Saw this discussion on the MAC board. The gist of the story is that President of Akron spoke recently and said that there is a push to consolidate the public universities in Ohio and that in the end there will be only three public schools that would survive: OSU, UC and Miami.

I would be interested to know others thoughts on this subject.


http://csnbbs.com/thread-739573.html

I think you meant to link to this page..

http://csnbbs.com/thread-737071.html

Since the beginning of SUSO there has been discussion of consolidation between Ohio's public universities and colleges to streamline services, resources and programs.

Some of the early discussion involved having one flagship TOSU and all other schools being TOSU satellites...UC would become TOSU/Cincinnati or something like that. (using North Carolina's or Wisconsin's model).

If the assertion on that thread is true and the discussion over time has evolved to three remaining flagships — TOSU, UC and MU, I can live with that as a Bearcat fan. UC has the reputation, rankings, national brand etc. to deserve maintaining it's own identity...guessing there will be some hurt feelings for OU fans.

I would guess the other schools like Akron, Kent, BGSU, Toledo, OU would be absorbed as satellites of TOSU and others like Central and Shawnee would close.

I think Miami should be rolled in UC

(06-05-2015 05:20 PM)dossbig Wrote:  I think Miami should be rolled in UC

I get that youre being facetious, but the instructional model of our universities would make that all but impossible.


I am surprised that they would not maintain Ohio University, as that would be a natural fit to absorb some schools...I'd be shocked however, if they keep every institution active if OSU absorbs all of them, way too much operational money would be required, but, that being said, it would allow the ability for a few of those schools (probably Toledo and Akron) to increase their state funding as OSU would be able to disburse more to them than the state used to.

That would be interesting to look at however, because I think you'd create three very different umbrellas of, one full service (Ohio State, including schools like Cleveland State, Youngstown State, Ohio U, and BGSU to increase satellite presence in larger hubs on the state), one Technological and Professional (Cincinnati under the new umbrella institution of Ohio Polytechnic Institute, or Ohio Tech, with schools such as Toledo or Akron being assimilted), and one liberal arts institution (Miami, which would natural absorb Kent State)

(06-05-2015 05:26 PM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(06-05-2015 05:20 PM)dossbig Wrote:  I think Miami should be rolled in UC

I get that youre being facetious, but the instructional model of our universities would make that all but impossible.

Yes, Doss - I get (and definitely HOPE) that you are. No collar-poopers at my school.

I misspelled "poppers' on purpose But Miami women are more than welcome IMO

Ohio University is the oldest of Ohio's public universities, isn't very close to any others, and is home to the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. No way they disappear.[/align]

Ohio U isn't going anywhere. lol

I don't give a rats about anybody in Ohio but UC though. In fact, Cincinnati, the city, should should secede from the rest of the state. They can have OSU and the Browns and all that other junk.

Why not divide the state into 5 regions:

1. Central role all into to$u
2. Southwest role all into UC (Wright State, Miami)
3. Southeast role all into OU (Shawnee, etc.)
4. Northwest role all into Toledo (BGSU, etc.)
5. Northeast role all into Cleveland State (KSU, YSU, etc.)

Agreed, OU is safe. Strickland did have a plan that included UC taking over Miami and other consolidations that ultimately made 4 flagship: UC, OSU, OU, and Toledo. He got a lot of heat and backed off.

Five School Plan
CSU The University of Akron
UT Bowling Green State University
UC Central State University
UC University of Cincinnati
CSU Cleveland State University
CSU Kent State University
UC Miami University
CSU Northeast Ohio Medical University
OSU The Ohio State University
OU Ohio University
OU Shawnee State University
UT The University of Toledo
UC Wright State University
CSU Youngstown State University

Satellite campus locations would also be effected.

(06-07-2015 09:39 AM)dossbig Wrote:  Five School Plan
CSU The University of Akron
UT Bowling Green State University
UC Central State University
UC University of Cincinnati
CSU Cleveland State University
CSU Kent State University
UC Miami University
CSU Northeast Ohio Medical University
OSU The Ohio State University
OU Ohio University
OU Shawnee State University
UT The University of Toledo
UC Wright State University
CSU Youngstown State University

Satellite campus locations would also be effected.

Just one correction: "UC The University of Cincinnati

(06-06-2015 07:29 PM)mlb Wrote:  Agreed, OU is safe. Strickland did have a plan that included UC taking over Miami and other consolidations that ultimately made 4 flagship: UC, OSU, OU, and Toledo. He got a lot of heat and backed off.

Can you cite any source or news article for this assertion? I doubt that your supposition is true because it would be a political non-starter. Governors do not INTENTIONALLY alienate large portions of their constituents. Even with the metro Cleveland area struggling economically(City of Cleveland in particular), a Governor would be foolish politically not to put one of the state's principal universities in its largest Metro area.

Dossbig posted the plan. I thought it was 4 but ended up being 5.

