YSU trustees oppose changes to NEOUCOM

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University’s Board of Trustees would prefer that the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine remain just as it is.

The trustees have made it clear they don’t want to see NEOUCOM moved from its Rootstown location or merged with any other institution, although they don’t object to another university’s joining the education consortium that includes YSU, the University of Akron and Kent State University.

NEOUCOM’s future is just one of the subjects being studied by the Northeast Ohio Universities Collaboration & Innovation Study Commission.

The commission was created by the state legislature last December to look for ways that five northeastern Ohio schools — YSU, Kent, Akron, Cleveland State University and NEOUCOM — might collaborate to improve and expand educational offerings in this region.

NEOUCOM is the only free-standing medical school in the state, but the study commission has been hearing some proposals that would have it merge with other institutions.

It’s an issue the commission is expected to examine more closely at a Nov. 14 meeting.

A merger isn’t something YSU’s trustees want to see.

At a recent board retreat, they agreed that the best option is to maintain the current organizational structure at NEOUCOM while including Cleveland State as a partner. YSU, Kent and Akron all have equal seats on the medical school’s board of trustees.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com