Last November, the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences has launched a “re-envisioning” process that seeks to solidify Ohio State ATI’s pole position in its field — and to better align it with changes in its student population, emerging industry needs and opportunities, and the future budgetary landscape.
“This is not about tweaking or making little changes,” said Linda Martin, CFAES associate dean and director of academic affairs. “It is about shaping the future of Ohio State ATI, and this is the right time to do it.” The process, Martin said, involves looking at programs in which enrollment has been declining, identifying new programs that should be added to address future needs, and making sure ATI adequately meets the needs of the two types of students it has: those pursuing two-year degrees and the increasing number of students who go on to four-year programs.
Other priorities include strengthening relationships with industry, seeking a better integration with other parts of the college and the university, and addressing budget constraints.
The re-envisioning initiative is led by a core team of 25 faculty and staff from the Columbus and Wooster campuses, plus two student representatives. After a series of retreats, workshops, town- hall meetings and surveys taking place early this year, the team drafted a document with recommendations that was recently released to the college community by Dean McPheron.
"This report contains a set of recommendations, including macro- and micro-goals, for our consideration," said McPheron. "We will spend some time evaluating these recommendations. It is critical that we think through the implications of each goal and determine how best to react to each. Separately, the committee has provided me with a set of strategies that represent their thinking about how to implement the recommended goals. These will be invalualbe as we evaluate the goals, determine which among them represent the path we wish to follow, and choose the proper sequence of action."
A copy of the Ohio State ATI Re-envisioning Report can be downloaded here.
“I think everyone at Ohio State ATI views this as a positive step toward securing our institution’s future and as an indication of Dean Mcpheron’s strong commitment to our unique mission within the college,” Ohio State ATI Interim Director Jim Kinder said.