Highs & lows mark 1st year of Tressel’s YSU presidency

“Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel has been around higher education long enough to know that today’s outpouring of affection from the campus community can easily become tomorrow’s fount of resentment.”

— Vindicator editorial, Aug. 21, 2014

It would not be an exaggeration to liken James P. Tressel’s installation last year as president of Youngstown State University to a coronation. The ceremony in August attended by students, faculty, staff, administrators, politicians, community leaders and other residents of the Mahoning Valley had all the pomp and circumstance usually associated with Ivy League universities.

Indeed, the presence of Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich was a crowning achievement for YSU, an open-access urban institution that has long been in the third tier of Ohio’s higher education profile.

The governor was effusive in his praise of Tressel, who coached Ohio State University to a national football championship and served as executive vice president for student success at the University of Akron.

But underlying the installation was the reality that YSU’s enrollment had been on the decline for several years, exacerbating the financial difficulties triggered by a reduction in state funding for Ohio’s public universities.

Tressel officially took over as president July 1, and since then his tenure has been marked by highs and lows.

Among the highs: avoidance of a strike despite tense labor negotiations with two of the main unions on campus; the hiring of a firm to boost enrollment by going beyond the five-county mission area; the naming of Dr. Martin Abraham, architect of the nationally renowned Science, Technology, Engineering and Math College, as interim provost; a cost reduction plan that has cut the operating budget deficit from $10 million to $3 million; a renewed excitement in the Mahoning Valley about Youngstown State, similar to the good feelings that existed when Tressel was coaching the university to four I-AA national football championships.

As for the lows, the “no confidence” votes taken by members of the faculty and classified employees unions are indicative of the changing attitudes on campus from when Tressel’s appointment as president was hailed by some union leaders as the beginning of a new era in management-labor relations.

TRESSEL’S RESPONSIBILITIES

We have long argued that the president’s first responsibility is to the stakeholders of the university, the students and their parents who pay increasing amounts in tuition and fees and the taxpayers who support the institution.

Beyond the campus, there’s the ongoing debate in Columbus over the future of higher education. Gov. Kasich has made it clear that the status quo is not sustainable and that there must be an end to the duplication of services and degree offerings in Ohio’s 13 public universities and colleges.

It is that debate that poses the greatest challenge to Tressel. It is no longer enough for Youngstown State to argue that it is meeting the needs of students from urban areas, many of whom are the first in their families to go to college.

Nor is it enough that Tressel’s reputation in Columbus precedes him when he attends meetings of university presidents. It has been said that the YSU chief even overshadows the head of Ohio’s flagship university, Ohio State, during sessions involving state legislators.

And so, we come to grading Tressel’s first year in office. He gives himself a B-, while others give him an A or even an A+.

We, on the other hand, believe that it’s too early for a grade, and so we give the president an “Incomplete.” Why? Because he has yet to clearly articulate his vision for Youngstown State University.

By all accounts, Tressel is hardworking – the word “workaholic” is used often by his admirers – dedicated and focused. He has not shied away from acknowledging the myriad problems confronting the university, but neither is he reluctant to tout the many attributes.

Tressel’s optimism is infectious, which is why we are confident about the future of YSU.

However, the president must know that one of the most important speeches he will give in his long involvement with higher education is at the beginning of the fall semester when he lays out his vision in the State of the University address.

That speech will define James R. Tressel’s presidency.