Dear Ohio State Mansfield Colleagues,

Top billing in my report goes to Ginny Corso, as she has received one of the twelve University Distinguished Staff Awards this year. The advising staff along, with myself and several other campus representatives, were on hand this past Tuesday as Ginny was honored with a lunch and award ceremony on the Columbus campus. Way to go, Ginny! And way to go Ohio State Mansfield campus, as Ginny joins a growing number of our staff members who have received this prestigious award.

One of my very favorite events on the Mansfield campus is our Graduation Celebration, which was held yesterday evening. Many of our students, along with their friends and family members, came out to commemorate the occasion, and a grand time was had by all. Of course, this year’s graduation ceremony on the Columbus campus has quite a buzz all of its own, given the fact that President Obama will be the speaker. For those of you joining me at this ceremony, I will see you bright and early, as security precautions have us arriving very early in the morning in order to be screened and seated.

On Tuesday, I was so pleased to announce that our participation rate in the campus campaign was 86% this year, surpassing our record of 85% last year. Not only is this a record setting year but, in combination with last year’s efforts, we have created a participation rate that is over double what we typically see on a yearly basis. This will be noticed and applauded in Columbus, of course, yet we will reap our greatest benefits from the word being spread throughout the communities that surround us. The fact that our faculty and staff have invested their own time and treasure in our educational mission can, should, and will make a critical difference in terms of community members stepping up and contributing to our capital campaign. Count on it!

It’s hard to believe that it is the first week of May and classes are now over. All of the preparations that we undertook in order to be ready for semester conversion seem to have paid off, as the transition was fairly smooth by most accounts. As in years past, graduation marks the end of my biweekly reports until the beginning of the new academic year. I look forward to writing again to all of you in early August. Until then, Go Bucks!

Our campus campaign participation currently stands at 55%, and we are now in the home stretch. That’s 15 percentage points better than our yearly average, but still down 30% from last year’s high. If you have given already, you have my thanks and appreciation. If you haven’t given as yet, please let me know if there is anything I can do to help (for instance, can I bring you a pledge card, or perhaps a pen?). Please remember my offer to give on behalf of anyone who cannot find a single cause within the Ohio State campaign portfolio that is worthy of investment!

Speaking of investments, this week we released information about the significant Capital Campaign gift made to our campus by Vic Smith and his family. While the size of the gift itself was quite impressive ($250,000), even more remarkable was the story behind the donation. As it turns out, Mr. Smith was accepted by Ohio State a few years before WWII broke out (his personal story includes leaving the university in order to become a fighter pilot). He would not have been able to attend Ohio State but for the kindness of the Galion Ladies’ Auxiliary, who gave him a $200 loan to help with college expenses. Mr. Smith reported to me that this was quite a sum of money in those days, as Ohio State’s tuition at the time was $20 a quarter! With this kind of assistance in mind, Vic Smith said that he was simply “paying it forward” to the next generation of college students who need the kind of financial break that he got as a young man. As a result, his gift will support the NCSC Buckeye Scholarship, which aims to provide tuition assistance to North Central graduates interested in completing a four-year program on the Ohio State Mansfield campus (a portion of his donation also will support the renovation of the Bromfield Library and Information Commons).

Mr. Smith’s generous act reveals a truly inspiring tale that takes us back to one of the core principles of university-based philanthropy. To wit, “joyful givers” are those individuals who have been exposed to something exciting on campus or to someone who is involved in exceptional work. And because we have so many great stories to tell about our campus activities and people, you can expect to hear about additional investments that donors are willing to make for our campus in the days and weeks ahead. Stay tuned!

In other news, the past two weeks have included the beginning of the annual review process with faculty members. To date, Associate Dean David Tovey and I have met with approximately 30% of the faculty (the vast majority of the remaining reviews will be completed by mid-May). It is gratifying to see that our faculty’s scholarship ratings have risen a bit in comparison to last year (as evidenced in a comparison of group mean scores). I also appreciate the conversations I have had to date with faculty members concerning their thoughts about improvement of efforts within the classroom. Especially noticeable is the strong investment that our most effective instructors have in remaining at the “top of their game.” Said a bit differently, those faculty members who are rated as “above expectations” tend to have the most clearly articulated ideas about what they are going to be working on to improve their teaching in the coming year. This should come as no surprise, as great teaching typically is the product of a great deal of work.

I hope to be writing all of you in the coming weeks with even more joyful news about our campus campaign participation rates, additional significant donations to our Capital Campaign, and breaking information about a number of on-campus and off-campus activities that will benefit our campus for many years to come. Go Bucks!

