OHIO Board of Trustees approve naming of new South Green Residence Hall, renaming of College of Fine Arts following alumnus gift

The Ohio University Board of Trustees approved a resolution to rename the College of Fine Arts following a transformational gift commitment from notable alumnus Jeffery Chaddock and his husband Mark Morrow, as well as approved a resolution to name the new South Green Residence Hall in honor of the University’s 20th President Roderick J. McDavis during meetings Monday, Aug. 19, on the Athens campus. 

 

The Board also received its annual Faculty Senate report from Faculty Senate Chair Dr. Sarah Wyatt, which highlighted how shared governance remains a key to faculty retention, the Senate’s accomplishments from the 2023-2024 academic year and the body’s upcoming plans for the 2024-2025 academic year. 

 

Additional highlights from the Aug. 2024 Board of Trustees meetings included:

 

The Board approved a resolution to rename the College of Fine Arts and associated programs to the Jeffery D. Chaddock and Mark A. Morrow College of Fine Arts in honor of a generous gift made by notable OHIO alumnus Jeffery Chaddok and his husband, Mark Morrow.

 

The naming follows a $25 million gift commitment from Chaddock and Morrow to advance Ohio University’s College of Fine Arts, supporting its mission of fostering creativity and education. This commitment aims to enhance programs and facilities, enriching the experience for students, faculty, and the broader Appalachian community.

 

Chaddock, who has previously served as a member of the Ohio University Alumni Association Board of Directors and The Ohio University Foundation Board of Trustees, has supported and advocated for the University and arts education for many years, contributing to several key programs at the University including student scholarships, the Performing Arts Series, the Pride Center, the OU Press, the Kennedy Museum of Art, and many other areas. 

 

The Board approved a resolution to name the new residence hall on South Green in honor of OHIO’s 20^th President Roderick J. McDavis. President McDavis was the University's first African American President and only the second alumnus to lead the institution in its 220-year history.

 

During his 13 years as President, he was instrumental in developing and implementing Ohio's technology commercialization plan and the state’s first guaranteed tuition plan, the Ohio Guarantee™. Additionally, he led the development of Ohio University’s comprehensive strategic plan – Vision Ohio and was instrumental in the success of The Promise Lives Campaign, which raised over half a billion dollars to support students and programs, among several other initiatives that supported student success. Under his leadership, the University also built several new residence halls to enhance the student experience.

 

In April 2024, the Ohio University Board of Trustees approved the construction of a new residence hall on South Green and broke ground as part of the Housing Master Plan. The Roderick J. McDavis Residence Hall will be the largest residence hall on campus, with 591-beds, and provide an elevated residential experience for students that helps meet their evolving needs and embraces community.

 

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Executive Director Melinda Rhodes-DiSalvo and Assistant Professor of English Paul Shovlin presented to the Board on the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment’s (CTLA) AI-enhanced Course Redesign Institute which offers faculty development in exploring the ways generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be infused into a course. The institute serves as a springboard for any OHIO instructor interested in how to effectively and ethically teach with GenAI and leverage this technology to support student learning. Professor of Plant Biology Jared DeForest, Assistant Professor of Instruction in Digital Art and Technology Basil Masri Zada, and Assistant Professor of Instruction in Engineering Yanhui Fang also shared how they are using AI in their courses.

 

The Board learned about how the CTLA launched a six-week pilot course this summer for faculty and how the courses redesigned through the institute will serve as models for implementation, as well as innovative examples for teaching with GenAI.

 

Rhodes-DiSalvo and Shovlin also highlighted how the efforts by the CTLA and its AI Faculty Learning Community members have led to collaboration on other GenAI projects, among other benefits these courses can offer to the OHIO community. They also presented on the University-wide impacts AI can have on the future of OHIO.

 

The CTLA began offering programs on teaching and learning with GenAI as soon as ChatGPT became widely available in fall 2022. Since then, the CTLA has supported three Faculty Learning Communities, faculty and student panels on GenAI, six AI Coffee and Conversation events, and multiple workshops and customized informational and development sessions. The CTLA also established a position statement designed to guide the center’s approach to this technological innovation and provide a lens through which faculty might consider GenAI in their classrooms.

 

Vice President for Enrollment Management Candace J. Boeninger provided a preliminary update on fall 2024 enrollment, highlighting early indicators of success in advance of the September 9 fall census date. A detailed fall enrollment report will be shared with the Board in October.

 

The Board approved the 2024 completion plan which details Ohio University’s plan to address barriers to student success, such as meeting students’ financial needs, supplemental instruction, course modality shifts, expansion of the OHIO Guarantee+, DFW rate (percentage of grades of D or F or of students withdrawing from the course entirely) strategy development and inclusive access to digital course materials.

 

The plan also includes adopted Faculty Senate Resolutions aimed at improving student success and retention and describes Ohio University’s programs in Advanced Manufacturing and Healthcare which are part of the workforce initiative and provides information on Project Graduation – Ohio University’s plan and timeline to assist students in earning their associate degree. 

 

Ohio Revised Code requires the Board of Trustees within each institution of higher education to update its institution-specific strategic completion plan at least once every two years, which is designed to increase the number of degrees and certificates awarded to students.

 

The Board approved several new capital projects, including:

In other business, the Board also approved:

The complete Board of Trustees agenda from the Aug. 19 meetings is available online at https://www.ohio.edu/trustees.