Board of Trustees agenda for Jan. 18-19 meetings released, University highlights key topics for discussion, consideration

The Ohio University Board of Trustees will convene Jan. 18-19 for meetings on the Athens Campus.

Key agenda items, efforts, and initiatives that OHIO’s Board and senior leadership will discuss include:

Financial update and fee proposals

When: Joint Committee, Jan. 18

Ohio University Vice President for Finance and Administration, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Deborah Shaffer will present a financial update on the FY18 forecast, FY19 budget planning, and tuition and fee approvals.

University leadership is recommending approval to extend the OHIO Guarantee cohort-based framework to the regional campus system. That expansion will provide regional students and their families with the same predictability and transparency as the existing Athens Campus OHIO Guarantee. The goal is to simplify the regional rate structure, and, if permitted by the Ohio Department of Higher Education, eliminate the differential rates for the upper and lower division students as well as differing rates across campuses. A 6 percent legislated tuition increase allowed in the first year of the transition of a guarantee will maintain the competitive rate structure of the regional campuses when compared to surrounding two-year institutions.

The state of Ohio operating budget includes provisions for universities to implement a career fee, supporting state goals of workforce development and job attainment. In order to support OHIO’s commitment to expanding career and leadership development opportunities and programming for students, University leadership is recommending the implementation of a new fee, the revenue from which would directly support those efforts. The proposed fee, at $6 per credit hour, would be assessed beginning with the Fall 2018 cohorts of Athens and regional Guarantee students.

The above items would ultimately require approval from the Ohio Department of Higher Education before implementation.

University leadership will also recommend tuition, fee and rate increases for the incoming Fall 2018 student cohort under the OHIO Guarantee. The Ohio Revised Code allows tuition rates to be increased by 1.3 percent, the same as the sum of the 60-month inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index. The University will also recommend an increase to Athens Campus residential housing rates of 3.5 percent and an increase in Athens Campus Culinary Services rates of 2 percent. Culinary Services has seen a 10 percent increase in the number of meal plans it serves in the past six years, yet has maintained an average increase of 1.1 percent, well below the Food Away from Home Index of 2.4 percent during that time. The room rate for the Housing Development Plan was set to an annual increase of 3.5 percent and supported by the Board of Trustees, and expects a 5 percent increase in utilities and health insurance costs, among other projections. It is important to note that students already enrolled under the OHIO Guarantee would not be impacted by any of these proposed increases.

Resolution for the above proposals will be further discussed during the Resources, Facilities and Affordability Committee, also on Jan. 18.

Capital Improvements
When: Resources, Facilities and Affordability Committee, Jan. 18

The Board of Trustees will consider a resolution to proceed with a number of capital projects, including the renovation of the West Union Street Office Center and buildings on The Ridges.

The design and construction requests total nearly $56 million and include:

• Russ Research Opportunity Center (West Union Street Office Center renovation): $31 million.
• Ridges Building 13, 14 and 18 renovation, and Ridges Building 20 demolition: $15.9 million.
• Bromley infrastructure improvements: $7.5 million.
• Hwa Wei Lee library annex roof/exterior upgrade: $1.1 million
• Adams Hall waterproofing: $500,000.

Modifications of design and construction requests, with their updated costs, include:

• Washington Hall domestic water and restroom upgrade: $5.7 million.
• Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine utilities, Phase 1: $4.37 million.
• Tiffin/Perkins Hall roof rehabilitation: $2.8 million.
• Bryan Hall restroom upgrades: $2.45 million.
• Bush Airport taxiway rehabilitation: $2.27 million.
• Convocation Center video board installation: $1.98 million.
• East Green domestic hot water upgrade: $1.7 million.
• Pickering Hall restroom upgrades: $1.1 million.

Shawna Bolin, Associate Vice President for University Planning and Space Management, will provide updates on the C-Suite project relocation and the Russ Research Opportunity Center development, as well as the resulting relocation plans for the impacted administrative spaces. Greg Robertson, Associate Vice President of Architecture, Design and Construction, will provide updates on the various campus construction projects.

Strategic enrollment update
When: Joint Committee, Jan. 18

Senior Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment Management Craig Cornell will make a presentation focusing on the draft Strategic Enrollment Management Plan for 2017-2023 and the ways in which the University is positioning itself in the highly competitive marketplace to meet enrollment goals. This includes an overview of key points of the document and enrollment goals for all populations, as well as a discussion of how budget planning and enrollment goals will be handled in the future.

During the main board meeting on Jan. 19, University leadership will present an overview of efforts to retain students from initial enrollment through graduation, including a series of new initiatives designed to ensure that students at risk of leaving the University before graduation are identified and provided with the necessary assistance to help them complete their degrees.

Additional information, including the full January 2018 OHIO Board of Trustees meeting agenda, is available online at www.ohio.edu/trustees.