YSU can be first-class research university, state official says

By Harold Gwin

The chancellor said a local community college is on schedule to open next fall.

YOUNGSTOWN — Ohio’s Chancellor of Higher Education believes Youngstown State University can develop into a “first class” research university.

“We have a shared vision,” said Eric Fingerhut as he toured YSU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics on Thursday. “We want this university to develop into a first-class, fully developed research university that will help lead the way in economic developing, not only in the region, but across Ohio.”

Fingerhut said he’s seen science labs in colleges and universities across the state.

“It’s the people that make the difference,” he said, adding he met a highly dedicated group of people during a walking trip across campus.

The chancellor has been making a concerted effort to visit all of the state schools of higher education and the stop at YSU, which includes meetings with various campus constituency groups and community leaders this morning, is his seventh or eighth stop. He was to spend the night in a dorm room in the Cafaro House residence hall after dinner with the YSU Board of Trustees and a meeting with selected students.

“This is how I really get an in-depth understanding,” he said as he neared the end of a whirlwind tour.

“It’s really the people that are the strength of a university,” he said, adding he tries to determine if there is a shared vision of a school’s future in terms of increasing prominence, attracting talent and being a driver of economic development.

For a long time, there has been a sense in Ohio that only certain universities were to be drivers of the economy. Gov. Ted Strickland wants every metropolitan region in the state to have a role in that process, Fingerhut said.

Toward that end, Ohio’s public colleges and universities are being asked to develop their strengths, but not in competition with the other schools. Instead, their programs should compliment each other, he said, with the ultimate goal being the growing of Ohio’s economy.

Fingerhut took a moment on his tour to give an update on the status of the proposed Mahoning Valley Community College that is to begin operations in fall 2009. YSU is playing a major role in the development of that program.

“I think we’re on track,” he said. “We will definitely meet the goals we’ve set for ourselves.”

The implementation committee appointed by the state has already begun selecting the programs the college will offer, and nursing is at the top of the list, Fingerhut said.

Just where courses will be offered and how the two-year school will be governed have yet to be finalized, and no budget is in place yet, he said. He had said in the past that facilities at YSU, the three Kent State University campuses in Trumbull and Columbiana counties, high school career and technical centers in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, and Choffin Career and Technical Center in Youngstown could all be used.

All of the details face a Dec. 31 time line for completion.

Fingerhut said the information is needed in time for the governor to include it in his executive budget proposal to be presented in January. The plan is to include funding for the Mahoning Valley Community College in the next budget, he said.

gwin@vindy.com