YSU's Sweet: We must embrace change

Monday, August 21, 2006 To flourish, YSU groups must learn to be respectful and constructive when disagreements develop. By HAROLD GWIN VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER YOUNGSTOWN — Change has been a hallmark of his tenure at Youngstown State University, and Dr. David C. Sweet says how the university continues to create change and address external changes will influence its ability to achieve its fullest potential. Sweet, entering his seventh year as YSU president, gave his "State of the University Address" to several hundred university staff members Monday, calling on all university groups "to walk together on the road to our centennial and beyond to our promising future." The speech came about two hours after about 40 representatives of YSU's faculty and classified employee unions staged a solidarity walk around campus, recalling the strikes last year by both employee groups that ended just before the start of classes in August 2005. Walk organizers said the date of the event coincided with the first day of the new contract year and wasn't related to the speech. Accentuating the positive Sweet cited positive changes the university has experienced over the past six years, including an improved physical plant and campus entryways, larger student body, new degree offerings, partnerships with community groups to advance YSU's mission, increased minority representation among students and staff and the more recent creation of a labor/management council to improve the campus labor climate. "As our centennial approaches, more change is coming," he predicted, adding, "The challenge is to manage change in positive ways and overcome, to the best of our ability, the forces — both internal and external — that would prevent positive change for the betterment of the university, the community and our students." Recent events surrounding General Motors and Delphi illustrate that the university has an even greater role in providing opportunities for those who need to change careers, Sweet said. "Our goal must be to increase the college-going rates in the Valley, he said, pointing out that enrollment growth is important to YSU's bottom line, especially in light of declining state support for higher education. There are external forces creating changes with which YSU must be prepared to deal, particularly state politics and competition, Sweet said. Within the coming year, there will be a new governor, a changed General Assembly, a new board of regent's chancellor and five new presidents on the 14-member Inter-University Council. That will be nearly a complete turnover in the major state players affecting higher education and YSU, and the university will need to spend time to be an effective participant and advocate at the state level, Sweet said. Ohio will have a new biennial budget, the first enacted under the Tax Expenditure Limitation which places a 3.5 percent limit on increases in aggregate state spending. The impact on higher education is uncertain, but a possible repeat of recent budgets that reduced support for higher education with resulting increases in tuition is a concern, he said. In terms of competition, there are colleges now advertising in Youngstown for students, something that didn't happen 10 or 15 years ago, Sweet said. Local newspapers and YSU's own student newspaper are running ads from competing universities and online degree programs, Sweet said. The university can't deal effectively with those external forces "if we are battling internally," he said, adding, "We must learn to keep our disagreements brief, respectful and constructive." "We all need to walk together, and we need to work together and focus our collective energies on providing a quality education for our students." gwin@vindy.com