RESOURCES 

STUDENT SUCCESS

There are many aspects to student success. Fundamental to creating an environment that promotes success is understanding who our students are and their reasons for choosing Bowling Green State University. Academic and non-academic programs, physical facilities, and safety are also components of student success addressed in this section.

Students
More than 90% of our students are from the state of Ohio, coming from urban, suburban, and rural areas. Most are from middle class families, and many are first-generation college students who select Bowling Green State University as their top choice for higher education.

The freshman class of 2001 is indicative of the general makeup of the main campus student body. More than half (52%) come from within 101-500 miles from Bowling Green, with the next highest group coming from 11-50 miles away (24%). The percentage of students whose estimated parental income is $75,000 or more is 43%. This number has increased in the last ten years, as the freshman class of 1991 had only 18% whose estimated parental income was $75,000 or more. Approximately 65% of students at the University receive financial aid, with more than 7.5 million dollars in scholarships awarded annually [FA3]. On the First Year Student Questionnaire [FY2], the freshman class of 2001 overwhelmingly felt the University was the best place to attend college–82% stated that Bowling Green State University was their first choice. The principal reasons students selected the University are the perceived career success of our graduates, our unique educational programs, our academic reputation, and a pleasant and friendly campus visit.

Enrollment at the University has increased during the past several years, with a total of 20,276 students as of fall 2001, which includes 15,369 full-time undergraduate students and 1,432 full-time graduate students. Part-time students compose the rest of the student body, 2,036 of whom are undergraduates, and 1,439 of whom are graduate students. The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) students is 16,864 as of fall 2001. With 820 full-time faculty members, the ratio of FTE students to full-time faculty members is 22:1.

The majority of students (77%) at the University fall within the range of 18-21 years of age. The next largest group is the 22-24 year old age range (15%). Women compose 58 % (11,679) of the student body, and men 42% (8,597). A total of 2,832 students (14%) come from diverse backgrounds and represent the following ethnicities: African American/Black, American Indian/Native American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Other/Unknown [FB1].

Academic Programs
At the core of the university’s learning environment is a broad range of curricular offerings, including associate, baccalaureate, and graduate programs, as well as undergraduate and graduate specialist and certificate programs [CU1, CG1]. Instruction is provided through the schools, departments, and programs of seven colleges: Arts and Sciences, BGSU Firelands, Business Administration, Education and Human Development, Health and Human Services, Musical Arts, and Technology. At the undergraduate level, 13 associate degrees, 24 bachelor’s degrees, and several one-year certificates are available, representing more than 200 different programs of study. All baccalaureate students, as well as those in associate degree programs at BGSU Firelands, are provided with a liberal education base through the University’s General Education curriculum, which is designed to give students an understanding of the multiple realities of a complex and culturally diverse world [CU1, page 5]. The Graduate College supports 15 master’s degrees in over 60 fields, 2 specialist programs, and 16 doctoral programs [CG1, page 59].

The Students’ Experience
A large variety of residential and out-of-class experiences integrate the students’ academic growth with the many other dimensions of their lives at the University. The collaboration of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs has been essential to help structure integrated student programs, for instance Residence Life and First-year Programs. Academic programs and student affairs programs, which are often integrated or coordinated, will be more fully described in the Efficacy chapter.

Facilities
In the mid-1980s the University initiated a program of refurbishment of all buildings. At the present time, all academic buildings are in good working condition and are on a regular building maintenance program [PS1]. An audit procedure has been developed to assess maintenance needs on a timely basis. Three of our original buildings on campus, University Hall, Moseley Hall, and Hanna Hall, are scheduled for major rehabilitation over the next several years. Most residence halls have been through a complete renovation since 1992.

The University supports a large number of classrooms, lecture halls, laboratories, studios, and other instructional spaces [RB1]. Classroom utilization data [CU2] reveal that the space is more than adequate to meet demands at peak times (classroom utilization is low compared to state standards). There are 12 computer labs equipped with specialized machines and software for students’ use on campus. Some labs are designed for a special purpose, while other areas are available for general use. Limited wireless capabilities are now available with more to come in this area. Video streaming capabilities are expected fall 2002 in every classroom on campus.

Two of the most popular buildings available to students are the Student Recreation Center and the Bowen-Thompson Student Union [SU1]. Doors opened to the newly renovated and expanded Bowen-Thompson Student Union in January of 2002. The 33.5 million dollar project offers students a vast array of services and facilities to support leisure and learning opportunities, including a food court, full-service restaurant, two-story bookstore, convenience store, 24-hour computer lab, post office, copy shop, meeting rooms, and movie theater. Student organizations and student conference rooms are housed on the third and fourth floors. Students are able to schedule meetings and activities in the Union for groups from 2 to 1,500.

The Student Recreation Center opened in 1979 and has been updated regularly with equipment and renovations to stay current in its offerings of fitness and recreation activities. Some of the amenities the Center has to offer include a climbing wall, an elevated indoor running track, two swimming pools, basketball courts, raquetball/handball courts, and weight rooms, along with fitness/wellness-based classes.

