Correction appended.
The Ohio University Board of Trustees approved the demolition and repurposing of several university houses and buildings at The Ridges during its meetings on Thursday and Friday.
Buildings in The Ridges would be demolished to eliminate maintenance and allow for future development. The board voted to demolish The Ridges Building 29 and Buildings 15. Shawna Bolin, assistant vice president for university planning and real estate, made the proposal and requested $2.6 million for the project.
The trustees also approved changes to Trisolini House. Changes were also recommended for Brown and Pilcher houses.
Trisolini House, which houses the Cutler Scholars Program, will be renovated. Once renovations are done, the space will be taken over by Culinary Services, and the Cutler Scholar Program will move to the Center for Academic Engagement. The renovations to Trisolini House will cost about $1.5 million, Bolin said.
Brown House will be demolished due to safety issues. The cost of demolition is estimated to be between $275,000 and $400,000, Bolin said. The building has structural damage and the space also isn’t utilized.
If the recommendation is accepted, Pilcher House property would be offered to the community through a sale or lease option, according to a previous Post report. It is currently unoccupied, although it used to serve as The Post’s newsroom in the 1970s.
An additional vote was made in favor of increasing several Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine fees. Instructional fees, technology fees and non-resident surcharges will increase by 2.5 percent.
The board also voted to approve creating an implementation team for the One Ohio University program. The plan places emphasis on improving the quality of regional campus education, not just that on OU’s Athens campus.
The implementation team will be made up of academic leaders from all OU campuses to help put the One Ohio University plan into administrative and academic operations.
“There is a great sense of urgency for university leadership to develop a sustainable model that will ensure our regional campuses can continue to serve their respective communities as well as the university as a whole,” Trustee Dave Scholl said in a media release.
The Ohio Rural Health Association presented during the Governance and Compensation committee meeting. The association is a new startup company that aims to promote health services in rural parts of Ohio.
Currently, Ohio is one of seven states without a Rural Health Association. Ohio used to have one, and the program is now resurfacing and seeking financial aid from OU through a partnership.
The association said it would not only benefit those who live in rural Ohio through health services and information, but also OU students. The association would like to offer OU students internships along with networking and research opportunities.
Several audits were presented by Robert Shenton, a member of the OU audit team, during the Audit and Risk Management committee meeting.
Shenton said some 2019 audits, including audits for NCAA agreed upon procedures, IT general controls, Diversity and Inclusion, and financial aid, are already completed.
Other audits will be done later this year. An audit for the Patton College of Education and an audit on research will both be done by June 30, Shenton said. The Scripps College of Communication will also be audited. There is no date for when the audit is expected to be completed.
Audits were also conducted in various other departments at the federal level. There were no significant findings were in the reports.
During the Academic and Student Success committee, a report from the Division of Student Affairs on its first comprehensive external review since 1997 was discussed.
The review included recommendations on how Student Affairs can work to improve its relations between faculty members and address the school’s concerns over possible decreasing enrollment.
To help oversee those recommendations, Student Affairs hired a new director of strategic planning and assessment, Cindy Cogswell. Cogswell will oversee the department’s efforts to improve its departments and assess student employees.
Correction: A previous version of this report incorrectly stated what building of The Ridges would be demolished and the state of Brown and Pilcher houses. The article has been updated to reflect the most accurate information.
