OSU Board to discuss strategic plan, ticket prices

Zach Varda
Wed, 20 Feb 2019 03:00:18 +0000
Campus, News, academic affairs and student life, basketball tickets, Board, board of trustees, carmen, carmenbooks, committee, digital flagship, dublin, dublin city council, full board, Governance Committee, Ohio, ohio state, ohio state campus, ohio state university, osu, prices, strategic plan, textbooks, ticket, tickets, time and change, wexner medical board, wexner medical center

The university Board of Trustees will meet On Thursday and Friday at the Longaberger house, with the Wexner Medical Center Board meeting on Wednesday at the Ross Heart Hospital. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Photo Editor

The Ohio State University Board of Trustees will meet this week to discuss a variety of topics, including new property acquisitions, basketball ticket prices, textbook costs and a review of the university’s strategic plan.

The Wexner Medical Board of Trustees will meet 9 a.m. Wednesday, all but one committee of the university board will meet on Thursday and both the Governance Committee and the full Board meeting will take place on Friday.

Strategic plan

Ohio State’s strategic plan, dubbed Time and Change, which aims to provide a roadmap for the university for the years to come, will be discussed at all meetings this week.

Board materials released Monday show that each committee will be presented with different materials relating to the plan.

All committees, however, will talk about the “five pillars” of the plan: teaching and learning; access, affordability and excellence; research and creative expression; academic health care; and operational excellence and resource stewardship.

Textbooks and the digital flagship

The Academic Affairs and Student Life Committee will review a plan to fully roll out CarmenBooks in Autumn 2019 to cut the cost of course materials for students.

CarmenBooks provides students textbooks in a digital format and at a discounted price for their courses. According to Board materials, the average cost of one textbook for a GE course is $153 and 65 percent of students said high textbook costs had caused them at some point to not buy a required textbook.

A pilot for CarmenBooks was used in the Autumn 2018 semester and according to an Ohio State press release, “1,606 students from 12 courses in two colleges participated, resulting in total savings of $217,173.”

Wexner expanding

The Board will consider the acquisition of vacant real estate in Dublin, Ohio, on Shier Rings Road to expand ambulatory care facilities, according to Board documents.

The 34 acres of land would be purchased from the City of Dublin if the plan is approved by the Board, with the purchase and subsequent development of the land being funded by the Wexner Medical Center.

In addition to consideration by the Board, Dublin City Council will consider the purchase when it meets on March 11.