Interior the Kirwan Years

The Kirwan Years, 1998–2002 The Kirwan Years, 1998–2002 CHRIS PERRY The Ohio State University Press Columbus Copyright © 2006 by The Ohio State University. All rights reserved. Text design by Sans Serif, Inc. Type set in Minion by Sans Serif, Inc. Printed by Thomson-Shore, Inc. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.48–1992. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In the summer of 1999, I undertook several freelance writing assignments for the president of Ohio State. By January 2000, Lee Tashjian and Brit Kirwan had lured Nancy and me to Ohio. We had always lived on the East Coast, and our Columbus “adventure,” as we called it, turned into a delightful introduc- tion to the Midwest. This book is dedicated to the people of The Ohio State University and their supporters, as well as the many others who made our time in Ohio so memorable and such fun. Go Bucks! William E. Kirwan, twelfth president of The Ohio State University. Contents Foreword ix 10 Creating a Diverse Environment 111 Good to Great 11 Helping Build Ohio’s Future 122 1 Context and Continuity 3 Managing the University Changing of the Guard 12 Paying for It All 141 2 The Brits Are Coming 9 13 Strength in Numbers 155 3 Getting Started 23 14 Crises Come and Go 174 15 Hooray for the The Academic Plan Scarlet and Gray 188 4 A Plan Is Born 35 5 Building a Changing of the Guard: The Sequel World-Class Faculty 44 16 Time to Change 6 Developing Leading Partners Again 207 Academic Programs 53 7 Developing Leading Appendix 221 Medical Programs 67 About the Author 232 8 Enhancing the Teaching and Learning Environment 79 Academic Plan 233 9 Serving the Student Body 90 Index 255 Foreword This is the thirteenth in a series of histories that recount the accomplishments and, to some extent, the tribulations of the university and its presidents. One covers the history of the university generally; the other twelve focus on various presidential administrations. Sponsored by The Ohio State University Board of Trustees, these volumes reflect not only differences of time, environment, and presidential personality but also the differing approaches chosen by a variety of individual authors. Taken together, these histories tell the story of one university while shedding light on higher education in general and on what ex- actly it is that university presidents do. The information herein comes from about eighty interviews and a variety of written materials. More personally, it also comes from the author’s experience as senior speechwriter to the president from January 2000 through June 2002 and as the primary writer—or, more accurately, negotiator—of the lan- guage in the Academic Plan. The primary activity and achievement of the Kirwan years was the creation, adoption, support for, and early implementation of the university’s Academic Plan. Much of this book is organized around that transformational document, with each strategy incorporating a “signature initiative” in which Brit Kirwan played an especially vital role. Those expecting a complete recitation of all that happened during the four years of the Kirwan presidency will be disappointed. While a great many areas are covered, the approach is more thematic than comprehensive. Many specifics were deleted to keep the manuscript to a suitable length, and, except where deemed essential, the temptation to update the story after Kirwan’s de- parture was resisted. Some additional facts can be found in the appendix, which also includes the complete text of the Academic Plan. Unless otherwise noted, photos are courtesy of Kevin Fitzsimons and his University Relations team, the University Archives, or other university or university-related offices. Of course, many people contributed to this book in important ways, in- cluding those who submitted to one or more requests for interviews or re- viewed part or all of the manuscript. I want to particularly thank David ix F OREWORD Frantz, Maureen Sharkey, and Lucy Gandert in the Board of Trustees Office as well as General Counsel Ginny Trethewey for their assistance and sound ad- vice. Also due major thanks are Jan Allen, Michael Hogan, and Bill Shkurti, who served as my advisory committee and made many useful suggestions. Fi- nally, Robert Robinson, a graduate student in diplomatic history, provided in- valuable assistance with research and in other ways. To all of them, and many others, I am grateful. x Good to Great 1 Context and Continuity The Kirwan years were part of an ongoing mission to transform The Ohio State University from a good institution to a great one, an endeavor launched two decades earlier under President Edward H. Jennings and continued under President E. Gordon Gee. While each president brought a distinctive style and particular set of interests, each