In a recent story, The Post accurately conveyed my feeling that President Roderick McDavis had an extremely rocky beginning at Ohio University, and, despite some improvements, that the University should be preparing for a new era of leadership. It did not convey the positive things I believe about Dr. McDavis: his (and his wife’s) fundamental decency, fairness, politeness and friendliness; his intense loyalty to the school, his success in picking some able supporting administrators (e.g., Ryan Lombardi, Steve Golding), and his growing rapport with supporters of the University.
The fact remains, however, that outsiders like US News rank OU a good deal lower today than when President McDavis took office. In the Ping or Glidden eras, students who couldn’t get into OU often went to Ohio State; today, the reverse is more often true. But let us not dwell on this decline, but on reversing it. President McDavis is at retirement age. If he announced later this academic year he would be retiring in another year (say the summer of 2016), he would be well past his 67th birthday, with a very long 12 year tenure leading his Alma Mater. That is a fine personal achievement and would allow him to retire to his lovely home in Florida with a sense of satisfied dignity.
Here is what OU needs in a new leader to move us forward.
- Pursuit of Excellence –Quality, not Quantity. Prior to 20 years ago, recent OU presidents appropriately had some personal exposure to very high quality universities, schools like Harvard, Duke and Northwestern. We have gotten away from that tradition, with predictable results. Instead of taking in the biggest freshman class in history and have average ACT scores actually decline some, we should restrict enrollment, raise academic standards, and grow in reputation and prestige even if not in total budget size. The recent “underemployment” problem with recent college graduates is another reason for this strategy. The inherent high cost of OU (because of room and board costs relating to our rural location) means we naturally attract students from generally good suburban high schools –our natural primary market. Let’s exploit that.
- Reemphasize the Academic Mission. The neglect of the core academic mission is breathtaking. Previous presidents attended as many Performing Arts Series or Kennedy Lecture events as football games; that does not appear the case now. The outrageously extravagant expansion of athletic facilities while academic units struggle misallocates resources away from Job One – educating students and expanding the frontiers of knowledge. It is sad that the College of Fine Arts, for example, feels forced for budgetary reasons to rid itself of its fine Film program, while housed in outdated facilities (President Glidden asserted that he wanted a performing arts center. Twenty years later they are still waiting). Meanwhile, a completely unnecessary segregated facility (no non-athletes allowed) is being created so athletes will not be forced to study with the Little People (non-athletes) at, horrors of horrors, Alden Library.
- Rehabilitate Buildings More Than Build New Ones. Our physical plant needs rehabilitation, and while some efforts are being made to address this problem, there still is too much interest in vast new construction. Nationally, enrollments are in decline. Prudence calls for us to be somewhat constrained in our building, especially if we restrain enrollment by reinstituting the true selective admissions standards existing in the Ping era. It is time to end mediocrity and bring back excellence to Ohio University. Charles Ping showed it could be done. In a different way, so did Vernon Alden. OU’s big problem is not money nor location, it is leadership. It is time for a change.
Richard Vedder is Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus and directs the Center for College Affordability and Productivity.