Residence Halls. In the past ten years, emphasis has been given to improving the environment and support services in university residences [OC2]. In large part, this emphasis reflects the recognition that the residents are primarily first-year and second-year undergraduate students, many of them the first of their family attending college; it also recognizes that the quality of residential life is an important factor in attracting and retaining students.

Major renovations have been undertaken in residence halls and small group living units, at a cost of approximately 60 million dollars in the last decade. The Founders renovation provided an alternative housing configuration of suites with bathrooms, which has proved popular for second-year and upper-class students. Changes in the residence halls have had a positive effect on occupancy. With more second-year students remaining in residence, occupancy is at an all-time high.

The Board of Trustees passed a residential technology fee for fall 1995, allowing the creation of computer facilities in all residential units. Networking access in student rooms was established in a pilot program in Chapman Hall in 1991, and was extended in 1997-98 to all residences. The number of computer connections from student rooms has increased from just under 600 in spring, 1998 to over 6,000 in spring, 2002. Group project computing rooms have been created in two buildings, and more will be added where feasible.

Improvements in safety have been substantial over the past ten years. Smoking has been prohibited in student residences; flame-retardant standards for furniture have been increased; candles and other flammable items have been prohibited; keypad locks have been installed on bathroom doors; alarms have been added to warn of doors being propped open; front desks have switched to 24-hour-a-day staffing; Personal Entry Devices (PED) have been distributed to restrict access to stairwells and residential areas; glass panels for entry doors and emergency 911 phones have been made a standard in residential computer labs; and fire drills are conducted with involvement of the Fire Department of the City of Bowling Green.

Libraries. The William T. Jerome Library, the Ogg Science Library, the Northwest Ohio Regional Book Depository, and the BGSU Firelands Library house the university’s library resources. The Jerome Library is an eight-story facility that provides services including direct borrowing from other OhioLINK libraries, electronic reserves, and many other services. Recently, a building feasibility study was completed to determine how to improve library facilities. The intention is to develop the Jerome Library into a “campus center” that offers comprehensive academic support services for students. The feasibility study has led to the appointment of a building committee charged with developing a renovation plan.

Campus Security and Safety
The mission of the Department of Public Safety, both on the main campus and at BGSU Firelands, is to ensure the quality of life at the University by working in partnership with students, faculty, and staff to enforce the law, provide quality services, reduce fear of crime, and promote joint problem-solving to ensure a safe, secure, and orderly campus and contribute toward a positive learning environment [SS2]. To accomplish its mission, the Department of Public Safety embraces community-oriented policing. Community-oriented policing is a philosophy, a management style, and an organizational strategy that promotes proactive problem solving and police-community partnerships to address the causes of crime, fear, and other community issues.

DEVELOPING IDENTITY: VALUES EXPLORATION

The University has developed programs of study designed to build six distinct capabilities, or University Learning Outcomes, in its graduates: investigate, connect, write, present, participate, and lead. These learning outcomes lead to graduates who are critical and constructive thinkers, effective communicators, and contributing members of society. All six of the learning outcomes are components of the general education curriculum and of the various majors, and thus describe the basis for continuity and coherence in the curriculum as a whole. Moreover, the University Learning Outcomes embrace the university’s core values, thus furthering the vision and values for which the University is known.

The University has recently taken steps to increase the emphasis on values exploration, critical thinking, civic engagement, and character development throughout the curricular and co-curricular experience. A pilot version of the values initiative, the Bowling Green Experience, will be piloted in fall 2002. The values initiative has been featured in a pair of articles in a recent issue of the BGSU Magazine [BG1], and will be described in more detail in the Efficacy and Planning chapters.

FACULTY AND STAFF SUCCESS AND SATISFACTION

As is evident from the Vision statement, in which the idea of a learning community is emphasized, student success cannot be achieved in isolation. In particular, faculty and staff success is necessary to student success.

Faculty
Faculty have the potential, perhaps more than any other constituent group, to impact student success. The University employed 820 full-time faculty during the 2001-02 academic year. Complete descriptive information about the faculty is available in the Fact Book [FB1]. An overview and brief analysis of that information is provided here.

Of the 820 full-time faculty, 334 (41%) are female and 486 (59%) are male; 114 (14%) are members of racial or ethnic minorities; 625 (77%) are full professors, associate professors, or assistant professors. The remaining 23% of faculty are non-tenure track (lecturers or instructors), a number which is high in comparison with other public universities in Ohio. We also rely fairly heavily on part-time instructors and graduate students to teach. In terms of student credit hours (SCH) generated, approximately 15% of undergraduate instruction is provided by part-time faculty and 12% by graduate students. At the graduate level, approximately 9% of instruction is provided by part-time faculty (and none by graduate students). Overall, a significant amount of instruction is delivered by non-tenure track faculty, part-time faculty, and graduate students.