Have to agree with others that IF there were contractions of Ohio public universities Ohio University would be among the survivors. They have a strong brand throughout the state and have some top-notch academic programs.

Speaking of Ohio University, this past weekend I went to a wedding in Wheeling WV. On my way there I noticed OU had branch/affiliate schools in Pickerington, Lancaster, Zanesville, Cambridge and St. Clairsville. One question I have is why hasn't UC expanded its regional campuses outside of I-275. I think it would make a lot of sense to have a campus in the Dayton/Springfield area and perhaps even in and around Columbus. IMO it would help grow our brand throughout the state and make the university even stronger. Is there a down side to having a couple more regional campuses?

(06-08-2015 04:58 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Speaking of Ohio University, this past weekend I went to a wedding in Wheeling WV. On my way there I noticed OU had branch/affiliate schools in Pickerington, Lancaster, Zanesville, Cambridge and St. Clairsville. One question I have is why hasn't UC expanded its regional campuses outside of I-275. I think it would make a lot of sense to have a campus in the Dayton/Springfield area and perhaps even in and around Columbus. IMO it would help grow our brand throughout the state and make the university even stronger. Is there a down side to having a couple more regional campuses?

OU just built a nursing school in Dublin, on the Northeast side of Columbus.

(06-08-2015 04:58 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  Have to agree with others that IF there were contractions of Ohio public universities Ohio University would be among the survivors. They have a strong brand throughout the state and have some top-notch academic programs.

Speaking of Ohio University, this past weekend I went to a wedding in Wheeling WV. On my way there I noticed OU had branch/affiliate schools in Pickerington, Lancaster, Zanesville, Cambridge and St. Clairsville. One question I have is why hasn't UC expanded its regional campuses outside of I-275. I think it would make a lot of sense to have a campus in the Dayton/Springfield area and perhaps even in and around Columbus. IMO it would help grow our brand throughout the state and make the university even stronger. Is there a down side to having a couple more regional campuses?

OH's total enrollment UG and G is only 21K. UC's is over 43K. OU's satellites are more about them trying to grow their enrollment than expanding their brand. If I'm remembering their enrollment stats correctly their enrollment has just held steady or even declined over the past 8-10 years while UC's has grown from 36K to over 43K. (UC's enrollment has increased even though the overall population of college age/eligible students in the US has declined.)

UC could expand with more branch campuses (there are three — Blue Ash, Clermont and Eastgate at the old Ford plant) (they also offer adult ED at some Cincinnati area businesses like GE) but UC is pretty happy with where the enrollment currently is.

OU needs those branch campuses for survival. Eastern Ohio is in serious decline. College age students have lots of other options now and going to rural eastern Ohio doesn't appeal to alot of them anymore. OU may be the oldest institution in Ohio (why does that fact alone guarantee their survival if their enrollment is in decline?) and it shows in their facilities and the town they are located in.

The kid of a good friend of ours was a freshman at OU this past year and will be a sophomore at UC in the fall.

Politicians begat any number of public universities and they'll be the first to scream when these schools are eliminated or merged in such a way that their local identity is lost. I believe the family tree for Shawnee State can be traced to a long serving state legislator from that sparsely populated corner of Ohio. There is a furor even when a university tries to eliminate a single academic department, including ones that duplicate programs offered all over the state.

It's similar to closing an unneeded military base; every member of Congress wants to reduce spending--until it's in their district. I'll be shocked if Ohio ever executes such a bold plan.

Per Santa's twitter feed today

Santa J. Ono ‏@PrezOno · 53m53 minutes ago
Ohio Senate proposes $240 million in new funding over the biennium for Ohio's state universities, the largest increase in 5 yrs

Highlights from the Senate Budget:

HIGHER EDUCATION:

— Freezes tuition rates at public two-year and four-year colleges and universities for the two years beginning in July.

— Requires institutions to propose ways to also reduce student costs by 5 percent.

— Increases state higher education funding by $81.9 million a year over the biennium, plus an additional $76.2 million in fiscal year 2017.


http://www.morningjournal.com/general-ne...hio-senate

(06-08-2015 09:37 AM)indycat Wrote:  Politicians begat any number of public universities and they'll be the first to scream when these schools are eliminated or merged in such a way that their local identity is lost. I believe the family tree for Shawnee State can be traced to a long serving state legislator from that sparsely populated corner of Ohio. There is a furor even when a university tries to eliminate a single academic department, including ones that duplicate programs offered all over the state.

It's similar to closing an unneeded military base; every member of Congress wants to reduce spending--until it's in their district. I'll be shocked if Ohio ever executes such a bold plan.

Shawnee State owes its origins to former Ohio House Speaker Vern Riffe, who represented rural, south central Ohio for over two decades. It is the also the rural area that was represented in the Ohio Senate by State Senator Myrl Shoemaker, after whom UC's basketball arena is named and whose son, Mick, played on the Bearcat basketball teams under former coach Gale Catlett.