YSU will respond to the challenges of Ohio's new curriculum

EDITOR:
The column by Bertram de Souza on July 16 is off the mark and misses the point. His derogatory comments do a disservice to the students of Youngstown State University and needlessly insult three fine institutions.
Yes, like most of Ohio's public universities, YSU has too high a percentage of entering students requiring remedial courses. And the high school curriculum does need strengthening for Ohio to be competitive in the future. However, a fair portrayal of this situation would include the fact that just 5.4 percent of YSU's undergraduate student credit hours are in remedial instruction.
Gov. Taft's Ohio Core proposal includes a provision for college remedial coursework to be concentrated at two-year campuses. But for now, YSU is exempt from the governor's proposal because Youngstown is the only urban area in the state that does not have a community college. In other Ohio urban centers, students requiring remedial courses can enroll at a community college permitting the public universities there to phase out remedial instruction.
Community colleges are by far the fastest growing component of public higher education in Ohio today. Between 1998 and 2004, enrollment at Ohio's public higher educational institutions grew by 50,000 students. Almost 35,000 (70 percent) of these enrolled at community colleges which charge between one-third and one-half the tuition of YSU. Lacking that most affordable higher education option puts the Mahoning Valley at a severe disadvantage in creating an educated workforce for the 21st century knowledge economy.
As has been reported in The Vindicator, YSU has begun a comprehensive study of whether to establish a community college in the Mahoning Valley. If this becomes a reality, the university could focus on educating those with the Ohio Core preparation proposed to go into effect in 2011. Until then YSU must continue to provide remedial coursework. To do otherwise would deny opportunity for a college education to many local citizens.
BRUCE R. BEEGHLY, member
Ohio Board of Regents
Struthers