OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY COUNCIL MINUTES
Minutes, October 30, 2012
Roll: (Absentees Underlined) President Daniel DiBiasio, VP David Crago, VP William Ballard, VP Ken Block, VP
Larry Lesick, VP Adriane Thompson-Bradshaw, Dean Catherine Albrecht, Dean Eric Baumgartner, Dean Jon Sprague,
Dean James Fenton, Interim Dean Stephen Veltri, Chaplain David MacDonald, Dr. Alisa Agozzino, Dr. Jeffery Allison,
Dr. Khalid Al-Olimat, Dr. Rob Alexander, Mr. Eric Ambos, Dr. Joanne Brant, Dr. Bob Carrothers, Prof. Jennifer Donley,
Dr. Howard Fenton, Dr. Lou Lobenhofer, Dr. John Jay Mager, Dr. David Mikesell, Prof. Sue Montenery, Dr. Michelle
Musser, Dr. Brian Myers, Dr. Kristie Payment, Dr. Ronald Peterson, Dr. Susan Schertzer, Dr. Sandy Schroeder, Dr. Jenny
Walton, Dr. Dexter Woods
Rob Alexander, Chair of Council, called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. in Dicke Hall 230.
I.
Minutes of October 16, 2012 meeting approved after correction of minutes approval date (item I), and correction
of item III.b. to reflect that Ron Peterson raised the question, not David Mikesell.
II.
Reports from Constitutional Committees
a.
Budget & Appropriations: No report.
b.
Academic Affairs: Presenting Unfinished Business with a slight revision based on comments from the
previous Council meeting. Most of the committee’s time has been spent on the Strategic Plan.
c.
Student Activities: No report.
d.
Personnel: Committee is continuing to work on Strategic Plan. New Business item on agenda
concerning the emeritus/emerita policy.
III.
Reports from Operational Committees
a.
Athletics: Committee has not yet met, but ONU athletes are having a very successful fall season.
b.
Information Technology: Welcoming a new staff member later in November for educational technology
issues on campus such as Moodle Rooms. The launch of ooVoo is in the near future. There will be
subtle and then formal approaches released for getting started with ooVoo.
c.
Cultural & Special Events: Committee has not met.
d.
International Affairs: Committee has not met.
e.
Religious Affairs: No report.
f.
General Education: An email was sent to all of the sophomores that participate in Taskstream to let
them know of their artifact collection progress. There are PDF files for faculty and staff to view and use
while working with students who come to the offices for advice. These files are on the P: drive under
General Education.
VI.
Other Reports
a.
Vice-Presidents
i.
Academic Affairs: No report.
ii.
Financial Affairs: No report.
iii.
University Advancement: ONU is in the final phase of the Campus Campaign. As of October
30, the University was at 55% participation. It is important to increase this number because it
is used in the University’s ratings. Last year ended with 60% participation.
iv.
Admissions and Financial Aid: No report.
v.
Student Affairs: As of October 29, there were 42 applicants for the Director of Multicultural
Development position.
b.
Deans
i.
Arts and Sciences: No report.
ii.
Engineering: No report.
iii.
c.
d.
Pharmacy: The College of Pharmacy Distinguished Alumni event will be held on Wednesday,
October 31, and will honor three distinguished alums: Senator Dave Burke, Hanley Wheeler
from CVS, and Suzanne Eastman Wuest from Catalina Health.
iv.
Business Administration: No report.
v.
Law: No report.
Student Senate: Received an invitation to Ohio Wesleyan’s Student Government Summit on November
10th.
Health Services Advisory Committee: No report.
VII.
Chair/Faculty Comments:
a. Rob Alexander: A new line item was added to the University Council agenda for “Chair/Faculty
Comments”. As Chair of Council, Rob has been soliciting information from the Faculty, and the line was
added so that there is a place for them to address Council. It is an access point for those who are solicited to
be able to speak.
b. Margot Cullen: Two handouts were passed around (See Attachments 1 and 2) that related to Margot’s
concerns about the draft of ONU’s new mission statement. Margot spoke to Council and discussion
followed, and that discussion is summarized below.
i.
Margot: Looking for discussion and feedback on the mission statement, and concerned with how
the material in the front of the handbook defines us as a University. Specifically concerned with
the mission statement. (See Attachment 1, sections A-D.) Would like to see if Faculty and
Administration could generate alternate responses that would then be voted upon.
ii.
Discussion: Lou Lobenhofer expressed his concerns regarding the effectiveness of a large group
drafting exercise. Best conducted by a smaller group that gathers input from various departments
such as faculty, marketing, and admissions. Bob Carrothers added that the draft statement was
written by a body of people which included faculty input, and that voting wouldn’t necessarily
result in a statement that was the most beneficial to all parties affected by the statement. Rob
Alexander and Jay Mager suggested having University Council vote on the final statement, as the
Council represents ONU faculty, students, and administration. Jon Sprague asked for clarification
of the concerned parties that Margot was representing, and Margot responded that there were
around 50 people who had expressed their concerns to her, including a consensus within Arts and
Sciences.
iii.
