As administrators fly the coop and employees line up for buyouts, the writing on the walls is clear: Ohio University is losing appeal.
Why is it losing appeal? We cannot speak for those leaving, but the reason we would part with this institution is its declining academic quality.
OU is no longer an educators’ environment. With class sizes growing, a hiring freeze and an upcoming switch to semesters, a perfect storm is brewing, working to destabilize the academic mission of the institution.
As we’ve stated before, larger classes means more work for professors, who might be required to teach additional courses.
Then, with the semester switch coming at the end of the next academic year, faculty members are no doubt working to finalize course conversions and semester curriculums. They should not have to worry about making more changes.
Of the administrators leaving, many are deans. We cannot blame them. As a dean, his or her hands would be tied, preventing deans from helping their colleges weather the storm.
This university also prides itself on being a research institution, but that is at risk also. With more students to teach and potentially more classes, professors’ abilities to conduct research are restricted.
Decent professors would feel unwelcome here because it is not a very supportive situation. Few educators would want to work at an institution where academic quality is deteriorating.
President Roderick McDavis does not help matters when he continually defends athletics. Doing so is not going to improve the perception of OU in the eyes of professors and administrators.
With early buyouts on the table, tough budget decisions looming and opportunities elsewhere, many top administrators and faculty are leaving OU. If the university can’t prove it’s an attractive place to work, that trend will only worsen.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
