Excellence to Eminence

Tracking Our Progress

Our six strategic goals, and the strategies and actions needed to attain them, form our Strategic Roadmap to success. They are how we measure our success on our journey to eminence. Here is some the recent progress we've made on our goals.

 One University

“We must create a sense of ‘One University’ where everyone is driven by a shared common vision, supports trans-institutional execution, and is aligned by a strategic planning process and one integrated master plan.” ‑ E. Gordon Gee

The Board of Trustees already has noted the progress in this area by way of the completion of a clearinghouse for university policies, the establishment and funding of two collaborative Centers for Innovation and three Innovation Groups, and realigning the governance of the Medical Center.

 Students First

“We will develop and execute strategies to consider needs of ‘Students First’ in all that we do; move Ohio State rapidly into the academic front ranks of American public universities; promote full diversity; and facilitate university system-wide strategies for positive student outcomes and higher education access for all qualified Ohio citizens.” ‑ E. Gordon Gee

The quick and decisive movement toward the conversion to a semester calendar is part of that, and success in the area also shows in the across-the-board improvement in numerous national rankings, high student retention rates, the ever-improving quality of the freshman classes being admitted, and the Students First, Students Now initiative which has raised $46.5 million for need-based scholarships, loans, and emergency funds.

 Faculty and Staff Talent & Culture

“We will assemble a diverse and talented leadership team that will recruit, support and retain world-class faculty and staff while creating a high-performance culture driven by our institutional values and high standards of ethics and compliance.” ‑ E. Gordon Gee

The transformation to a high-performance culture continues across the University.  A Faculty Talent workgroup has been appointed and recommendations have been made, along with new ways to measure the competitiveness of faculty compensation.  Also, Trustees have approved a plan to modernize the rules for the University’s Classified Civil Service, and the first sets of those changes have been implemented.

 Outreach and Collaboration

“We will develop public and public-private partnerships focused on economic development for our communities, the University, and the State of Ohio, while also developing ventures that establish our international leadership.” ‑ E. Gordon Gee

Two of the most recent outreach efforts typify this goal—a $12.9 million partnership to prepare teachers to be successful in high-need areas for the Columbus City Schools and the hiring of an internationally recognized expert on internationalization of higher education (William Brustein), who now has preliminary plans to open international gateways in China, Brazil and India.

 Operating and Financial Soundness & Simplicity

“We will move the University to a more robust financial position with new levels of productivity and higher return-on-investment using transparent, simple, and flexible systems, thereby attaining a high level of financial responsibility and stability.” ‑ E. Gordon Gee

Operating margins, days of cash on hand and other metrics have stayed at or better than target ranges; the University reported $94 million in savings from improved operating efficiencies last year; the University has maintained its AA2 credit rating   and fund-raising.  Numerous offices have implemented simplification procedures in advance of University-wide implementation.

The University is also making substantial progress on its fund-raising efforts, even in turbulent economic times.  The inaugural Pelotonia event was a rousing success, putting more than $4.5 million directly into the hands of researchers at The James.

Dr. Gee said the progress that has been made toward reaching his imperatives has been laudable, but is only the beginning.

“I believe the times are really quite remarkable—people see this as a moment of real opportunity,” said President Gee.  “One only needs to read the newspapers to understand that there is a massive process of change and challenge going on out there.  But this time of great change enables us to act and think differently, to make difficult choices for the long-term good of our institutions.”

 Research Prominence

“We must support and encourage innovative, ground-breaking, in-discipline and cross‑discipline research contributing to the quality of life in Ohio and beyond, thereby also enhancing our world-wide reputation to one of consistently recognized excellence.” ‑ E. Gordon Gee

Much work is being carried out to develop research pipelines and partnerships, including the establishment of the Industry Liaison Office, master planning for SciTech and expanded partnership with Battelle—a partnership typified by the recruitment of Battelle’s CEO, Jeff Wadsworth, to head the realigned Medical Center Board.  The University also is developing stronger relationships with the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.

February 3, 2010