also advanced what is, in hindsight, a consistent drive for selectivity, quality, and national recognition for Ohio State students, faculty, and programs. All three men—Jennings, Gee, and Kirwan—aspired to match the school’s reputation for football prowess with a reputation for academic excellence. Each built upon the legacy of his predecessors, which often blurred attempts to ascribe credit or blame and produced what appears to be a relatively seamless pursuit of higher academic standing. President Jennings initiated the movement from open to selective admis- sions, which began to attract better-prepared undergraduate students. He implemented the first Selective Excellence programs created by the Ohio Board of Regents, which targeted resources to raise the academic bar at Ohio’s public universities. He also strengthened the Honors Program and launched the high- tech research park on the university’s West Campus. President Gee supported and funded these programs and the thrust for academic excellence that they represented through such initiatives as Academic Enrichment and Strategic Investment. He also built the university’s self- esteem, convincing folks, on campus and off, in Ohio and elsewhere, that The Ohio State University was in fact worthy and deserving of respect. He person- alized the university and its mission, making friends for Ohio State everywhere he went. And he instituted the wildly successful “Affirm Thy Friendship” fund- raising campaign. Toward the end of the Gee years, the Board of Trustees began seeking a 3 Gordon Gee and Brit Kirwan outside the President’s Box at Ohio Stadium in the fall of 1998. CONTEXT AND CONTINUITY more strategic course for the university’s future. At a leadership retreat, it oc- curred to Provost Dick Sisson that the year 2010 was not all that far away. Why not, he asked, adopt a 20/10 plan? The idea took root, and the resulting 20/10 Plan set a quantitative stretch goal of ten academic programs ranked in the top ten among public universities and an additional ten in the top twenty by the year 2010. It was among a handful of key goals, programs, and reports that were in place or in progress when Kirwan arrived. Another was the highly acclaimed report from a research commission chaired by Bernadine Healy and strongly influenced by Ed Hayes, who then headed the Office of Research. Issued in August 1998, one month into Kirwan’s presidency, the report proposed “[t]o improve the quality and volume of research and scholarship to the point that Ohio State will be recognized among the top ten public research universities in the U.S.” Heavy on benchmarking and detailed comparisons with other institutions, its recommendations were bold and measurable, and many of them—such as its emphasis on interdisci- plinary research—strongly influenced events to follow. Other important influences included reports from the Committee on the Un- dergraduate Experience (CUE), the Graduate Quality of University Experience (G-QUE), the Inter-Professional Council Quality of the University Experience (I- QUE), the President’s Council on Outreach and Engagement, the Campus Master Plan and various district plans adopted by the Board of Trustees, and annual leadership agendas instituted under President Gee and prepared by Provost Ed Ray. Another related activity was budget restructuring, begun in the mid-1990s (but not implemented until July 2002) to align budgets with academic goals and foster incentives and accountability to generate revenues and reduce costs. Missing, however, was a strategy to tie these and other ideas together into a focused approach to implementing the 20/10 idea. “As a university we have identified many problems,” Kirwan told the University Senate, “and we have a larger number of strategies, plans, committees, and dedicated individuals making daily contributions to our efforts. What we don’t have, and what we badly need, is a unified, comprehensive, coherent strategy—a single plan, if you will— that articulates goals, strategies, and metrics.” And in fact, the major development of the Kirwan years, and the greatest legacy of Kirwan’s own leadership, was the creation, acceptance, and initial implementation of the university’s Academic Plan. Begun in 1999 and adopted by the Board of Trustees in December 2000, that plan became the centerpiece of Ohio State’s agenda, with budget and other priorities emanating from its six strategies and fourteen initiatives. In a relatively short period of time, it became the university’s battle cry in budget skirmishes with the state. 5 C HAPTER 1 Looking back, the flow is more apparent than it was at the time. Perspec- tive, like hindsight, is 20/20. “Ed (Jennings) put things in place,” says General Counsel Virginia (Ginny) Trethewey. “Gordon began to change people’s attitudes.

Load more