Academic and Student Success Committee
The Ohio University Board of Trustees met Thursday to hear about an experiential learning spotlight and an update on student enrollment.
Sarah Wyatt, professor of environmental and plant biology, and students spoke to the trustees about the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, or SSEP, and their affiliated research proposals surrounding plant microbes interactions in space.
There are 34 undergraduate students split into 10 teams to attempt to develop a project to fly abroad to the International Space Station. The students then write research proposals for their experiment; the proposals undergo a grant review and only one team gets chosen to fly.
The finalist undergraduate research team consisted of Michael Lane, a junior biological sciences preprofessional major, Victoria Swiler, a junior studying environmental plant and biology, and Nathan Smith, a sophomore biological sciences preprofessional major.
Swiler said the project focused on reducing plant stress in space which would enable more sustainable plant growth.
“There’s microgravity, there’s radiation, and it’s just not hospitable for plants that evolved to be on Earth,” Swiler said.
Swiler said the group is trying to find a solution to the problem. Bacteria were found on the ISS, so the team is researching if they can grow bacteria with plants in space to evaluate if that can impact how plants grow.
“Coming from someone that had no experience whatsoever, I think more students should have that opportunity,” Smith said. “You can really explore whatever you want and I just think that’s a really great thing that Dr. Wyatt brought here.”
Following the student SSEP presentation, Vice President of Enrollment Management, Candace Boeninger, delivered updated findings regarding enrollment.
As of Jan. 30, there are over 27,000 students enrolled, which is a 4.3% increase from students enrolled in Spring 2023. Also, the fall-to-spring return rate for the 2023-2024 year is 94.2%, a 1.4 percentage point increase.
She said a combination of factors contributed to the overall success of OU’s enrollment, including intentional efforts on regional campuses retention rates and the rebound of major programs such as the nursing program.
“I’m really proud of these numbers, and I will give the credit to the academic side of the house,” Boeninger said.
Boeninger also presented an update on Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, addressing its recent changes.
“While we do have good news that eventually more students will be eligible for more aid and that should help college going,” Boeninger said. “What we know nationally is that FAFSA submission rates are down dramatically among high school students.”
She said the university is fortunate to work with a financial aid department that continues to devote time and resources to its students.
Resources, Facilities and Affordability Committee
The Resources, Facilities and Affordability Committee had a ten-item agenda during the April meeting, which included an update to the FY24 financial forecast and capital projects.
John Day, interim vice president of finance and administration and CFO, presented an update to the FY24 financial forecast. Day said the university budgeted a 0% tuition increase due to the state's recurring budget, but he did implement a 3% tuition increase for incoming cohorts.
Day also presented a resolution to increase graduate program fees, undergraduate course fees and reduced rate instructional fees for FY24.
Day announced increasing graduate programs for Doctor of Clinical Audiology and Master of Speech-Language Pathology from $63 to $75, a $12 increase per credit hour; increasing nursing courses to cover the cost of inflation for pass-through certifications; adding a 10% increase to existing course fees on aviation flight courses to cover inflationary costs, such as fuel, parts, labor and personnel related to flight instruction.
Another proposed increase went to in-state instructional fees for online classes, from $304 to $316, a $12 increase per credit hour.
He proposed adding an opt-out fee of $60 for the introduction to business course.
Jon Cozad, associate vice president of design and construction, along with Day, presented resolutions to capital projects at the university.
Cozad proposed a resolution to the Housing Phase II New Construction plan that would increase the budget for an approximately 600-bed student housing development on South Green from $94.6 million to $110.5 million, a nearly $16 million increase.
“We are competing for limited labor, and when we compete for that it results in increased prices,” Cozad said.
Cozad said the groundbreaking for the new South Green housing project is set for April 22, with the final goal of having residents in the buildings by Fall 2026. He said the plan is to start construction in May.
Cozad presented a resolution to the budget for the Heritage Translational Research Center. The first floor would be for community health, population health and clinical research; the second floor would be for clinical subjects research; the third floor would be for basic science research and shared equipment; and the fourth floor would be an animal care facility.
Ultimately this brought the total for the new Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine facility to nearly $75 million, an increase of $8 million.
“One of the unique aspects of this facility is that it will house our community health programs, which provide free care to the people of Southeast Ohio,” Day said.
Cozad announced that construction for the facility is set to start during the summer and through early fall.
Four other projects were presented: the Russ Research Opportunity Center, the Athena Theater Structural Stabilization, West Green Gulch Bridges Repair and Repaint and Lin Hall third-floor renovation.
James Still, director at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. and financial advisor, and Tina Payne, executive director of treasury operations, reintroduced the financial recommendation for the Housing Master Plan Phase II. Still recommends the university to finance $75 million for construction by structuring its 2024 new money bonds as a 30-year term bond.
Taking on $75 million of debt for OU has been estimated to not downgrade credit ratings because of OU’s consistent financial performance and ultimately, OU’s A+ credit level, Payne said.
The Board of Trustees passed the motion.
OU Transportation and Parking Division introduced a parking exchange that would add 25 already existing parking spots. The land exchange targets the acres of land owned by Ohio University Federal Credit Union and the acres owned by OU on Union Green.
“As you heard this afternoon, there are a lot of exciting changes and growth that is happening on our Union Green, and part of that construction will result in parking displacement,” Director of VPFA Auxilary Services, Tia Hysell, said. “This land exchange would allow us an opportunity to leverage already existing parking assets within direct proximity to our Union Green and conveniently located within the existing footprint of an already established university parking lot for ease of access.
The Board of Trustees passed the land exchange motion.
Vice President of Human Resources Mary Elizabeth Miles updated the board on priorities for HR. The priorities Miles expanded on were legal and regulatory compliance, employee experience and customer service excellence.
