Although Ohio's Board of Regents announced an all-encompassing plan for state higher education yesterday, exactly how it will affect Ohio University remains unknown.
OU must now decide how it fits into Chancellor Eric Fingerhut's vision for higher education in Ohio, said OU President Roderick McDavis, who added he is committed to the plan's general goals.
The 140-page plan, prompted by Gov. Ted Strickland's call to enroll 230,000 more people in Ohio's colleges by 2017, is aimed at not only attracting more students from Ohio and elsewhere but at keeping them here after graduation.
If we are to achieve the governor's goal of increasing enrollment by 230
000 and not keep them here then we haven't done our job Fingerhut said yesterday in a media conference call.
Under the plan, Ohio's 13 public universities will become the University System of Ohio. The system aims to lower costs and develop programs that are nationally recognized at each institution, such as OU's Scripps College of Communication or Miami University's Farmer School of Business.
Fingerhut said no institution can be world-class in every discipline and urged schools to play to their strengths and develop Centers of Excellence.
OU will evaluate its undergraduate curriculum and pump more money into its strongest programs, said Kathy Krendl, OU's executive vice president and provost.
That could mean the elimination of weaker programs, Fingerhut said. If you're going to build a world-class program
that will require institutions to prioritize and not treat all programs equally
which would result in mediocrity
not excellence.
The 10-year strategic plan also focuses on the need to lower tuition, a problem Ohio has struggled with in recent decades, said Bill Decatur, OU's vice president for Finance and Administration.
We have some of the highest tuition in the country as a direct result of long-term under-funding in higher education
Decatur said.
OU is already focused on lowering the cost of higher education, McDavis said. We will engage in a dialogue with the legislature and the chancellor to ensure that students can obtain a high-quality education at a fair price.To further integrate Ohio's public universities and trim costs, the plan urges universities currently using the quarter system to give strong consideration to making the change to semesters. Three other public universities in the state divide their academic calendar into quarters: Ohio State University, Wright State University and the University of Cincinnati.
OU will discuss the change with other universities on the quarter system before making a decision, Krendl said. Last summer, an ad hoc committee at OU narrowly voted to recommend sticking with quarters.
Exactly how the plan will affect state funding remains vague, but Ohio will move away from awarding money based on enrollment growth and toward outcomes such as total degrees awarded, Decatur said.F
inancial officers will meet immediately with legislators to begin sketching out a specific proposal to deliver to Fingerhut in September, Decatur said, adding that a new funding formula would not begin until fiscal year 2011.
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