Ohio University’s Board of Trustees met Thursday to discuss the election of a chair and vice chair to the Board as well as updated enrollment information.
The Board met both in executive session and committees.
Governance and Compensation Committee
The Governance and Compensation Committee approved the election of a chair and vice chair Thursday morning.
Peggy Viehweger, a retired international business manager, was elected as chair of the Board for the 2022-2023 term. Viehweger served as vice chair for the 2021-2022 term.
Additionally, Diane Smullen, vice president of finance for Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, was elected as vice chair of the Board for a one-year term beginning May 14. Smullen is a current Board member and OU alumna who graduated in 1992.
The Board then adjourned into an executive session.
Academic and Student Success Committee
The Academic and Student Success Committee also met to discuss new programs for students and faculty as well as the effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on enrollment.
A presentation was given about a new program out of the Patton College of Education called Brothers Rise.
During this presentation, testimonies were given by Benjamin Baylor, Elijah “Moore” Harper, Jackson Ball, Mekhi Evans and Owen Vandivier on how the program impacted their lives as students in the College of Education.
In these testimonies, the young men elaborated on how a trip to Washington, D.C. within this program helped them learn leadership skills they will take into the rest of their careers.
After this presentation, the Board discussed how faculty can be better supported. One way discussed was with the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, or CTLA.
This program’s mission is “to support faculty needs and strengthen faculty competencies related to teaching, learning, and assessment.”
With the initiation of this program, the Board hopes for faculty development, talent management, student success, collaboration and inclusive excellence within faculty communities.
The Board was then presented with an enrollment brief from the spring of 2022. This brief showed a slight decline in enrollment from the census taken in February 2021.
The current enrollment headcount as of Jan. 24 is currently at 26,480 new enrollments, with some late-start and multi-session program enrollments still being processed.
Lastly, how the pandemic affected OU was discussed with a presentation done by Ed Bennett from the Education Advisory Board, or EAB.
Bennett discussed the effects the pandemic had on mental health, social disengagement and transfer students.
Donovan Hunt, Alex Imwalle and Paige Fisher contributed to this report.
