From Board of Trustees meetings to a new student trustee, a great deal took place at Ohio University this summer.
As Bobcats were off enjoying their summer vacations new rules, policies and procedures were taking place and being implemented at Ohio University.
Tuition
As a result of Ohio’s biennial state budget, OU students will be free from tuition increases — at least for the next two academic years.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed the budget into law on June 30, which will prevent tuition increases for in-state students as well as increase state funding for OU and other state-funded two-year and four-year universities.
The Class of 2019 were already free from tuition increases because of the OHIO Guarantee, the fixed-tuition plan where students will be locked into tuition rates for a four-year period. A 5.1 percent tuition increase will be the sole uptick in tuition that the freshman class will see during their time at OU.
In an email sent on July 1 to OU students, faculty and staff on July 1, OU President Roderick McDavis said he was proud of the efforts of state legislators to contain the costs of higher education.
“We are grateful for our legislators’ support of Ohio University's efforts to make higher education costs more predictable, more transparent and more attainable for the average Ohioan,” he said in the email.
McDavis also said in the email OU would work with state officials to further reduce the cost of education.
“Through the years, Ohio University has implemented innovative cost containment measures in response to our legislators’ call, and we stand ready to continue this work on behalf of our students and the taxpayers of Ohio,” he said.
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Printers
Printing at Alden Library now requires some cash up front — Bobcat Cash to be exact.
That printing change was implemented June 29, at OU libraries, the College of Business and both the Athens and •Dublin campuses of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.
The new “pay-to-print” system will eliminate registration holds due to printing charges on student bills, according to an email sent to students from the Office of Information Technology. Students will also be able to print from anywhere by uploading documents to myprintercenter.ohio.eduor emailing documents tomobileprint@ohio.edu.
“You can then go to any printer in the libraries or other participating location and release the print job by swiping your student ID card,” Carrie Preston, head of web services at OU Libraries, said in an email.
The price of printing at Alden varies slightly. A 8 ½ x 11 black-and-white single sided sheet costs three cents, wheres as a colored singled sided sheet costs 25 cents. A 8 ½ x 11 double-sided sheet of a black and white print is five cents, and a double-sided sheet of color paper totals to 50 cents.
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Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees meeting was held on June 25-26 at OU’s Southern Campus in Ironton, Ohio.
The four new South Green dorms received names: Carr, Luchs, Sowle and Tanaka.
The board also approved university’s budget and Capital Improvement Plan for the 2016 Fiscal Year.
Construction projects discussed included a $2.2 million roof replacement for Alden Library and a $2 million roof replacement for Clippinger Hall.
The board also reappointed both McDavis and Board of Trustees Treasure Stephen Golding for the 2015-16 academic year as the Board expressed their satisfaction with McDavis during his annual review as president.
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Student Trustee
Patrick J. Roden, a rising junior studying engineering technology and management, was selected by Kasich as OU's new student trustee on June 11.
Kasich selected Roden after the first student trustee election.
Roden did not receive the most votes — Evie Weir, a sophomore studying fine arts theater, did — but the appointment of a student trustee is ultimately the decision of the governor.
Roden will serve a two year term that ends May 13, 2017.
Sharmaine Wilcox, is the senior student trustee member and she is studying international business.
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The Ridges
OU is looking into using private partnerships to fund the renovation of The Ridges.
Even though no permanent plans are set in set stone, private partners could potentially select what aspect of The Ridges renovations they would fund, said Shawna Bolin, director of university planning and space management.
At this summer’s Board of Trustees meeting, The Ridges Framework Committee team of Bolin and Joseph Shields, vice president for research and creative activity and dean of the Graduate College, expressed the committee has followed suit with the Ridges Framework Plan and split the land into five different zones that will serve different purposes.
The committee, who has modeled their planning strategies after a former state mental hospital in Michigan, wants The Ridges to be more integrated into OU’s campus.
@megankhenry
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