A high proportion of the tenured and tenure-track faculty have been hired within the last four years (43%), and are at the assistant professor rank. The heavy representation of new faculty is the result of our efforts to replace the large number of senior faculty who left the University when the Early Retirement Program was terminated in 1997-98. As will be evident in the Planning chapter, our efforts to increase the number of tenured and tenure-track faculty continue.

Staff
The University has two bodies of permanent professional staff: administrative staff who are paid on a salary basis, and classified staff, who are paid on an hourly basis. A subset of the classified category is the unionized classified staff: the International Union of Police Associations, Local No. 103, AFL-CIO [IU1]. The University also utilizes two other categories of employees to handle increased work loads during peak periods: temporary workers, limited to 1,000 hours of work per year, and non-student letters of appointment, one year contracts for critical projects already underway.

The Office of Human Resources has developed and implemented specific guidelines regarding the recruitment and selection process of administrative and classified staff [HR1], and standardized evaluation forms for administrative and classified staff [PA2]. All staff members are formally evaluated on a yearly basis, while new employees are evaluated multiple times during their probationary periods and annually thereafter.

Administrative Staff. There are 643 administrative staff members at the University: 584 full-time and 59 part-time; 337 female and 306 male; 79 racial or ethnic minorities. The salary category with the plurality of employees (26%) is $30,000-$39,999 per year. A full breakdown of salary ranges for administrative staff can be found in the Fact Book [FB1].

Classified Staff. There are 1,268 classified staff members at the University: 871 are full-time and 397 are part-time; 918 female and 350 male; and 86 racial or ethnic minorities. The wage category with the plurality of employees (28.6%) is $12.50-$14.99 per hour. The full breakdown of wage ranges for classified staff is also available in the Fact Book [FB1].

DIVERSITY AND GLOBAL AWARENESS

The University has diligently worked to establish itself as a diverse community. Initiatives have been implemented to diversify our campus community in all aspects, not only in recruiting and retaining students, faculty, and staff from diverse cultures, but also in the university’s programming and curriculum.

Numerous student organizations and programs have been designed explicitly to strengthen the support environment for minority students [CM1]. These organizations are an asset to the University in the area of diversity, and provide places where students of color can come together to find role models and develop a sense of community. Student programming is also very visible, with student organizations hosting a number of events throughout the year, including such activities as Latinopalooza, Black History Month, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities. In addition, BGSU Firelands sponsors the Multicultural Student Union. This organization’s primary goal is to address the academic and social needs of minority students on campus.

We have made strides in the recruitment and enrollment of diverse populations, and while retention rates for students of color from the freshman to sophomore year are strong, our retention rates from the sophomore to senior year continue to lag behind Caucasian students by approximately 13%.

The General Education Curriculum includes a requirement for a course in Cultural Diversity in the United States and another for a course having an International Perspective. Given that most of our students are white and many have had little exposure to diverse cultures, these courses represent an important aspect of our curriculum. International students, education abroad programs, and faculty exchanges are all key components to broaden diversity and global awareness.

FUNDING FROM NON-ENROLLMENT SOURCES

State support of higher education has not kept pace with our needs, forcing us to elevate “non-enrollment sources of funding” to a Strategic Future Direction. Here we will provide the background for all our funding strategies, including those based on enrollment.

Budgeting Process
The Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration and the Director of Budgeting are responsible for management of the budgeting process and the financial resources of the University. Two “oversight” committees, the University Budget Committee (UBC) and the Faculty Senate Budget Committee (FSBC) also provide significant input into the budgeting process on the main campus. The UBC’s members include the area vice presidents, the Director of Budgeting, and the Director of Planning and Institutional Research. The Faculty Senate elects the members of the FSBC to represent each of the colleges. The chair (or occasionally the vice chair) of the Faculty Senate, the chair of the FSBC, members of the President’s Cabinet, and chairs of the Administrative Staff Council and Classified Staff Council meet with the Finance subcommittee of the Board of Trustees at each scheduled Board meeting. Students make recommendations regarding the general fee to the FSBC through the Student Budget Committee and the Student Organization Funding Board.

The University prepares budgets using a highly participatory process with input solicited at many different levels of the process. On the academic side, department budget committees develop recommendations and requests along with the department chair and then forward these requests to their respective college offices. Deans, working with college budget committees, review the departmental requests and rank them as collegiate priorities and then forward them to the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Provost, after reviewing the collegiate requests, determines the overall priorities for the Academic Affairs area and then presents them to the FSBC and the UBC. The two budget committees prepare budget recommendations for review by the President and ultimate consideration by the Board of Trustees.

The process for developing budget requests and recommendations for consideration by FSBC and UBC is similar in other vice presidential areas and for budgets other than the educational budget, although in those cases there is often only a single budget committee working with the respective vice president.

