Dynamic Strategy FY25 Progress Report
Dynamic Strategy FY25 Progress Report
Dear OHIO Community,
This year has proven that when we work together to set ambitious goals, we can and will make transformational progress. Less than two years ago we launched a planning process designed to focus our energy and effort on a set of strategic goals and actions that we would commit to not over five years or 10, but for a three-year horizon. In a short nine months we fully updated our University mission, vision and values and finalized the plan that would drive progress in four key pillars: Learn, Discover, Engage and Work.
Over the past year, we created a framework for shared governance, moved the plan into action and saw incredible forward progress. In some areas of the plan, we dove immediately into action, made strategic investments and are already seeing measurable results. In other areas, we laid the groundwork necessary to charge ahead in year two.
I want to thank our executive leadership teams for each pillar and our Implementation Advisory Committee for their work and input over the course of the past year. I also want to applaud the countless other individuals who contributed to the implementation of various parts of our Dynamic Strategy.
I hope youll join me in celebrating all you have accomplished while preparing for another busy year as we continue forever forward.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lori Stewart Gonzalez
President
FY25 Activities and Accomplishments in Review
June - December, 2024
Notable 2024 Milestones
June 14, 2024 Board of Trustees Approval
October 10, 2024 Initial Investments Announced
December 2024 New Faculty Lines Finalized
June 14, 2024
OHIOs Dynamic Strategy Finalized
During its June 2024 meeting, 窪蹋勛圖s Board of Trustees approved a resolution in support of the Universitys Dynamic Strategy, which was informed by the effort of four pillar work groups over the 2023-24 academic year. The board also approved the new University Mission, Vision and Values.
July 2024
President Gonzalez taps Leaders for Implementation
In July of 2024, Executive Vice President and Provost Donald J. Leo joined the institution, and President Gonzalez asked Provost Leo to partner with Vice President of University Communications and Marketing Robin Oliver to lead the implementation of the plan.
August 2024
Pillar Executive Leadership Teams Formed
In August, Provost Leo and Vice President Oliver finalized and charged executive leadership teams to lead each pillar. Each member of the Presidents Cabinet and each academic dean was assigned to one of the pillars as part of the leadership group. The charge was to design specific activities in line with the strategies and actions as articulated in the plan, assign responsible teams, design metrics, and ensure continued progress.
September 2024
LEARN and DISCOVER Pillars collaborate to launch faculty hiring initiative
As one of the first initiatives of the plan, Provost Leo worked closely with Vice President for Research and Creative Activity Eric Muth to design a plan to invest in new faculty positions to support the goals of the DISCOVER pillar and bolster the research enterprise. Leo and Muth invited all academic deans to submit proposals for positions.
September 2024
Faculty members identified to develop Alumni Mentorship framework
ENAGE pillar leadership tapped expert faculty members Dr. Amy Taylor Bianco in the College of Business and Dr. Dwan Robinson in the Patton College of Education to assist with the development of a framework that would help OHIO scale alumni mentorship to impact more students in alignment with the plan.
October 10, 2024
Initiatives Announced at State of the University Address
During her State of the University Address, President Gonzalez announced plans for initial investments and initiatives, including a commitment to invest $500,000 over the three years of the plan to expand experiential learning awards for students. The President also invited nominations for faculty and staff to participate in the Implementation Advisory Committee.
October 2024
OHIO commits to freezing employee cost of benefits
As the University works to improve total compensation, OHIO announced a commitment to continue to freeze the employee cost of benefits for an additional two years despite rising provider costs. The goal is to more closely align employee benefits costs with the IUC average over time. In the same month, OHIO announced a new framework for performance management.
November 2024
OHIO doubles number of students supported through experiential learning awards
Following the October announcement that the University would expand experiential learning awards, OHIO saw a 60 percent increase in award applications and made awards to 150 students in Athens and on three regional campuses, an almost 100 percent increase in the number of students impacted over the previous year.
December 2024
New research faculty positions finalized
Following thoughtful proposals from each of OHIOs academic deans, 16 new faculty lines were created to support research goals in both emerging areas of excellence as well as the targeted sectors of healthy aging, energy and the environment. Positions include:
- Eight new faculty members were hired in five colleges to support Healthy Aging research in areas including Alzheimers and dementia treatment, neurorehabilitation, osteoarthritis and biomedical engineering.
