Ohio State President Karen A. Holbrook’s first four months have been spent primarily getting to know the ropes at such a large university.
“I have been meeting more new people than I have ever known in my life — people on campus, off campus, alumni, legislators and all types of leaders — since you can’t do much in this environment unless you know who you need to do it with,” Holbrook said.
Holbrook completed her 100th day as OSU’s 13th president Jan. 8.
Eddie Pauline, president of Undergraduate Student Government, said Holbrook has not only had to learn how to be a president, but how to be a president at OSU.
“That must be a monster in itself,” Pauline said.
Holbrook came into office saying she would ensure the continuation of the Academic Plan and all it entails. After four months she still feels that can be done, despite gloomy forecasts in the state’s budget.
She said research will play an important role in making the university less dependent on the state for funding and increasing its role in building Ohio’s new economy.
“Research brings all kinds of new ideas and technologies to the table,” Holbrook said. “By increasing our research output we can receive more federal funding, which will directly benefit Ohio’s economy. I believe that all areas of research, not just medical research, will see increased levels of funding because of all the talent and interdisciplinary collaboration that is already in place at Ohio State.”
Another high priority for Holbrook is to continue improving the university’s appeal to world-class faculty.
“Right now we are moving toward our benchmark universities in terms of salaries, but we’re still not there,” Holbrook said. “If we can sustain this progress we will be highly competitive in the future.”
Pauline said Holbrook needs to try to eliminate the stereotype regarding improper student behavior that has been created at OSU.
“I don’t think that President Holbrook had any idea about what could happen after the Michigan game, but I think the media blitz about student behavior on game day was a big mistake,” he said.
In response to student behavior that day, Holbrook formed the Game Day Committee, which includes the Riot Task Force.
“I have never stood up and said, ‘We have got to do something about this,’ but students have, and my goal is to work with them for solutions,” Holbrook said. “OSU students are too good to have any questions about the reputation of their university.
Pauline said Holbrook’s approach to the rioting has been proactive.
“She’s been very effective and done the best she could, but ultimately I think the problem of rioting and student behavior is the responsibility of Bill Hall (vice president of Student Affairs) and his staff, though Holbrook could be the rioting and football president if she wants to,” he said.
At the end of her first 100 days, Holbrook is just now getting her footing and preparing to make key choices that will give shape to her tenure at OSU.
“I’m still working on crystallizing my thoughts about where this university can make great strides,” Holbrook said. “I have been developing my own agenda, but I have also been trying to learn what other people’s agendas are. At an institution like OSU it is kind of naive to come in thinking I only want to do X, Y and Z.”
Pauline said Holbrook’s first four months have been a lot of learning and listening.
“This is her orientation period, but it is important that she lets everyone know she has her own agenda and is not just working on past presidents’ proposals,” Pauline said. “She has really made it a top priority to meet with student government leaders and address our concerns, even though a lot of students are still not really sure who she is or what she is about.”
Holbrook said she will speak about her agenda in more detail at an installation speech scheduled for April, though it has not yet been announced when or where that speech will take place.
