“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.” (Mark Twain)

Hello everyone,

This week, faculty and staff throughout The Ohio State University system received an invitation to participate in the 2010-2011 Survey. I strongly urge you to take part in this effort to measure a variety of workplace issues that impact us as university employees. Please know that each and every individual opinion counts, and that greater numbers of participants will increase our confidence in the representativeness of the survey results.

As your new Dean and Director, the results of this survey will help me to better understand our campus climate. Many of you already know that the results of the last survey (conducted approximately two years ago) provided me with some rather important insights about the OSU Mansfield campus when I was preparing to take on the responsibilities associated with my new position. That’s because I have quoted these results at various times throughout my meetings these past four weeks. Interestingly, the reactions to my having referenced the previous survey results were quite positive, yet often full of surprise (as in, “hey that’s really cool that you bothered to look at those results!”).

As soon as they are compiled and released as a report, the new results will make a further contribution to our knowledge about how well things are going here in comparison to two years ago. We can ask: What has gotten better? What has stayed the same? And what – if anything – has deteriorated? These are all questions that we can begin to answer when the results of the new survey become available.

Of course, this also means that we are creating a baseline for comparison purposes in the years ahead. If (and likely when) Ohio State decides to conduct another survey, these same kinds of questions can be posed once again, so that we might continuously gain a sense of our work environment. Someone once told me that “feedback is the breakfast of champions.” If that’s the case, then I am hoping that your opinions will help build the “morning menu” that points us toward our future success.

Therefore, sometime in the next several days, go ahead and complete this very important survey. In the meantime, please take the time to enjoy the weekend with family and friends!

Steve Gavazzi

“Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Hello everyone,

This past week began with the celebration of the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. For some, this was simply a day off, a United States federal holiday that closes schools, post offices, and the like. For others, this was a day spent actively honoring our country’s most extraordinary civil rights leader. The national Martin Luther King Day of Service (part of the King Holiday and Service Act of 1994) promotes citizen participation in volunteer services that honor Dr. King. Significant numbers of people in large cities and small towns alike become actively involved in variety of contributions to and for the public good.

I am pleased to report that many of our own OSU Mansfield community members were enthusiastically connecting to exactly these sorts of activities this past week. For example, our Buckeye Ambassadors and Scarlet and Gray Group student members participated in “Day On!” by volunteering at the future site of the Little Buckeye Museum in downtown Mansfield. As reported to me by David Yoder, one of our student leaders involved in both groups, a total of 15 students contributed over 72 labor hours to the museum site throughout the day by sanding, painting, and otherwise preparing projects for the actual exhibit sites. We also received some excellent media coverage of their service:

OSU Mansfield Students Help With New Museum

OSU-M Students use MLK Day to give back

I want to mention that other campus members were there as well, including our new Coordinator of Multicultural Affairs and Student Success, Dametraus Jaggers. In fact, this has been a very busy week for Dametraus (beyond the learning curve associated with being as new as I am, that is!). In addition to attending events such as the MLK Breakfast at Providence Baptist Church and an MLK celebration at Mount Calvary Baptist Church, he also has been providing critical assistance in getting our campus ready to celebrate OSU Mansfield Black History Month.

If we are to take the teachings of the Rev. Dr. King to heart, we must commit ourselves to helping others beyond the events and activities of any one single day. Hence, in the weeks and months ahead I would wish to hear more stories from all of you – faculty, staff, and students – regarding the service-related activities you are providing to the communities surrounding our OSU Mansfield campus. And remember that these are not simply acts of kindness and generosity, but also part of our university’s mission. To wit, our strategic plan pledges us to “revitalizing our commitments” in ways that allow the OSU Mansfield campus to play an extremely active role in giving back to the communities that our university serves through our teaching, research, and service activities.

I look forward to hearing more about your efforts in the very near future. In the meantime, please take the time to enjoy the weekend with family and friends!

Steve Gavazzi

“The way to be safe is never to be secure.” (Benjamin Franklin)

Hello everyone,

My second week on campus is drawing to a close, and I am even more excited and encouraged with respect to what I have been finding out about OSU Mansfield. While faculty, staff, students, and our community members certainly are sensitive to a number of strengths that already have been identified publicly and convincingly, I am becoming more and more aware of many additional stories of distinction that have yet to be told about our great and growing campus… so stay tuned!