Candice Casto, treasurer and chief financial officer for The Ohio Univeristy Foundation, and David Guame, chief investment officer, led a discussion about the NACUBO-common fund studyrecently released from FY23. The study is an annual survey that provides a comprehensive analysis of investment returns, asset allocations and government policies. The survey reflects the endowments that 688 institutions completed.
Guame said the goal is to continually make progress and to move toward the average asset allocation for the size of OU, which means better allocation of equity, hedge funds, private equity, real assets, fixed income and cash.
Audit and Risk Management Committee
The Board of Trustees received updates from the Audit and Risk Management Committee on the Compliance Project Plan and the Annual Internal and External Audit Plans for fiscal year 2024.
All updates were given by Laura Myers, interim executive director of the office of audit, risk and compliance. The first update for the Compliance Project Plan included internal lines of defense for institutional control.
The three lines of defense discussed by the committee are business and function leaders, compliance and an internal audit which provides objective and independent assurance to the board and audit committee.
Next, the board received an update on the Annual Internal Audit for fiscal year 2024, which included the plan’s status and a rolling timeline for completion.
Audits that are complete are for the NCAA rotational audit, Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs and NCAA agreed-upon procedures. Currently in the process of reporting are the libraries and Global Affairs.
Finally, the Audit and Risk Management Committee gave an update on the Annual External Audit for fiscal year 2024.
Representatives from Crowe LLP, Engagement Partner Christine Torres and Engagement Senior Manager Johnathan Schultz gave a presentation about the roles and responsibilities of Crowe and the audit objective and scope.
An engagement objective of the audit outlined in the presentation includes expressing an opinion that the financial statements are aligned with the accounting principles accepted in the United States.
According to the presentation, the audit includes Consideration of internal Controls over Financial reporting, but we do not express an opinion on the effectiveness of such internal controls. Management is responsible for the design and the effectiveness of internal controls.
The scope of the independent audit reports includes Ohio University, Ohio University Foundation, Russ Research Center LLC, WOUB and Inn Ohio at Athens Inc.
The timeline given in the presentation starts in March with Planning an initial risk assessment ending in October with the Finalization of audit reports and recommendations in the presentation to the audit committee.
Schultz also presented new auditing standards that are auditing accounting estimates and related disclosures, amendments related to the use of specialists and the use of pricing information obtained from external information and understanding the entity and its environment of assessing the risks of material misstatement.
Other required communications include fraud which the presentation outlines involving obtaining something of value through willful misrepresentation.
Governance and Compensation Committee
The Governance and Compensation Committee had four items on the agenda for the meeting, including four resolutions, all of which were passed.
The first resolution that was presented to the board and resolved was an amendment to the Board of Trustees bylaws. With this amendment, a first and second vice chair will be added to the board’s membership.
The second resolution approved by the board was the election of Stephan Casciani as Board of Trustees Chair starting on May 14 and serving through May 13, 2025.
Following that approval, the board also resolved resolutions to elect a first and second vice chair for the same term.
After those approvals, the board then moved into its main board meeting.
Main Board Meeting
OU President Lori Stewart-Gonzalez gave her president’s report which included a dynamic strategy for her time in office. The strategy included improvement of research, increasing alumni engagement, and attracting potential employees to Ohio University.
Gonzalez introduced Robin Oliver, vice president of University Communications and Marketing, who was tasked with creating new mission, vision, and values statements for the university.
Oliver said creating the new statements involved the creation of a committee with students and faculty in addition to surveying the student body.
Oliver introduced the committee's final product which is awaiting approval from Gonzalez before it can be unveiled to the Ohio University community.
The mission statement presented was, “To hold the door open to higher education so that all those eager to solve humanity’s most urgent challenges might enter to learn, connecting them with experiences and discovery that will help them think critically, care deeply, lead boldly and ultimately depart to serve.”
The vision statement included four key bullet points: The first is to connect students with personalized experiences that ensure lifelong success while maximizing opportunities for an affordable education. The second is the university will be an eager collaborator in addressing challenges and advancing opportunities for communities and partners. The third is to the state, and OU will remain committed to serving students in and recruiting students to Ohio and be responsive to evolving workforce and educational needs. The final is to everyone: It said OU will invest in research and creativity that translates to solutions, delivering value beyond Ohio’s borders.
The board heard from James Still, director of higher education at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC., and Payne again who presented the second part of their housing master plan. The board approved the motion to move forward with this $110 million project.
“It’s a lot of money,” vice chair, Steve Cascini said. “But it is a super great way to spend that kind of money for higher education.”
The plan involves a six-year timeline specifically focusing on South Green where housing displeasure has been an issue.
Still and Payne presented statistics from a 2022 survey on housing satisfaction. The survey highlighted mod-style dorms on back South with a 58% or less satisfaction rate compared to the newly constructed suite-style dorms on South with an 85% or more satisfaction rate.
The project outlined the construction of two new dorms on South Green and the eventual demolition of the mod-style dorms on back South: Wray, Ewing, Dougan, True and Hoover Houses.
Following the presentations and voting, the board honored Mia Citino who was the student trustee for the past two years and was present for her last meeting today. Citino was acknowledged for her usefulness as a representative for the student body and her commitment to environmental issues.
The meeting concluded with a recognition of Peggy Viehweger who served the board for nine years and will be leaving in May.
Diane Smullen, a board of trustee member, recognized her excellent service as a board member and chair and Gonzalez commended Viehweger for helping her adjust in her first year as president.
“It’s just been a professional joy and a personal delight to work with her,” Gonzalez said. “We owe her so much.”
Paige Fisher, Olivia Gilliand, Sydney Myers, Suzanne Piper and Avery St. George contributed to this report.
as781522@ohio.edu
