I apologize, but being out of state I was hoping some Ohioans can chime in. I have been reading a lot about state schools on CC, and the UC’s in particular apparently have had huge budget cuts, thus equipment is not being updated, replaced, or maintained as it should be and they are lacking in the number of advisors. We witnessed this firsthand at other state schools that my daughter visited. I did not feel like OSU had this issue during our visit, but I wanted to ask to see if this is something we should be aware of. My D will be attending in the fall, and I want to be “in the loop” of anything I should know going in.
Also, as an out of state parent, how would one find this information. CC has been my saving grace, but is this commonly information that is published for the public?
Thanks.
Let me try. State funding has maintained reasonably well. The challenge for OSU has been that governor wants at least 2 more years of no increase in in-state tuition, to add to 5 years of no increase! This may seem to be a good thing for the parents, but it comes with its own negative impacts. Especially, OSU is trying to take in more students, but does not have the money to hire additional (tenure-line) faculty. This means an increase in size of classes, and/or greater dependence on lecturers/adjuncts/TAs.
@GAcollegemom6 Have you been to Ohio State recently?? Have you noticed all the renovations that have been done-- the new north campus —all the new dorms, new dining hall, new north campus fitness center, and the state of the art and impressive R-PAC sports/recreation center, one of the largest in the country, as well as the relatively new student union? Have you been to the Fisher college of business? Did you hear about the new Arts center they will be building? There are so many new and renovated facilities- all around campus. Ohio State has over $3 billion in endowment and is one of the richest state universities in the country. I don’t know what your concern is about state funding, maintenance or being well run. It is certainly doing well in each of these fronts, in the top echelon of state universities.
@trackmbe3
Yes, we were just there last Friday (for the first time). Everything was beautiful, and as I said it looked very well maintained. This is one of the reasons we felt so good about sending our D there OOS. The appearance was that they were running smoothly, I guess I am just a little nervous being an “outsider” and possibly not knowing if there was an “inside scoop” or something I missed or had not heard/did not see. I am a worrier. I just wanted to see if I could get some Ohio resident, student, or staff perspective.
Thank you for your input and for the reminder that things looked to be better than ever around campus. 
@ osuprof
Thank you for being very transparent about the negative impacts of stable tuition. When will there be a vote regarding increase of tuition or it remaining stable? Are classes overcrowded in your opinion? Does this affect professor and employee morale? Are professors still going to have the same amount of office hours per week without an increase in tuition?
@GAcollegemon6,
Let me answer your questions. But, first I want to clarify something about my original message. The bottom line is that despite some problems coming up at OSU, I don’t see things being worse that any other state school. Large classes and/or the use of TAs/adjuncts is becoming common everywhere.
Now, to your questions.
When will there be a vote regarding increase of tuition or it remaining stable?
=> Tuition freeze for next 2 years is something proposed in governor’s budget and legislation has to pass it. Now, I just don’t see legislation no liking it and overturning it.
Are classes overcrowded in your opinion?
==> Depends on the major. I think the more common case is that more students means additional sections being available, but not through additional faculty, and instead through part-timers.
Does this affect professor and employee morale?
==> Teaching load for tenure-line faculty has not gone up in most cases, because University would rather have them spend more time get external research funding. Teaching load for lecturers went up a few years back, and even otherwise, there have been some changes in their working conditions that have had some negative impact.
Are professors still going to have the same amount of office hours per week without an increase in tuition?
==> I don’t expect that to change. But, yes, if lecturers are teaching 4 sections instead of 3, then you have more students trying to get attention in the same number of hours.
OSU is making major capital investments. This is good, but I feel sometimes that it is more directed at what attracts students and not what makes their education better …
@osuprof
Thank you for this detailed response. Very good point in regard to capital investments being a move that attracts students but not one that necessarily improves the quality of education.
@GAcollegemom6 My daughter is a freshman, and she has had no problem accessing her advisor or scheduling classes - she is in Arts & Sciences. She struggled a bit with one class last term, and was contacted by her advisor, her scholars program, her peer leader, and the FYE office to see if there was anything they could do to help her. In her largest classes (calculus & art history - both large lecture/30 person recitation), the professors offer extra office hours around midterms, and the department has special hours in the math lab/help desk. Her classes have ranged from 25 (English, French, freshman survey) to 70 (anthropology, political science). The 70 person classes have a professor/lecturer and a TA. The two large lectures (200 people) have recitation sections that meet 1-2 times/week in groups of 30.
I am an OSU grad, and I have been very impressed with the attention paid to students and their experience - when I attended, you could easily get lost, and I don’t remember ever meeting with an advisor (let alone being on a first name basis!). It is definitely a large state school, but the FYE office is a big plus.
Just a heads up, the tuition freeze only applies to in-state students; it’s been going up steadily for out-of-state students, just like every other college. However, I do agree that the fact that they’ve been able to keep it frozen for so long is a good sign in general.
Is OSU well run, well funded, and well maintained?
Son graduated with PhD in Dec,having spent 6 years at graduate level. Was offered a job 2 weeks after graduating in Nuclear Eng. I can’t say enough great things about OSU. We live in NJ.
@fauxmaven
Congrats to your son! That is wonderful. I know you must be incredibly proud of him