The Board of Trustees discussed demolition on South Green, the honors program and financial investments Friday.
Here are the major takeaways from the October meeting.
Main Board Meeting
The Ohio University Board of Trustees met Friday morning to discuss the presidential report, progress of the new OHIO Honors Program and construction.
The OHIO Honors Program will serve as an alternative to the Honors Tutorial College’s 38 tutorial-based degree programs.
Cary Frith, interim dean of the Honors Tutorial College, said the program focuses on experiential learning and is open to freshmen from all majors. About 47 students have been accepted for the pilot Fall 2019 cohort.
Sam Carryer, a freshman studying applied mathematics and statistics, said he is excited to embark on his journey as he thinks the honors program will provide him some of the best educational opportunities.
The demolition of residence halls in back South Green is supposed to start in 2018, according to the August Board meeting.
After the residence halls in back south — Smith, Atkinson, Armbruster and Weld — are demolished, students will not face a shortage in housing, Jason Pina, the vice president for student affairs, said.
Governance and Compensation Committee
The Governance and Compensation committee discussed ethic statutes, executive sessions and the wellbeing of student athletes.
The meeting opened with a presentation from Chief Human Resources Officer Colleen Bendl who updated the committee about union agreements at Ohio University.
John Biancamano, deputy general counsel, talked about ethics policies as they apply to the trustees. Biancamano brought up the matter of when an executive session, a private council meeting, can and cannot be held.
Biancamano also said everyone on the Board of Trustees has done a good job with disclosing their financial investments. The trustee’s investments are cross checked with a OU’s list of vendors, ensuring no one is privately profiting from the university. Trustees are also not allowed to accept anything of value from vendors such as money or future employment.
Trustee N. Victor Goodman expressed the importance of monitoring the health and wellbeing of student athletes in addition to their academic success.
The Board of Trustees will next meet Jan. 17 and 18.
Megan Carlson, Kaitlyn McGarvey, Ian McKenzie and Sarah Penix contributed to this report.