Conclusion: The President assured those present that feedback will be considered, that there is time
for changes, and confirmed that this is still a draft. The mission statement was initially nested in a
larger document that included a heritage statement, and the connection between the two is very
important; all items work together in the document to convey the ideas. Clarified that the Board
will have the final vote on the entire document. Requested to have any suggestions sent directly to
him, and he will then take the collective responses from the various groups to the multi-constituent
drafting committee for consideration when rethinking the final draft.
VIII.
President Comments/Questions: University Forum presentation specifics came out in an email today. Three
different guidance counselor meetings were held since the last Council meeting. There was a good reaction to the
reputational equity of Ohio Northern, but issues of cost came up frequently. The net tuition and fees, all-in-cost,
for 4-year not-for-profits is $24k and ONU’s net cost comparison to the national average is right below that. The
difference is sticker price and net price, and students are not always encouraged to look further than the sticker
price. The President also announced that ONU will be one of the five Ohio Methodist universities coming
together on December 10 for an exchange of ideas and a look at commonalities.
IX.
Unfinished Business
a. Academic Affairs: (Registration) Comments from the previous Council meeting were considered during
revisions, and the new wording better reflects current practice of an electronic override. Motion passed. (See
vote on separate page below and Attachment A for the revised Registration 3.4.7.)
X.
New Business
a. Personnel: (Emeritus or Emerita Status, Attachment B) Provost Crago spoke in support of the change, as the
prior practice put the VP of Academic Affairs in the position to judge a person’s service to the University.
Offered a friendly amendment due to a concern that there will be occasions when faculty/administrators
retire as part of a resolution of employment disputes. Under this proposal, a retirement that occurred that
way would still allow them to receive emeritus/emerita status. Amendment was to add after the word
“professor” in 4.A.4: “…and would otherwise be eligible for reemployment.” Clarification was made that
this would not make someone who had passed away ineligible.
XI.
Announcements: David McDonald announced that next Friday at noon there will be a wreath laying ceremony in
honor of veterans, as well as other events during the week in preparation for Veterans Day. Rob Alexander
announced that there will be an Election Night Watch Party on November 6 at the Inn.
XII.
Adjournment at 6:24.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Donley, Secretary
10/30/12 Voting Issue: per agenda Att. A yes no x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x Council Member President Daniel DiBiasio Provost/VP David Crago VP William Ballard VP Ken Block VP Larry Lesick VP Adriane Thompson‐Bradshaw Dean Catherine Albrecht Dean Eric Baumgartner Dean Jon Sprague Dean James Fenton Interim Dean Stephen Veltri Rev. David MacDonald Dr. Alisa Agozzino Dr. Robert Alexander Dr. Jeffery Allison Dr. Khalid Al‐Olimat Mr. Eric Ambos Dr. Joanne Brant Dr. Bob Carrothers Prof. Jennifer Donley Dr. Howard Fenton Dr. Lou Lobenhofer Dr. John Jay Mager Dr. David Mikesell Prof. Sue Montenery Dr. Michelle Musser Dr. Brian Myers Dr. Kristie Payment Dr. Ronald Peterson Dr. Susan Schertzer Dr. Sandy Schroeder Dr. Jenny Walton Dr. Dexter Woods Academic Support Staff Rep Totals 20 abst Attachment A
Amendments to 3.4.7 page 56 in Faculty Handbook.
3.4
Registration
…
7.
In order to register for a schedule of classes which contains a time conflict, undergraduate students must obtain
the signature or the electronic override of the two faculty instructors involved.
Attachment 1
Concernsaboutthedraftmissionstatement
October20,2012
UniversityCouncil
MargotCullen
Asamissionstatement(andrelatedmaterialsconcerningvision,etc.)significantlydefinesourcommon
experienceatONU,makingsurethatwehaveonethatmostofuscanaffirmisimportant.Also,the
missionstatementisfrequentlyusedtojustifychangesorretentionofelementswithinvariouslevelsof
universitystructures,sohaspracticalpolicyimplications.
Themissionstatementsinquestion
Currentmissionstatement
Draftnewmissionstatement
Toengagewithstudentstodream,learn,
OhioNorthernUniversity,aUnited
problem‐solve,innovate,create,serve,and
Methodist‐relatedinstitutionofhigher
worksotheyareinspiredandequippedto
learning,seekstoeducateandgraduate
makesignificantcontributionstotheir
studentsaccomplishedinscholastic
professionsandcommunities.
achievement,preparedforausefullifeand
meaningfulcareerandinspiredwithadesire
tocontributetothegoodofmankind
consistentwithJudeo‐Christianideals.
DanDiBiasioinrecente‐mailshasgenerouslyofferedsomeinsightsaboutwhatheconsiderstobe
strongpointsofthenewdraftmissionstatement:
“Firstisthequestionabout‘whytheadministrationwantstochangeanestablished,andfairly
successful,missionstatement?‘Theshortansweristhattheadministration,aswellasthefacultywho
wereinvolvedindraftingandreviewingthesedocuments,donotintendtochangetheuniversity’s
mission,butrathertoofferanew,morecontemporarywaytostateourmission,admittedlyonethatis
unconventional,lessdescriptive,andmorefocusedonwhatwealldowithstudents.”
