felt “very good about the people that are in place to make sure that the internal functions of the university operate effectively and efficiently.”
As Nellis adjusts to his new role, he hopes students will feel comfortable enough to connect with him.
“I think I’m a pretty approachable person, so I want students to feel like they can come up to me and ask me questions,” Nellis said.
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This story is part of a series of specially designed stories that represents some of the best journalism The Post has to offer. Check out the rest of the special projects here.