Ohio University President Duane Nellis created the Corporate Engagement Task Force to build stronger relationships with university partners.
The task force will focus on how university-wide and college specific relationships can grow into much more strategic partnerships, Ken Johnson, task force chair, said.
“We are trying to make Ohio University more business friendly,” Scott Miller, a member of the task force, said.
Nellis wants the 11-person task force to develop a unified strategy for the university, Johnson said. There can be many places within the university where there are partnerships with a single business. For example, OhioHealth has partnerships with the medical school, health sciences, business and communication programs.
OhioHealth has been working with OU for decades, starting back to the beginning of the medical school, Bruce Vanderhoff, OhioHealth chief medical officer, said.
“When you have large organizations, they are inherently complex. Working together to accomplish a task sometimes can run the risk of getting tied up in red tape,” Vanderhoff said in an email.
The task force is looking at the current relationships the university has and seeing what individuals are involved.
There are different types of partnerships, such as scholarships, internships, research opportunities and hiring opportunities.
The task force will be developing a strategic plan focusing on action, Johnson said. A goal is to have a rough draft to present to Nellis by the end of the semester.
The task force would like to have a working document and framework that provides recommendations to the president to make OU more business friendly, Miller said.
Miller looks at industry partnerships in the broadest sense possible because there are more opportunities.
The task force will have to work at the speed of business to improve efficiency in the way they form industry relationships, Miller said.
The Russ College of Engineering and Technology has a 20-year relationship with G.E. aircraft engines, Miller said. There was a model built for G.E. that has been maintained and saved them money and educated students who have gone to work for G.E.
OhioHealth is the preeminent partner with the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Johnson said. The partnership consists of training physicians and other medical professionals.
What makes the two natural partners is how the reach lines up geographically, Vanderhoff said.
One of the success stories has been working together to provide clinical education for OU students as well as help people in the surrounding area.