BGSU Firelands, being a self-contained budget center, is solely responsible for its own revenue and expenditures. Its budget, prepared in a manner similar to that described above, is also forwarded to the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs for review and approval by the Board of Trustees.

Financial Health
In the early 1990s, the Ohio Board of Regents instituted a process called “Fiscal Watch” to monitor the fiscal status of all state universities. The fiscal watch process is driven by calculation of a set of ratios developed by the Regents. The ratios include a viability ratio, a net income ratio, and a primary reserve ratio. Each of the three ratios is assigned a score from 0 to 5; an overall weighted score is also calculated. A composite score of 1.75 or lower is an indication of significant financial weakness. It is reasonable for an institution to have a goal of maintaining a composite score at a level of 3.0 or higher. For fiscal year 2001, all three of the ratios, and the weighted composite score were 4.0, indicating our excellent financial condition [FW1]. Out of the 15 state institutions covered under the fiscal watch, in fiscal year (FY) 2000 the University was fifth highest in viability, second highest in net income, second highest in primary reserve, and fourth overall in composite score. The recent issuance of 54.7 million dollars in bonds significantly increased our outstanding debt, but overall the University is in excellent fiscal condition.

Financial Monitoring
The Office of Budgeting in Finance and Administration prepares a variety of reports to monitor the revenue and expense flows monthly. On the revenue side, these reports monitor state share of instruction, student instructional fees, room and board fees, general fees, and auxiliary sales activity. On the expense side, reports are generated monthly for the auxiliary budget expenses; whereas, educational budget expenses are reviewed on a quarterly basis. The Director of Budgeting prepares a quarterly budget report that is shared with the Board of Trustees and central administration. This report presents all revenue and expense incurred as of that quarter and provides a narrative that highlights variances and identifies any areas of concern.

Major Revenue Sources
A comparison of state support (“subsidy”) with instructional fees [SI1] shows a decline in the state’s share of instruction from 58.4% in 1990 to 46.2% in 2002. How the University will be able to continue to provide an outstanding learning environment in the face of dwindling state support and increased student fees is one of the major challenges to the resources of the University (we will follow up on this observation in the Planning Chapter).

RESEARCH AND CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

Faculty appreciate the opportunity to do research and creative activity as one of the benefits of working at a larger university. Clearly, research and creative activity are vital to graduate education. In recent years, we have been making explicit efforts to extend research opportunities to undergraduates. The spirit of inquiry is embodied in the University Learning Outcomes of investigate and connect. Properly understood and implemented, research and creative activity constitute a theme that contributes to the academic experience of all members of the university’s learning community.

Office of Sponsored Programs And Research
The Office of Sponsored Programs and Research reports to the Vice Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate College. The Office contributes to building an environment conducive to research and the creation of knowledge. The Office promotes, coordinates, and supports interdisciplinary, collaborative research efforts. The Office remains mindful of federal and state initiatives that affect or govern external funding for the institution. It recognizes the need for university faculty to be part of the regional, national, and international research community and makes every effort to provide appropriate assistance in resource information, proposal development, electronic submission, and award monitoring. The Office monitors the investment of internal seed funds, establishing benchmarks and measures of success. It leads the institutional outreach effort to apply university research capabilities to business and industry.

Staff members have focused in the last five years on establishing the framework that will allow the University to conduct research administration electronically, from program information dissemination to conducting internal competitions in electronic formats. In the last year, great strides have been made to provide access to comprehensive information sources that support the research environment.

The Faculty Research Committee (FRC), a standing committee of the institution and an advisory body to the Vice Provost for Research, works in coordination with the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research to administer the internal, competitive, seed grant programs. Committee programs are aimed at facilitating faculty research, with a special initiative focused to assist probationary faculty in establishing their research agendas.

FRC funding has increased over the last three years, averaging $150,000 of investment activity each year. The funding is provided through the return of Facilities and Administrative Fees (formerly indirect cost) to the Vice Provost for Research. The Office of Sponsored Programs and Research also monitors Research Challenge funds from the state of Ohio. These funds have averaged between $250,000 and $490,000 each biennial period since 1986.

Centers Reporting to the Vice Provost for Research
The university’s research centers and institutes support and facilitate interdisciplinary research in key areas. The centers enable the institution to compete on a national and international level in terms of grants, scholarly recognition, and graduate education. At the state level, the centers present the opportunity to respond to Ohio initiatives that emphasize technology, K-12 education improvement, and economic and workforce development. At the state and local level, the centers have fostered partnerships with other institutions thereby enhancing their likelihood of success in competitive programs. Likewise, the centers have begun the process of attracting industrial support for large and small-scale interdisciplinary research.

In the natural sciences

• The Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior is an interdisciplinary research center with a focus on integrating behavioral research with sub-disciplines of the neurosciences. Disciplines represented by affiliated faculty include biology, chemistry, psychology, medicine, and communication disorders. Collaborative partners include the University of Toledo and the Medical College of Ohio.