- Three new faculty hires were made in three colleges to support research in energy and the environment in areas such as science education and laser-based sensors.
- Four new positions were created across four different colleges to support an emerging focus in Artificial Intelligence research in areas including digital communication design and applied topology
December 2024
Implementation Advisory Committee Charged
After receiving dozens of nominations from across the University, a cross-divisional group of more than 30 faculty and staff members were convened as our Dynamic Strategy Implementation Advisory Committee to advise on priorities, assess progress and champion the strategy across all campuses and stakeholders.
January - June, 2025
Notable 2025 Milestones
January 2025 Planning Underway for Healthy Aging Research Cluster
February 2025 Comprehensive Workplace Survey Launched
March 2025 Date set for T1 Academic Summit
Rendering of the upcoming Heritage Translational Research Center
January 2025
Planning underway for healthy aging research cluster
Early in 2025 the DISCOVER pillar leadership began working on plans to form an aging research cluster that will serve as an anchor for the new Heritage Translational Research Center, which is expected to open in late 2026. The cluster will be supported in part by a transformational gift from the Heritage Foundation. The Edison Biotechnology Institute, re-envisioned as the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Aging, will come together with age-related research housed in the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute, the Diabetes Institute, the Infectious and Tropical Disease Institute and the Institute to Advance Health Equity.
January 2025
Student Success Data Working Group Charged
The Student Success Data Working Group was charged to review the range of available institutional data related to the LEARN pillar goals and actions. They will identify existing data sources, assess their relevance and accuracy, and determine gaps and recommend ways to fill them.
January 2025
Community Engagement Input Sessions Kick Off
In January and early February, the ENGAGE Executive Leadership Team held open forums with stakeholders across the University working with or interested in OHIOs community, corporate and alumni engagement efforts. The purpose of the sessions was to inform the development of a framework or organizational structure that would help coordinate and document the Universitys expansive outreach and engagement efforts.
February 2025
Positively Advancing our Workplace Survey launched
In February, OHIO launched its a comprehensive workplace survey administered by ModernThink as part of the Great Colleges to Work For program. The Positively Advancing our Workplace Survey or PAWS, will provide a benchmark for employee sentiment and inform the activities of the WORK Pillar group over the coming years.
February 2025
Division of Research and Creative Activity Reorganized
February brought the appointment of Kimberly Littlefield as Associate Vice President for Research Administration, completing a reorganization of the Division of Research and Creative Activity to focus its mission on growing our research and creative activity portfolio and increasing our innovation. This reorganization includes two positions being formalized and filled. Dr. Kimberly Littlefield was selected to lead research development, sponsored programs and compliance. Dr. Jason Jolley was named Interim Associate Vice President for Research Partnerships, focusing on expanding industry partnerships to increase innovation and commercialization.
March 2025
Enterprise Research Administration (ERA) System Upgraded
OHIO updated is ERA system from an aging homegrown system to a commercial system. This ERA system supports research administration and will help us increase efficiency and streamline processes in proposal development and support as well as in research compliance.
March 2025
August Date Set for T1 Academic Summit
In partnership with the Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, OHIO will host an August 2025 summit of academic leaders and expert faculty from across sectors of U.S. higher education. The primary goal of the meeting is to review, refine and continue to co-develop the initial building blocks of a national rating system that will assess and recognize postsecondary institutions committed to institutional transformation focused on teaching and learning's contribution to student success.
April 2025
New faculty certification for experiential learning launched
The Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment launched its Teaching and Assessing Experiential Learning Certification, open to faculty and staff members at OHIO. Individuals earning the certification will learn more about designing impactful experiences, fostering active learning and assessing real-world outcomes during the summer certification course.
April 2025
Regional Campus Labor Market Analysis model completed
Using 窪蹋勛圖 Chillicothe as the model, OHIO completed an initial labor market analysis to help inform community-responsive curricular planning at our regional campuses. The analysis model will be deployed for all campuses in fall 2026.