Ohio U Vice President discusses budget crisis with Student Senate

Chaden Djalali speaks to Student Senate. Photo by Emily Zeiler.

Ohio University Vice President Provost Chaden Djalali addressed Student Senate about the importance of transparency from the administration amid a university-wide budget crisis and its efforts to modernize the university’s academic infrastructure.

“Some of them aren’t facts, they are perceptions,” Djalali said in reference to a recent protest wherein students demonstrated their concerns for faculty members’ job security because of the university’s financial woes.

Professor Beth Quitslund and Katie Hartman, chair of the marketing department in the College of Business, presented the updated model of the new general education reform for Ohio U that will require future students to complete 38 credit hours of coursework that build on skills that include written, communication and ethics.

The current general education model, which was created in 1979, requires students to take 24 credit hours between three tiers to satisfy the requirement. The new model is scheduled to be voted on by Ohio U’s Faculty Senate in January 2020.

Senate passed a resolution to support the reformed general education requirements. 

“It is there to make it more meaningful and 21st century,” Djalali said about the importance of the reform.

Djalali also touted the university’s efforts to help make college more affordable for students through an initiative that guarantees the price of attendance, through tuition and fees, during the pursuit of a degree.

“Ohio University did the right thing by including the fees so the parents know exactly what they are paying,” Djalali said about how the university was the first to include the fees for students in the guaranteed system.

He said that the administration plans to encourage prospective students to look into certificates and leadership development programs to help prepare them for the future.

Ohio U will also work in the future to remove stigmas surrounding mental health, Djalali said.

A Student Senate initiative to add information about the university’s mental health services to class syllabi will be in a trial phase next semester before being presented to Faculty Senate.