Ohio Northern University's Dr. Dan DiBiasio reflects on his 11 years as president of the university.
Ohio Northern University President Dr. Dan DiBiasio will be retiring at the end of June 2022, ending an eleven year career at the university. He told Lima Rotarians that the university faced both "headwinds and tailwinds" during his tenure. Headwinds included the recession which caused ONU to reduce and reset tuition prices in 2013 an 2014 by 20-25%, depending on the college. They also invested more heavily in financial and and worked harder to control expenses. In 2018 and 2019 the university conducted a 15 month academic and administrative review of all program and operations at the university that identified $9 million of cost savings and recommended another million dollars in investment opportunities. "As a result, we strengthened our financial position for the future." DiBiasio says ONU has worked hard to meet the challenges of COVID-19. "At ONU we've come together impressively to sustain our hallmark: in person, up close, personal education, and we did that all last year not missing a single day of in person instruction." DiBiasio say they have strongly encouraged students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated and as a result, 80% of students and 90% of full time faculty and staff are fully vaccinated.
The university is doing very well with the class of 2020 having a placement rate of 95% either employed or in graduate school and new enrollment for this fall is the highest its been in 14 years. As Ohio Northern University celebrates its sesquicentennial, DiBiasio says, "We have maintained and enhanced the focus on academic quality and excellence at ONU through emphasizing high impact practices and close student and faculty interactions. 150 years of creating the conditions for students to make a living, to make a life and to make a difference."
Also at Monday's meeting, the Lima Rotary Club presented a check to the Lima Rotary Foundation for $48,879.66 - the proceeds from the Rex Perry Memorial Golf Outing and the Jay Begg Reverse Raffle. Thank you to everyone who helped make the events such a success!