• The Center for Biomolecular Sciences facilitates academic/industrial cooperation with biotechnology enterprises in the region. Center faculty use a variety of techniques including molecular genetics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, spectroscopy, kinetics, and thermodynamics.

• The Center for Family and Demographic Research is one of the few centers in Ohio dedicated to training, research, and service in demography. The Center integrates demographic methods, data, and perspectives with other social scientific approaches to understand the well-being of children and families.
• The Center for Policy Analysis and Public Service strengthens the university’s presence in the community and region as a partner with an array of external organizations in the public and not-for-profit sectors. It brings together federal, state, and local government officials to discuss key policy issues; it establishes partnerships with other state and national centers for research in public policy; and it encourages civic education and meaningful citizen involvement. The Center conducts applied public policy research, provides technical assistance to policymakers, and disseminates information to a broad range of constituents involved in public affairs [GP1].
• The long-standing Social Philosophy and Policy Center is dedicated to the examination of public policy issues from a philosophical perspective. It is generally regarded as the leading institution of its kind in the English-speaking world. The Center disseminates the ideas of these scholars through many activities and publications, including scholarly conferences and colloquia, research fellowships, books, original research papers, and an interdisciplinary journal, Social Philosophy & Policy, published by Cambridge University Press. The Center also provides research support for philosophy faculty and fellowships for graduate students, and sponsors conferences and lectures for the university community.
• The Institute for the Study of Culture and Society, founded in 1996, promotes scholarly and creative projects in the humanities and arts, as well as in the social sciences and education. This includes term-long research residencies for university faculty, interdisciplinary Research Cluster Groups for faculty and graduate students, writing workshops, and a yearly lecture series.

• The Center for Evaluation Services’ primary purpose is to provide evaluation services on a local, state, and national level for projects and agencies in the fields of education and human services.

Teacher Preparation. The College of Education and Human Development has long enjoyed a national reputation as one of the premier teaching preparation programs. Research conducted by the faculty is applied directly in the region’s classrooms and in the preparation of tomorrow’s teachers. The success of the College’s programs is demonstrated by a history of external funding, ranging from multi-million dollar federal grants to hundreds of internship and cooperative agreements with local school districts.

Center for Photochemical Sciences. The Center, founded in 1985, is one of the premier research and doctoral educational programs in Ohio and the nation that focuses on the interaction of light with physical, chemical, and biological systems. Center members include faculty from the departments of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, and Biological Sciences. Graduates are among the most sought after in the world and play a major role in research and development in industries related to imaging, printing, digital displays, optical fibers, communication devices, and lasers.

Institute for Psychological Research and Application. This is a broad-based interdisciplinary research institute that offers a wide range of professional services to organizations in both the private and public sectors. Services include assessing job satisfaction, employee attitudes, turnover, absenteeism, customer service, and customer satisfaction. Investigators also specialize in consulting on occupational health and safety, equal employment, and affirmative action issues.

MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music. This national center, housed within the College of Musical Arts, is devoted to the study and promotion of contemporary music. In recognition of its diverse activities, the Center has twice been awarded the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Awards for Adventuresome Programming. In addition to a full calendar of concerts and symposia, the Center provides grants to support research, technology, and development activities in music written since 1945.

Canadian Studies Center. The Center acts as a full-service Canadian information resource, with the primary objective of strengthening business relationships between Ohio and Canadian enterprises. In addition, the Center produces a number of publications on Canadian-Ohio business topics and maintains a library of Canadian business information.

Peer-Reviewed Academic Journals. A number of scholarly journals are either edited by university faculty or published by the University. Some examples include:

• INQUIRY: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines; Daniel Fasko, Jr., Editor, College of Education and Human Development
• The Spectrum is abstracted by Chemical Abstracts and Abstracts Journal of the All-Russian Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
• American Review of Canadian Studies, edited by Mark Kasoff, Director of the Canadian Studies Center
• Modern Austrian Literature, Geoffrey C. Howes (German, Russian & East Asian Languages), co-editor with Jacqueline Vansant, University of Michigan-Dearborn
• Slovene Studies, edited by Timothy Pogacar, Chair, German, Russian & East Asian Languages
• Social Philosophy & Policy, a bi-annual journal from the Social Philosophy and Policy Center

Supply Chain Management Institute. The Institute’s mission is to identify and nurture collaborative relationships with companies to promote excellence in supply chain management education and practice and to help enhance members’ capabilities by conducting relevant, applied research. Members experience a variety of benefits, including increased visibility among some of the top supply chain management students in the country.

EXTERNAL PARTNERS

Increasingly in recent years, universities have been accepting more of the responsibility for demonstrating the relevance of education, research, and creative activity to the broader world. At the University, such partnerships occur on many levels and involve many members of the university’s learning community.