Dear Ohio State Mansfield Colleagues,

My last several Bi-Weekly Reports to the campus have surrounded the Capital Campaign. Recent developments, including most significantly the Gorman Family and Smith Family gifts, have brought increased visibility, excitement and enthusiasm to our friend raising and fundraising efforts. As well, activities surrounding our Campus Campaign are beginning to bear fruit as we strive to match or exceed last year’s overall participation rate (85%). I hope that my recent pledge to make a contribution on behalf of anyone not able to find a fund that matches their personal interest areas will push us ever more closely to the 100% participation finish line.

Meanwhile, my office has been working diligently with the Budget and Compensation Committee and the Ohio State Mansfield Board Finance Committee over the last two months on a number of important fronts. Our first task has been to complete the 2012-2013 fiscal year in “the black,” and I am pleased to note that we are on track to do exactly that. Our second and no less important task has been to create a balanced budget plan for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. Despite the lack of a tuition increase, a drop in subsidy payments, an increase in health care costs, and salary adjustment pressures, we believe that a balanced budget is in sight. My office will be sharing more information about the budget specifics in the days and weeks ahead.

At the same time, there are a lot of other activities going on in addition to the Capital Campaign and budget planning. I thought I might provide a “punch list” of these undertakings and events in the present Bi-Weekly Report so that the campus community has a sense of what’s been going on as of late.

“My Way, A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra” is almost ready for debut. If you haven’t already done so, please purchase your tickets for shows on April 11, 12, 13, or 14. My office cannot take any credit for this, other than keeping me far away from a microphone. However, this is an important event that showcases the great amount of talent that exists on our campus and in the local community, so it gets the top billing spot on my punch list!

Planning for our Third Annual Day of Celebration is proceeding smoothly. We will have a Luau theme this year, so get your Hawaiian shirts out of storage and ready for use on May 17!

Speaking of planning, the next “Beginning Anew Conversation” in partnership with Mansfield City Schools and NCSC will be hosted on May 22 and 23. Renee Thompson, our Family Engagement Coordinator, is gathering up an amazing amount of resources so that educators, business leaders, clergy, social service agency professionals, board members, families and students all can be brought together for a sustained conversation about partnerships that make a difference for the communities that surround us.

We were recently visited by representatives of the Veteran’s Affairs Office and ROTC programs on the Columbus campus, and we hope that future activities with these groups will allow us to better connect our campus to the 179th Airlift Base.

We are moving out of the design phase of the Bromfield Information Commons project and will soon be moving into the actual construction phase. The library will be literally transformed over the summer months into one of the crown jewels of our campus.

We have initiated the planning phase for the Eisenhower first floor renovation project, in concert with a series of meetings surrounding the Ohio State meal plan that will begin to be offered to our students starting this fall semester. Three square meals a day for our residential students will now be guaranteed, much to the delight of those parents who are footing the bills.

Having recently finalized our Framework Plan, we are now putting that programmatic, physical and financial planning tool to immediate good use. Among other things, the debut of the Framework Plan to our community partners has resulted in:

Investigating relationships with City of Mansfield, City of Ontario, and Richland County Commissioners regarding development and infrastructure issues

Opening the most promising dialogues yet with private developers regarding student housing

The RCC Deans have completed meetings with TIU chairs regarding the research portion of the annual review process, and we are now well underway in meetings with faculty to discuss performance ratings. The process worked even more smoothly this year, and the vast majority of chairs were exceedingly well prepared to discuss scholarship expectations and outcomes on the regional campuses.

The new Office of Extended and Distance Education on the Columbus campus is working to engage regional campus faculty on a number of distance learning initiatives, including but not limited to efforts that surround the provision of remedial education in English and Math. A meeting on this topic is planned for May 15th from 1:00-4:00 p.m. on the Marion campus.

We are finalizing an articulation agreement that will place NCSC Human Services associate degree recipients into our Bachelor of Social Work program. In tandem, we are seeking to solidify our relationship with Lorain County Community College in order to bring their students into our MSW program offerings. Once we have these agreements nailed down for our social work program, we will begin to explore similar agreements and offerings in other program areas.

There’s more, of course, but that list ought to give readers the sense that there are a lot of moving parts right now, and most all of them are trending in the right direction! Undoubtedly, future Bi-Weekly Reports will be filling in more of the details on these bullet points as they become known. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about any of this.

Go Bucks!