The new, non-student, appointee to the Ohio State University Board of Trustees should meet several criteria for selection.
First, the new trustee should have past academic experience at OSU. It could be either an undergraduate or graduate degree, but it is essential that the trustee understands what it is like to be a student at Ohio State. The date of this degree should be within the last 25 years, to ensure that they have experienced campus during the times of greatest student population.
Second, the trustee should have academic experience at a first tier university. Again, it could be either undergraduate or graduate experience. With the new academic course OSU wishes to plot, it is vital for the new trustee to have attended a university where the number of former Rhodes Scholars at least equals the first string football team.
Of equal importance is the major they pursued. Currently five out of the eight serving trustees have their degrees in business or law — one having degrees in both. A sixth trustee has degrees in accounting, leaving only two (an Agriculture major and a chemical engineer) in non-related fields. The new trustee should either have an arts background or degrees in an engineering field. This way there would be a more academically diverse field to draw on for problem solving.
Finally, the new trustee will be expected to sit on at least six different committees. These range from the Investments Committee, in charge of getting research investments, to the Government Relations Committee which lobbies with the state government, to the Wexner Center Foundation Board which they would share with Leslie Wexner in 2002. Given the dire state of affairs for state funding of higher education, the Government Relations and Investments Committees could have an inordinate effect on the future of OSU for a number of years. The new appointee needs to be able to find money where only rocks and turnips can be squeezed.
In short, the new trustee needs to be an intelligent, personable, engineering or arts major graduate of OSU and another university. Having ties to regional business and government would be a definite plus to their resume. A difficult fit, but OSU needs the help and guidance.
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