Ohio State’s national prestige is increasing, but President E. Gordon Gee doesn’t care. Sort of.

In Gee’s quarterly visit to The Lantern newsroom, he talked school rankings, arts on campus and, of course, football.

The president, forever a lawyer, was vague regarding specifics in response to many questions. But he shed some light on issues important to the future of the university.

RANKINGS
The university rose three spots — from 56th to 53rd — among all U.S. universities in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. But to Gee, these rankings are useless.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that that is absolutely foolish,” Gee said. The magazine changes the criteria in its rankings all the time in order to stay afloat, he said. There isn’t one public university in the rankings’ top 20, an omission that sparks Gee’s skepticism. The Universities of Michigan, California and Virginia might have something to say about that, he said.

Gee was harsh when mentioning the magazine, which has been in its current form since 1948.

“What they do — they sell magazines,” he said. “U.S. News is nearly defunct. It’s a magazine without a country. And the only way they survive is by a ranking issue. ”
The only rankings that make some sense are regarding research, he said.
No matter his disgust at the magazine and its rankings, it still feels good to be loved.
“I don’t believe in rankings but I’m becoming more enamored with them as we do better,” Gee said. “I think anyone would do that.”

FINANCIAL AID
State funding, need-based grants to Ohio college students has been cut drastically this year because of the state’s budget crisis.

OSU hasn’t escaped the cuts. The Ohio College Opportunity Grant previously awarded between $100 to $832 per quarter to eligible students. Now, awards have been revised to $336 per quarter for OSU students on the main campus, while all of the award’s funding has been cut on regional campuses. OSU covered the costs lost for summer and fall quarters, but in winter the difference won’t be covered. Gee dodged the question when asked how the university might cover the costs. He said other states, like California, have it much worse than Ohio, but he wouldn’t say how — or if — OSU could make up the loss.

ARTS
The arts aren’t nearly as lucrative to the university compared to the hard sciences. But OSU and Columbus still have a thriving arts scene, and Gee was questioned on how the university plans to focus on the arts as funding declines school-wide.

As the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences enter year two of a massive restructuring, some worry the university’s focus will wane. The colleges — Arts, Biological Sciences, Humanities, Mathematical and Physical Sciences and Social and Behavioral Sciences — have about 1,000 faculty members.

Gee said the restructuring doesn’t necessarily mean OSU is going to get rid of arts buildings or downsize, but rather reshape the good programs, such as music, into adequate buildings.

“The arts and their space are going to continue to grow,” Gee said.

An oft-ignored alley located on the South Campus Gateway, near McFadden’s and Ugly Tuna Saloona, is being targeted as a new arts district, he said.

FOOTBALL AND PLAYOFFS
At OSU, not supporting the football team is akin to not going to church in the South. You just do it. But is the emphasis on football too strong?

Gee wants students to realize that football isn’t everything.

“Football is a religion, no doubt about it,” he said. “We just want to make sure it’s a religion we have for three-and-a-half hours on a Saturday afternoon and that it doesn’t dominate us for six-and-a-half days a week.”

He also stressed the importance of fully integrated student-athletes into the university. If you’ve eaten at Marketplace, you might have noticed: Football players tend to hang out together. Gee wants athletes not to be so isolated and take full advantage of the entire university, including studying abroad. He also said it’s one of the Athletic Department’s biggest priorities to increase the graduation rates for student-athletes.

The always-hot topic of a playoff system for college football was brought up to Gee, and he was unwavering in his denial:

“I’ll say it again — over my dead body,” he said. If anything, the league might go back to the bowl system without the Bowl Championship Series, not to a playoff system, which most college sports use. As long as he lives, Gee doesn’t see a change happening.

“Mark that down — we will not have a playoff in this era — period,” he said.

QUICK HITS
–TUITION: Tuition has been frozen for undergraduates the last three years. Gee said OSU has been “blessed” to not have to raise it, but could not say how much an increase for next year might cost. “We have not made a commitment to raise tuition next year — yet,” he said. He said if the university raised tuition this year, they would have made $10 to $15 million in revenue.

–STUDENT ACTIVITY FEE INCREASE: Beginning next quarter, the student activity fee will cost students $25 per quarter, up from $15. The fee hadn’t been raised since its inception in 2003. Gee said the increase was “very necessary.” When asked why students can’t opt-out, he said it’s because everyone should take the opportunity to take advantage of the clubs and groups the fee funds.

The fee increase will generate about $3.75 million annually.

–SEMESTER SWITCH: Gee reiterated his line about the huge undertaking of switching to semesters, which is slated to begin in autumn 2012. He compared it to the massive invasion of Normandy by Allied troops in World War II. “Execution will be difficult,” he said. Confusion among staff and faculty as to the specifics of the switch is expected and understandable, he said, but “this is not rocket science.”