Centers and Institutes
The creation of centers and institutes has been a vehicle to pursue the university’s mission of community service outreach while creating a network of working partners in Northwest Ohio. Several of these have been mentioned above because of their role in facilitating research. They also present the opportunity to respond to State of Ohio initiatives. Many have been featured in the institution’s publication Partnering Knowledge & Industry [PK1]. Others not mentioned above include
 

• The Center for Innovative and Transformative Education serves as a vehicle for bringing multiple constituencies together around issues of education and democratic participation in community life. It helped organize several initiatives connecting the University to P-12 education in the region.
• Partnerships for Community Action is dedicated to redefining the relationship of the University to the broader community. Under the aegis of the Provost, this center creates and supports innovative campus/community partnerships. It offers faculty, students, and staff grants up to $5,000 that develop mutually beneficial partnerships between university members and community citizens [PC1].
• The Institute for Organizational Effectiveness provides expertise in managing and improving organizational performance to business firms, governmental agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.
• The Center for Applied Technology has oversight responsibility for all outreach initiatives pursued by the College of Technology. The Center provides technology training, implementation assistance, and new business start-up assistance to business, industry, and the public sector. Through these activities, the Center works to enhance economic growth and market access.

Continuing Education, International, and Summer Programs
Continuing Education, International, and Summer Programs offers a wide variety of outreach programs [CE5]. Examples include

• The Arts Unlimited program provides summer credit workshops to K-12 teachers to promote the infusion of aesthetic education throughout the curriculum in an effort to promote teacher professional development and student learning across the curriculum.
• Off-campus Programs provide support services to the university’s colleges to offer credit courses and degree programs at sites in northwest and north central Ohio. Off-Campus Programs also serves as a partner in support of state and national training grants for teacher and school administrator graduate programs and ongoing professional development. Through distance education, many of these programs will be available throughout the state.
• The Computer-Training Center provides computer training and certification for novice and experienced computer users through on-campus classrooms, off-campus facilities in Maumee and Toledo, and web-based delivery.
• The Training Center designs and delivers highly interactive, professional development training to employees in public and private sector organizations throughout the state.

TECHNOLOGY FOR LEARNING, TEACHING, RESEARCH, AND UNIVERSITY OPERATIONS

With the completion of the BGSupernet project in 2002, the University has a complete voice, data, and video fiber optic network based on Gigabit Ethernet. The supernet provides the foundation for reliable network access and high speed information transmission anywhere on campus. The supernet will have a direct impact on students, enhancing access to and use of information [BG3]. Our commitment to provide a complete range of modern information technology services makes our infrastructure a cultural entity, not just a collection of machines, wires, and other “hard” materials.

The Chief Information Officer is responsible for development and implementation of information technology strategic plans for administrative systems, classroom support, and communications infrastructure. In the past few years we have

• implemented a distributed computing support process, whereby Information Technology Services staff are assigned to visit every building on campus every day;
• created the position of Security Officer to help address the issues of information privacy and security, as they relate to information technology;
• created a university-wide technology help desk; and
• implemented a web-based portal system to support classroom and administrative activities.

Research Computing
Understanding that the quality of support for research computing will have an impact on the university’s ability to attract and retain excellent faculty and graduate students, we have emphasized computing resources that will support research and creative efforts. For instance, we have become a member of the Internet 2 consortium, and we have awarded internal grants totaling over $300,000 to develop computing projects. A campus digital video and audio project, makes digital equipment and training readily available. Information Technology Services provides support for departmental servers, and works with departments and colleges to upgrade computing facilities in support of specific academic applications.

Administrative Computing
Administrative offices provide services to the entire university community as well as to external populations. Administrative computing systems maintain, for instance, data on all aspects of student academic progress and payroll activity for all employees. Information systems contribute to the ability of administrative offices and administrative users to work accurately, effectively, and efficiently.

A significant advancement in this area has been the establishment of a university-wide web portal, which provides appropriate access to information contained in the administrative systems. Our web-enabled services for students include access to

• admissions status,
• financial aid status and award amounts,
• bursar bills and most recent transactions,
• room and meal plans,
• registration,
• schedule of classes,
• grades,
• degree audit, and
• the Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs.

Faculty have access to class rosters, in addition to other services. Students, faculty, and staff may all use the portal to register for vehicle and parking permits.

Developing Human Resources in Information Technology
The Student Technology Center’s primary goal is to provide technology training for the student population–it is the place students go when they are in doubt about information technology [ST1]. Through workshops, tutoring, and online tutorials, the Center introduces students to instructional materials that focus on tasks related to specific student needs and assignments. One of the first projects of the Center was the Laptop Program. Students enrolled in the Academic Enhancement, pre-major advising program are able to check out laptops from the library in much the same way they would check out books. The students may remain in the program for a three-year period, as long as they maintain a full-time course load. At the end of that time, they are given the option to purchase the laptops. The program thus improves access to technology to those students most in need of academic support. BGSU Firelands has a similar program, whereby students in need can borrow a desktop computer and monitor for a semester.

