The recent decision by the Board of Trustees to have competitive admissions at Ohio State will affect students at the OSU regional campuses as well.
The university-wide decision will require that students at each regional campus earn 45 credit hours before attempting to transfer to the OSU main campus.
“This gives the student a better opportunity to succeed when they come to Ohio State,” said Randy Dunham, spokesman for OSU. “The goal is to get a college degree into as many hands as possible.”
When applying to OSU, students will rank what campus they would like to attend, and a regional campus as an alternate. If the student is not accepted to the main campus, he or she will have the possibility of getting into the alternate regional campus. After completing 45 hours, the student will be able to transfer to the OSU main campus.
“Evidence suggests that students who complete a full year on a regional campus and come to Columbus are as successful in completing their studies and graduating from Ohio State as students who begin their studies in Columbus,” said provost Ed Ray.
“It is the best strategy for the student to be successful in their studies, and that is what we are most interested in at the University,” he said.
An increase in the number of students attending regional campuses is expected with the change to competitive admissions at OSU.
“We’ll be enhanced not just from a numbers perspective, but also from a quality perspective,” said Bill Bauer, academic adviser and orientation coordinator at the Mansfield campus of Ohio State.
With the growth of the regional campuses comes increased need for accommodations. The university will also have housing on regional campuses.
Mansfield has an apartment complex with a private contractor, and the Marion and Newark campuses of Ohio State are in development with architects for student housing.
The Mansfield campus is making other changes to adapt to the expected increase in students, though Bauer said it may struggle for a little while.
Changes are being made to the hours of student services, in areas such as advising and financial aid. The campus is also enhancing its extracurricular activities, like extending welcome activities, which now last a week and a half.
Regional campuses also have plans in place to change budget and staffing needs.
“We’re a work in transition,” Bauer said.
Some students may opt to stay at the regional campuses after enrollment, Dunham said, which isn’t uncommon now.
No matter how long students choose to stay at regional campuses, OSU expects the success rate to be tremendous.
“It’s not about getting into Columbus – it’s about getting a degree from Ohio State,” Dunham said.
