New YSU trustee offers an important perspective

There was a time when we were dedicated editorially to the proposition that members of Youngstown State University’s Board of Trustees had to be local – that is, residents of the five-county area traditionally served by the four-year institution of higher learning.

There was a reason for such a parochial attitude: Youngstown State’s long-standing mission was to provide a basic college education to a population with a large percentage of blue-collar workers.

In that regard, YSU performed admirably.

But times change, and today, higher education in Ohio is undergoing a major re-engineering, orchestrated by Republican Gov. John R. Kasich and the Republican-controlled General Assembly. The state’s public universities and colleges are under pressure from Columbus not only to implement cost-cutting measures but to develop academic programs and offer degrees that will enable graduates to compete in the high-stakes global economy.

Gov. Kasich has long argued that higher education must meet the demands of Ohio’s employers for specifically educated and trained workers.

Thus, for Youngstown State, an urban open-access university, the challenge is not only to manage its budget within strictures outlined by the state but to find a way of standing out from the rest of the higher-education pack.

In that regard, Gov. Kasich’s appointment of an alumnus of YSU and a native of Youngstown to the board of trustees must be seen as a positive development.

As we said at the outset, times have changed and, therefore, we endorse Dr. Charles R. Bush’s selection to the seat vacated by Dr. Sudershan K. Garg, a prominent oncologist who served the YSU board with distinction.

Dr. Bush is a retired cardiac thoracic surgeon who practiced in Columbus for 28 years. A native of Youngstown’s South Side who graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from YSU in 1971, he attended medical school at Ohio State University.

While in practice, he performed more than 10,000 open-heart operations and started four open-heart programs in Ohio.

“I am honored to be named to this important post at my alma mater and am looking forward to a very enlightening and rewarding experience,” the new trustee said.

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOVERNOR

To be sure, there are Valley residents who will question the governor’s appointment of an individual who has not lived in the Valley for a long time. However, we would urge them to shed their blinders and consider this reality: Dr. Bush obviously has a relationship with the governor that can be of benefit to YSU. Anyone who believes that higher education exists in a political vacuum hasn’t been paying attention to what’s been going on in Columbus.

Indeed, the appointment in 2014 of James P. Tressel as president of YSU by the board of trustees has given the institution a voice in Columbus it hasn’t had for a long time. It is noteworthy that the governor attended Tressel’s installation as president, something Kasich rarely does.

Given Dr. Bush’s reputation and standing in Columbus and his prominence in the medical field, we would expect him to be a valuable resource when it comes to the Northeast Ohio Medical University, created by a consortium of higher learning institutions in this part of Ohio.

These are challenging times for the state’s public universities and colleges, and there is an urgent need for Youngstown State to define itself within the context of the vision laid out by the governor and the Republican leadership in the General Assembly.

There are some encouraging signs for YSU, led by last week’s announcement that student enrollment, which dropped more than 4 percent on average in each of the past four years, has taken a turn for the better.

The count for the current fall semester shows a decline of just 0.7 percent.

Credit for this turning of the tide must go to Gary Swegan, associate vice president for Enrollment Planning and Management, and President Tressel, who has made the growth in student population a priority.