On Friday, The Lantern reported Ohio State is planning to eliminate the Office of International Education and move responsibility for its programs into the Office of International Affairs, a move that could result in the loss of OIEs directors. This decision has roused concern among leaders of international education at universities throughout the country.
The university claims the move was designed for efficiency, but The Lantern finds this claim questionable. OIE Director John Greisberger said he was never informed his office was inefficient, a logical first step for trying to rectify such concerns.
Second, the responsibilities of the top seven jobs at OIE are currently slated to be assigned to 10 people in the future. One consequence of this will be that more coordination is needed among these leaders - which at least in theory could mean less efficiency.
In addition, paying 10 people to carry out the same mission as seven seems to suggest either: A) the university plans to spend more on leadership by paying each of these ten people the same amount as the previous seven, or B) the university is seeking to hire less expensive leaders for these 10 positions, and at worst shelling out the same amount of money it did before.
Because lower paying jobs are less competitive, if this latter scenario is the case, it would seem the outcome of this decision would be to hire people of less experience, quality, etc., who might be willing to take this lower-paying job. If the university was seeking to hire the best and the brightest in the field - which some would say John Greisberger is - it makes no sense for the university to make that sort of job less competitive.
Of course, there is always the scenario that the current OIE leadership might be overqualified for their jobs, which drains on university resources. Could these people be promoted to positions where their knowledge might be better employed, and what would getting rid of well-respected leaders in international education signify about OSU's dedication to international education?
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Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Tater
posted 4/16/07 @ 2:54 PM EST
"The Lantern does not know" sums it up perfectly. This is a severely speculative, uninformed and factless piece of journalism. And I'm referring to both this opionion piece as well as the original story, which referred to a 'barrage of criticism'. (Continued…)
Dive deeper
posted 4/16/07 @ 4:48 PM EST
I think the reason OIA has not been public about this issue is to spare those fired (oops, I mean "laid off") the embarrassment of their lack of management skills so that they can either retire with some dignity or move on to other positions. (Continued…)
Naman Shah
posted 4/18/07 @ 1:25 AM EST
As an international student this shake-up is a clear indication of OSU as well as OIA's disinterest to the international communtiy here at OSU that spans close to 10% of its total population. (Continued…)
Community Member
posted 4/20/07 @ 3:06 PM EST
It is human nature to resent and resist change, so the knee-jerk reaction by some staff members at OIA is to approach this restructuring with apprehension. (Continued…)
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