That said, I would like to take a moment to reflect on a more somber issue. Our flags have been flying at half staff throughout this week in commemoration of the recent tragic loss of life in Arizona. The early reports out on the motivations behind this heinous act have reflected a hodgepodge of guesses and presumptions that, in turn, have sparked quite a bit of deliberation and discussion. Even a cursory glance at this week’s editorials and columns reveals conversations on a wide variety of topics that touch upon everything from mental health issues to the incendiary nature of political discourse.  The fact that we can debate such matters as part of our being a free and open society is something to cherish and encourage. This is especially so on campuses here in Ohio and across the country, befitting the leading role that higher education should play in such national conversations.

At the same time, however, these types of events are clear reminders of the ever-present need to pay attention to issues surrounding public safety. It should be noted that I have been immensely impressed with our own campus security efforts. And while it certainly can be said that we live and work in a well-protected setting because of the efforts of such dedicated professionals as Sergeant James Sweat and Thomas Rooks, these same individuals would agree that there is no such thing as a completely safe environment. In fact, law enforcement officials themselves must remain ever vigilant, as evidenced by the recent shooting death of State Trooper Suzanne Hopper. For these reasons, I wanted to take the time this week to remind you that public safety is the responsibility of each and every one of us. So take the time to do the right things. Lock your cars, and remind others to do the same. Find partners to walk with when it starts to get dark. Be aware of your surroundings. And when you see something – anything – that just doesn’t look right, put in a call to campus security. It is always, always, always better to be safe than sorry.

On a brighter note, I believe that all of this can be viewed as part of a much larger picture, one that allows you to see OSU Mansfield as your campus. For when you see our campus in this way, you will invest yourself more heavily in what transpires here. And as a direct result, you undoubtedly will contribute to the overall well-being of everyone. In all honesty, I felt that exact surge of pride, that sense of this being my campus, as early as my second day here. And happily, that is a feeling that keeps growing with each passing week.

So be safe out there, invest yourself in our campus, and please enjoy the weekend with family and friends!

Steve Gavazzi

NOTE: This is the first in a series of brief notes written for those faculty, staff, students, and community partners of The Ohio State University at Mansfield who might be interested in some observations made by the Dean and Director of this campus.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." (Lao Tzu)

Hello everyone, and thank you for the exceptionally warm welcome I have received here on the OSU Mansfield campus. As I write this brief note, I have been on the job for one full week now, and I can honestly say that each passing day has left me more and more impressed with our campus and the people who help to make it come to life. This past week, in addition to literally figuring out where my desk was located (and everyone else's desk, for that matter), I spent a significant portion of my time as a participant in meetings with different groups of people who are responsible for teaching and keeping things running smoothly on this campus (speaking of which, "go to meeting" isn't just a software program... It's the very job description of being the dean and director!).

If I had to name two words that I heard more often than any other this week, hands down they would be "transparency" and "dialogue." Clearly, great strides already have been made to promote greater understanding through discussions amongst members of this campus. It is my observation, however, that there seems to be a rather strong desire to build upon this foundation, to move this campus and its people toward ever greater clarity and communication about our core values, our common goals, and our individual aspirations.

In the weeks and months ahead, no doubt I will be responding to a great number of questions about what I am going to do for this campus as Dean and Director, including what I will do to increase transparency and promote dialogue. These are fair and expected questions to answer, and I expect that your inquiries about my plans and actions will stretch far beyond the confines of issues I have raised here. At the same time, however, please know that the only way – let me repeat here, the only way – that I will be even remotely successful in any such endeavor is if I have a very large number of people who are willing to be my partners in this quest to grow and further develop this great campus.

Therefore, know that I look forward to many further meetings and other forms of get-togethers with all of you, and not only because I am prepared to share with you some answers to your questions about what I am going to do. I also am excited to talk with you so that I may hear about your own ideas, about what each and every one of you can do in partnership with me as we journey on this path toward greater distinction and success.

I will be seeing you soon. In the meantime, please enjoy the weekend with family and friends!

Steve Gavazzi