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology offers a wide variety of workshops, institutes, conferences, and consulting services for faculty and for graduate students with teaching responsibilities [CT1]. The approach of the Center is to focus on the needs of teachers in and out of the classroom, and to provide a range of development activities by which faculty may learn about traditional as well as technological approaches to teaching and learning. The Creative Development Studio, a high-end computer and technology facility located within the Center, provides the sophisticated hardware and software necessary to support the latest developments in digital video and audio, web page development, courseware development using Blackboard, and creating CDs and DVDs.

The Interactive Distance Education for All Learners (IDEAL) center provides technology support for the university community, focusing on the development of fully online, web-based and web-centric courses and degree programs. It is housed within Continuing Education, International, and Summer Programs, and provides a new venue to address faculty interest in distance education and outreach to new populations of potential students. Assisted by the Distance Education Advisory Board, IDEAL’s mission includes (1) providing guidance in the creation of appropriate policies and tools to facilitate faculty development, protect faculty welfare, and guide the assessment of online curricula and courses; (2) monitoring trends in distance education nationally and internationally in order to provide timely, informed counsel to deans and other administrators who oversee the quality and viability of academic programs; and (3) providing leadership in communication efforts to promote distance education at the University, using the IDEAL web site [ID1] and other media to provide a full array of student and faculty services, including tutorials and relevant pedagogical training.

NOT-TRADITIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Continuing Education, International and Summer Programs (CEISP) is a unique interdisciplinary, multifunctional academic and support unit. Its mission is to provide organizations and individuals with access to university academic programs and to personal and professional development offerings, both on and off campus.

Adult Learners
Within CEISP, the Office of Adult Learner Services & Evening Credit Programs (ALS) offers a wide range of academic, informational, and support services to adults seeking a change in career, a return to the work place, or post-secondary educational opportunities in northwest Ohio. ALS provides extensive career counseling, pre-admission and academic advising, and easy access to registration and orientation processes for prospective and continuing nontraditional students. By design, ALS offers a “one-stop” point of contact for adult learners; it serves as an advocacy office and as an academic support unit for continuing adult and evening students.

Distance Education
CEISP has been actively involved in promoting and developing distance education at the University and in the northwest Ohio region since 1994. It has worked through faculty development seminars, financial and technical support for innovative projects, and educational partnerships on and off campus. CEISP has provided crucial support services including advising, scheduling, registration, marketing, and promotion for distance education courses and programs. In addition, CEISP has offered a unique vision and demonstrated leadership in developing innovative instructional delivery methods–efforts that reach out to nontraditional student populations and enhance the university’s image as a technologically competent and forward-thinking institution of higher learning. CEISP, through its IDEAL unit, has been an active partner with the CTLT, WBGU-TV, the North West Ohio Educational Television foundation, and several colleges, especially the College of Technology and BGSU Firelands, in expanding access to the university’s degree and certificate programs through distance education offerings.

BGSU Firelands’ Office for Educational Outreach offers a wide variety of lifelong learning opportunities, courses, workshops, and seminars for the major purpose of providing area residents with non-credit opportunities to develop new skills or to stimulate new interests.

STRATEGIC APPROACHES TO PLANNING, BUDGETING, DECISION-MARKING, AND COMMUNICATION

Additional detail will be provided on this topic in the Planning chapter. Here we describe decision-making structures and processes.

The University is committed to a model of shared governance, in which the Board of Trustees, the President and his Cabinet, and the Faculty Senate all play important roles as described in the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees [BB1] and in the Academic Charter [AC1]. Students and staff are represented on the Board and by appropriate councils. University governance relies heavily on a number of committees; faculty, staff, and student participation on these committees is vital to the system of shared governance. The overall governance structure is represented in organizational charts [OC1].

Board of Trustees
Under Ohio law “the governance of the University is vested in” the eleven members of the Board of Trustees, who are appointed by the Governor. To meet their obligations under Ohio law, the members of the Board of Trustees have the ultimate responsibility for the organization, administration, and operation of the University.

The Board of Trustees conducts all university affairs in accordance with its responsibilities and powers under the constitution and laws of the state of Ohio. The Board establishes and monitors the execution of policy that guides the administration in the day-to-day operations of the University, selects a president, and on the president’s advice, a staff to administer the policy, and supports the efforts of the president and staff in relation with the Ohio Board of Regents, members of the state legislature, and state officials.

The Board of Trustees has established a 23-member BGSU Firelands Advisory Board whose purpose is to advise, counsel, and assist the Board of Trustees in all matters pertaining to BGSU Firelands.

President’s Office and Cabinet
The President is the chief executive officer of the University. The President appoints the vice presidents and other officers with the consent of the Board of Trustees. Each officer has duties and responsibilities assigned by the President and each serves at the pleasure of the President. The President leads in fostering and promoting education, research, and public services as the primary aims of the University. It is the president’s duty to enforce the bylaws, rules and regulations, and directions of the Board and, as a member of the faculty, interpret to the Board proposals and actions of the faculty.

