Strickland Directs Creation of "University System"

We had heard that the Strickland team was set to make a major announcement when Chancellor Eric Fingerhut spoke to the University Presidents and I was told that it is indeed a big deal. Strickland has issued a directive to the Chancellor to establish a "university system" for the state's four-year and two-year colleges. That's the new logo above.

From the Governor's press release:

Under Strickland’s directive, Ohio’s 13 public universities, 23 public two-year colleges, NEOUCOM (Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine) and numerous adult career centers are asked to work together in a coherent, rational way to unify resources and maximize the potential of individual institutions. The directive does not change the governance structure of the university system or of individual institutions.

From the AP story covering Fingerhut's speech:

“We are asking you to embrace your role as a leader in Ohio’s system of public higher education and to align your missions and actions to advance the success of your institutions and the system as a whole,” Fingerhut said.

Each college will become part of The University System of Ohio. The universities and colleges will continue to function as separate units, but it is not “a symbolic name change,” Fingerhut said.

The story goes on to say that Gov. Strickland is planning a press conference "later" to outline the details. The press release only gives broadly stated goals that could mean anything like the snippet above.

So. It's new. It's big. It Means Something. We just don't know what exactly yet.

By the way, the AP story ends noting that Strickland is supposed to be announcing the creation of a new web site. No more detail than that, either.