Ohio State trustees approve interm budget, discuss Senate Bill 83, ChatGPT and more
Ohio State University's Board of Trustees met this week for its May meetings, its first without a permanent president at the university's helm.
Typically, Ohio State's president gives a report to trustees at the public full-board meeting Thursday afternoon. But with Kristina Johnson officially the university's recent past president and no interim president in place, trustee John Zeiger shared remarks with the board before voting on its agenda.
More: Will Ohio State name a new president at its board of trustees meetings this week?
Zeiger congratulated Ohio State's recent graduates and gave a brief update on the presidential search. He said the search is making "efficient and timely" progress.
The board, which met for committee meetings throughout the week at the Longaberger Alumni House, approved an interim budget and new faculty appointments among other items.
Here's a look at some of the board's actions:
Interim budget approved for the summer
Trustees approved an interim budget plan for July and August of approximately $548 million in revenue and $663 million in expenses.
The state's biennial budget for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, which includes funding for Ohio's colleges and universities, is still being worked out by the Ohio General Assembly. The state budget will solidify subsidies for Ohio's colleges and universities, set in-state undergraduate tuition parameters and other potential funding.
The interim budget will allow Ohio State to keep operating from July 1 to Aug. 31 until the state's budget is approved. An operating budget for fiscal year 2024 will be finalized and adopted at the trustees' next meeting in August.
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At Thursday's Finance & Investment committee meeting, Kristine Devine, Ohio State's vice president of operations and deputy chief financial officer, explained that the nearly $79 million deficit is a result of fewer tuition and fee dollars coming into the university over the summer.
"It's the seasonality of the business," she said.
This is the fourth consecutive year the university has passed an interim budget.
Free speech on campus and Senate Bill 83
Trustees officially approved the adoption of a free speech policy required by Ohio law.
In December 2020, Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill prohibiting universities from blocking controversial speakers on campus and banning the establishment of free speech zones.
The law also requires the board of trustees to adopt a campus free speech policy and a process under which students, student groups, staff and faculty members can file a complaint about alleged violations of the policy. Trustees approved an interim policy in August 2022.
"Members of the General Assembly of Ohio have raised questions regarding the university’s commitment to intellectual diversity in its academic pursuits, and its dedication to allowing students the freedom to develop and express independent views on societal and political issues," according to the resolution.
"In response, the Board of Trustees wishes to reconfirm the university’s foundational commitment to the values of free speech, open debate, intellectual diversity, and the development of independent decision-making abilities in our students."
The policy comes on the heels of Ohio State's Board of Trustees publishing a rare public statement Tuesday speaking out against Senate Bill 83.
More: Ohio State's Board of Trustees issue a statement opposing Senate Bill 83
SB 83, called by proponents the Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act, has been the subject of outcry among dozens of university faculty members, leaders, and students since it was introduced in March. Opponents say the bill would radically change campus life across Ohio and could devastate the state's higher education ecosystem for years.
Zieger said during the full-board meeting that the trustees' statement was "an action not taken lightly," but it was a decision the board felt strongly about and decided unanimously to do.
In their statement, trustees said that while they acknowledge there are some valid concerns in the bill, they believe there are better ways to resolve them than through legislation.
Zieger said Ohio State and its trustees share a commitment to free speech, open dialogue and diversity of thought, which is represented in the new free speech policy. The board also approved a resolution "reaffirming the foundational values of intellectual diversity."
Despite the trustees opposition, SB 83 passed out of the Ohio Senate on Wednesday. It now moves onto the House of Representatives for further debate.
Comings and goings in the health colleges
Ohio State Provost Melissa Gilliam asked trustees at Wednesday's Academic Affairs & Student Life committee meeting to approve the hiring of new deans for two of the university's health colleges.
Karen Rose, who currently serves as vice dean of the College of Nursing, will be promoted to dean of the college beginning July 1. She is also a tenured professor and director of the Center for Healthy Aging, Self-Management, and Complex Care. Rose is replacing Bernadette Melnyk, who will remain Ohio State's chief wellness officer.
Deanna Kroetz will be the next dean of the College of Pharmacy. She is taking over for Henry Mann, who is returning to Ohio State's faculty after a decade as dean. Kroetz comes to Ohio State from the University of California, San Fransisco, where she was a professor and chair of the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences in the Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine. Kroetz's first day is Sept. 1.
More: Meet the Ohio State trustees taking over for Abigail Wexner and Alex Fischer
Gilliam also recognized Amy Fairchild, dean of the College of Public Health, who is leaving to be a professor in the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Fairchild helped lead Ohio State through the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and shape its pandemic policies. Her last day will be June 30.
Outside of the health colleges, Gilliam also announced the hiring of Jason Lemon, Ohio State's inaugural vice provost and dean for online learning. Lemon currently serves as vice provost and dean of the University of Cincinnati Online, and will help grow Ohio State's online offerings.
Gilliam also took a moment to remember Bear Braumoeller, a political science professor who died earlier this month at Oslo University Hospital in Norway following a short illness.
"His loss is painful to our entire community," she said.
ChatGPT: 'It's fascinating, and it's scary.'
The OSU trustees' Academic Affairs & Student Life committee invited Ayanna Howard, dean of the College of Engineering, to discuss one of the hottest issues in education: ChatGPT.
Howard, who serves on the U.S. Department of Commerce's National AI Advisory Committee, explained that ChatGPT's innovation is not just that it's widely available, but that it's easy to use.
Higher education, Howard said, has alway been on the back-end of looking at technology. She remembered when universities at different times banned students from calculators, laptops and Wikipedia.
"We've been here before," she said.
While the starting assumption is usually "Students will use it to cheat," Howard said the question should be, "How do we capitalize on the good?"
There are plenty of potential negatives of ChatGPT in the classroom, Howard said, like the possibility of cheating, bias and being fooled into thinking everything the chatbot spits out is accurate.
But there are bright spots, Howard said. For example, ChatGPT can be used as a personal librarian, help professors customize course content, teach students to code and will likely create new high-paying jobs.
Some of the trustees expressed equal levels of excitement and fear over the new technology.
"It's fascinating, and it's scary," said committee chair Jeff Kaplan.
Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for her Mobile Newsroom newsletter here and Extra Credit, her education newsletter, here.
shendrix@dispatch.com
@sheridan120
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: SB 83, ChatGPT among items Ohio State's trustees discussed this week