Working with the President to lead the central administration is the President’s Cabinet, which meets weekly to discuss issues that affect all areas of the University. The members of the Cabinet include the Executive Vice President, the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Vice President for University Advancement, the Vice President for Student Affairs, the University General Counsel, the University Secretary and Secretary to the Board of Trustees, and the Administrative Assistant to the President.

Also contributing to the philosophy of shared governance is the President’s Advisory Council, the university’s cross-divisional leadership team. A University Planning Council serves in an advisory capacity to the President in the area of long-range planning.

Faculty Senate
The Faculty Senate is the constituent group for university faculty. Membership is by election or by virtue of office. The 62 senators are elected by and from the faculties of the degree-granting undergraduate colleges, Instructional Support Services, and retired faculty. Ex-officio senators are the President, Provost, Vice President for Student Affairs, the Executive Vice President, two graduate students appointed by Graduate Student Senate, six elected officers of Undergraduate Student Government, and one of the elected officers of the BGSU Firelands student body.

The Senate is obligated to promote a climate of academic freedom for all faculty; it develops and maintains standards pertaining to promotion, work load, salary distribution, and accountability concerning professional ethics and responsibilities. The Senate also has the authority to frame policies that promote optimum utilization of university resources, including involvement in the budgeting process; the economic well-being of faculty; professional growth and development activities; and library resources, instructional research equipment, services, and facilities.

Administrative Staff Council
All administrative staff are represented by the Administrative Staff Council. The purpose of Council is to promote the general welfare of administrative staff members; seek professional development opportunities; maintain communication among staff members; and review, initiate, and make recommendations on institutional policies.

Classified Staff Council
The Classified Staff Council is the representative body for the full- and part-time staff. The purpose of the Council is to provide direct channels of communication between classified staff members and university officials. Areas of concern include policies, procedures, benefits, and services.

Graduate Student Senate
The Graduate Student Senate is an elected representative body responsible for addressing graduate student concerns. The Senate has the responsibility and authority to appoint graduate student representatives to university councils, committees, policy-making bodies, and advisory boards. The Senate encourages just representation of all graduate students and the development of learning environments that are conducive to the intellectual and spiritual growth of the students.

Undergraduate Student Government
The Undergraduate Student Government is the elected body representing the undergraduate students on main campus. BGSU Firelands has a similar elected body. The mission of the Undergraduate Student Government is to further the needs of the student body initiating any action necessary to meet these needs.

Committees
There are several types of committees including university standing committees, constituent group standing committees, and university or constituent ad hoc committees. There are presently 23 university standing committees [US1]. These are permanent committees that provide a means for faculty, staff, and students to express their concerns and make recommendations.

The constituent groups also have permanent committees that deal with matters of interest to each group, such as the Faculty Welfare Committee, Classified Staff Salary Compensation Committee, Administrative Staff Professional Development Committee, and the Graduate Student Senate Committee on International Affairs.

Ad hoc committees are appointed to complete a specific project and are usually appointed by the group interested in the project. University ad hoc committees are overseen by the Faculty Senate as spelled out in Article V of the Academic Charter.

SUMMARY

The self-study process revealed that the human, physical, and financial resources of the University are appropriate to accomplish its purposes. Although specific needs and initiatives will be addressed in detail in the Planning chapter, the current chapter’s survey of the university’s resources has yielded the following appraisal.

As a result of a concerted, campus-wide emphasis on recruitment and retention, the size of the student body has increased over the last several years. We have achieved a size we would like to maintain. Our enrollment management plan, to be described in the Planning chapter, will emphasize diversity, student quality, and balance among programs in the context of providing appropriate financial aid.

The termination of the Early Retirement Plan in 1997-98 led to a large number of retirements of full professors, followed (after a lag period of two years) by a large number of hires of assistant professors. Plans for continuation of hiring of tenured and tenure-track faculty will be described in Planning; the plan will allow us to increase the number and percent of tenured and tenure-track faculty and reduce the student-to-faculty ratio.

The physical facilities are in excellent condition and are regularly maintained. Recent improvements in residence halls and the reconstruction of the Student Union have been designed to create an attractive and supportive environment for students. Similarly, the construction of a new technology infrastructure provides the support for innovative approaches to teaching, learning, and research.

State funding has not kept pace with the financial needs of the University, motivating greater emphasis on non-enrollment revenue sources. The financial watch ratios, and other indicators described, reveal that the University is in solid financial condition. There is concern about decline in state support of higher education, as there is in states around the nation. In response to this situation, the Planning chapter will emphasize development efforts, external funding, partnering with business and industry, and distance education.

In an effort to focus support for research and creative activity in specified areas of excellence and potential, the University has made increased use of centers and institutes. These serve to identify areas of strength, provide opportunities for collaboration among faculty and students, and serve as points of contact for partnerships with business and industry. Increasing our success in garnering external funding remains a high priority for the future.

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