“Specificallyaboutmission,afewfacultycolleaguesurgedusbeopentosomeofthelatestthinkingon
mission,particularlytheviewsadvancedbyaspeakeratStanford'sentrepreneurcenter.
Now,justbecausethetypeofmissionstatementproposedwasadvocatedforbyaStanfordspeaker,
doesn'tmakeitrightforONUormeanthatitwillbeembracedbyall,most,ormany!Nonetheless,to
forecloseontryingsomethingalittlemoreunconventional,mightbeseenasbeingreticentto
experimentorasnotopentonewideas.”
Concerns
Theefforttobeengagedwithstudentsincreativelyinnovativewaysisaworthyone,andweallmost
likelyagreewithDanthatthiskindofinnovationatONUisnecessaryanddesirable.However,despite
thegoodintentionsbehindthedraftstatement,anumberofpeoplehaveraisedissuesconcerningit.
A.Somepeoplethinkthatdraftmissionstatementneedstobemorefullydevelopedwith
moreprecisewording.
B.Somepeoplethinkthatthedraftmissionstatementistoogenericandneedstocontainsome
distinctivefeaturesaboutONU.
C.Somepeoplethinkthatdiscardingthewording“consistentwithJudeo‐Christianideals”doesindeed
“signalaradicalchangeofpurpose”thatDanassertsisnotimpliedinthedraft.Also,anumberofthe
peoplewhoholdthisviewalsothinkthatsuggestingthesechangeswithoutexpressedconcernfromthe
administrationforhowthelossoftheseidealswouldinfluencevariousstakeholders,especially
committedfacultyisaproblemofitsown.TheseidealsaresignificanttotheculturalhistoryofONUand
importantinthemselves.
Also,alongthesamelines,anumberofpeoplehaveconcernaboutdroppingtheclassicalideasof
beauty,truth,andgoodnessfromthevisionstatement.
D.Somepeoplewantthefacultytoplayamoreactiveroleinshapingandrefiningthemission
statementandrelatedmaterials(notnecessarilythewholestrategicplan.)
Possibilities?
Afterdiscussionofthistopicwithmanyothers,Iamwonderingifthematerialassociatedwithmission
(heritage,vision,etc.)mightwellbeseparatedfromthestrategicplanandworkedonmoreintensively
bythefaculty.Afterfacultyhavepresentedseveralversionsofthismaterialtotheircolleaguesandthe
administration,thenperhapsthefacultycouldvoteontheirpreferredversion.Everyonemightnot
agreewiththeresults,butatleasttherewouldhavebeenmorefocusedfacultygovernanceparticipation
onthismostimportantpresentationofouruniversity’sidentity.
Belowisoneexampleofapossiblerevisionofthedraft.Theadministrationmightsolicitspecific
alternativessothatpeoplecancompareandcontrasttheirconceptsoftheheritage,mission,purpose,
visionetc.ofONU.
Toengagestudentstolearn,problem‐solve,createandservethroughavitalsynthesisofhumanisticliberal
artsandprofessionalpreparation,inwaysconsistentwithJudeo‐Christianideals,soourgraduatesare
inspiredandequippedbytheireducationtomakesignificantcontributionstotheirprofessionsand
communities.
Attachment 2
Stanford Mission Statements
The topic of some Stanford University influence on innovation in mission statement came in
some administrative e-mails, so I looked up the Stanford mission statement, which is below.
Actually, the overall university statement is quite traditional. Then each component of the
university develops its own detailed and specific mission statement.
Stanford University
Mission Statement
From the Stanford University Founding Grant, November 11, 1885:...the Nature, Object, and
Purposes of the Institution Hereby Founded, to Be:
Its nature, that of a university with such seminaries of learning as shall make it of the
highest grade, including mechanical institutes, museums, galleries of art, laboratories, and
conservatories, together with all things necessary for the study of agriculture in all its
branches, and for mechanical training, and the studies and exercises directed to the cultivation
and enlargement of the mind:
Its object, to qualify its students for personal success, and direct usefulness in life;
And its purposes, to promote the public welfare by exercising an influence in behalf of
humanity and civilization, teaching the blessings of liberty regulated by law, and inculcating
love and reverence for the great principles of government as derived from the inalienable
rights of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And example of an individual unit’s mission statement
Graduate School of Education Mission
Aiming towards the ideal of enabling all people to achieve maximum benefit from their educational
experiences, the Stanford Graduate School of Education seeks to continue as a world leader in groundbreaking, cross-disciplinary inquiries that shape educational practices, their conceptual underpinnings, and the
professions that serve the enterprise.
The School also seeks to develop the knowledge, wisdom, and imagination of its students to enable them to
take leadership positions in efforts to improve the quality of education around the globe.