Ohio University President Roderick McDavis gave his convocation speech to faculty and staff in a smaller venue than in the one he gave to students, but was just as eager to share Ohio University’s accomplishments.
McDavis spent Wednesday afternoon in Walter Hall Rotunda to thank OU faculty and staff for their contributions to the university.
McDavis said OU is adopting a strategic enrollment plan, which helped the university attract more than 20,750 applications for the 2013-14 school year — and accept its largest number of incoming students.
Josh Bodnar, chair of the Administrative Senate, said he is excited to see where McDavis will take the university with these new initiatives.
“I think Ohio University has another 210 years ahead of it, and I think some of what we’ve heard today is going to be a big part of making sure that we continue to be a big transformative place,” Bodnar said.
McDavis’ speech began with a presentation created by University Communications and Marketing commending OU’s achievements — including OU’s alliance with University of Leipzig in Germany and Alden Library’s rank as one of the most social media friendly universities.
McDavis also announced that PolicyMic ranked OU second place on their list of “12 Top Colleges Where Students Get the Best Bang for their Buck.”
“We’ll take a number two ranking in anything but the party school list,” McDavis said.
Other highlights included: the Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics is ranked fifth in the nation, the College of Business is ranked as a top-50 public business school and the Scripps College of Communication, which McDavis said is generally considered one of the top five communications programs in the nation.
As a new member of OU, Director of the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility Martha Compton said she is most excited about McDavis’ focus on affordability and access for students.
“Ohio University is really taking some steps to get ahead of the game in addressing (affordability and access) and making that a little bit more stable for students, and hearing that commitment to students is great,” Compton said.
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@DanielleRose84
