Ohio State President Kristina M. Johnson sat down with Lantern reporters to discuss safety, the drug and alcohol training program, NIL, Digital Flagship and carbon neutrality. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State
With continuous concerns surrounding safety on and around Ohio State’s campus, many may wonder what the university continues to do to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff.
University President Kristina M. Johnson said crime rates have decreased after the implementation of 15 recommendations starting in fall 2021 — including permanent lighting in the off-campus area and additional cameras and license plate readers in parking garages — but the university’s task force continues to meet every other week to discuss concerns.
“It’s still my No.1 priority, trying to keep everybody as safe as possible,” Johnson said.
Along with safety, Johnson sat down with The Lantern Wednesday to discuss Ohio State’s new drug and alcohol training program; the Name, Image, Likeness policy; the Digital Flagship program and carbon neutrality.
Drug and Alcohol Training
Johnson said following the deaths of two Ohio State students, Tiffany Iler and Jessica Lopez, in May from a drug overdose, Ohio State is taking action to educate students on the dangers of drug and alcohol misuse.
Johnson said the training, which is split into three modules, is managed mostly by the Office of Student Life. The modules are required for all incoming first-years and transfer students but are available for upperclassmen.
“It’s about students being aware of the dangers that are out there and what choices they’re making, what the impact can be,” Johnson said.
According to the Student Wellness Center website, the training modules cover alcohol use and misuse, prescription drug safety and mental well-being resources.
Johnson said the university is continuously checking to make sure its efforts are actually making a difference and hopefully expand the program in the future.
“We do monitor, of course, these situations,” Johnson said. “So we can measure, for example, public safety, reduction of serious crime. And that tells us, okay, what we are doing is making a difference.”
NIL
Following speculation regarding programs and third parties using NIL deals to sway prospective transfer student-athletes, the NCAA issued guidances in May to remind universities of the NIL environment and existing policy. Ohio State established many programs to offer education and information about NIL to student athletes, including “THE Platform” and NIL Edge Team.
As the Big Ten College Representative for the College Football Playoff Board of Managers as of May, Johnson said she thinks every student-athlete deserves to own their name, image and likeness but also thinks there should be boundaries to avoid a “pay-for-play” culture, and Ohio State will follow the NCAA guidelines.
“I hope that [enhanced guidelines] will create the opportunity not to have these kinds of inducements to keep a level playing field,” Johnson said. “It’s a market, it’s going to be a market, it’ll be driven by the market. I think that there are a lot of Olympic sport athletes that are out there that are doing well with NIL, as well as the traditional revenue-producing sports.”
The NCAA Division I Board of Governors adopted changes to transfer rules Aug. 31, creating windows for student-athletes to notify their current program of their intention to transfer and allowing them immediate eligibility upon their first transfer.
Johnson said the transfer portal combined with NIL is an “unfortunate mix,” as speculation surrounds whether inducements among other reasons sway decisions to leave one school for another. She added that it is important to put student-athletes first and to continue producing “the kind of leaders that we see coming out of our programs.”
“If a student athlete’s not happy where they are, and they want to pursue their sport at the highest level, see how far they go, how good they can get — they should be able to transfer,” Johnson said. “So then the question is, you know, would you limit the number of transfers, so you don’t get someone doing a first year at one university; the second year, another university; the third, fourth, and I don’t know if there’s a limit right now.”
Digital Flagship
Johnson said the changes to the university’s Digital Flagship program — such as terminating the program that gave each incoming first-year an iPad — were made to better meet each student’s technological needs.
Johnson said while providing iPads to students was beneficial, there was no long-term budget for the program, but she understands students’ concerns.
“I think it was a very interesting project when it was started, which it was started before my time,” Johnson said. “It was never put on budget, though, so there was never a budget for it. So that means the original funding that was set aside for it, that ran out.”
Johnson said the university is committed to its agreement with Adobe providing students with access to the Adobe Suite, and the Digital Flagship program still loans devices to students who need them.
Envisioning a green future
Looking to the future, Johnson said she hopes the university can continue to do more to reduce its carbon footprint and battle climate change.
However, some students have recently protested the university’s use and investment in fossil fuels, claiming the university isn’t doing enough.
Johnson said in an effort to be more green, Ohio State is looking at places to put solar panels, which could potentially include campus parking lots.
Ultimately, the university’s goal is to be net-zero in their carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest, but Johnson said she hopes to accelerate the plan and be net-zero by 2040.
“It is a passion of mine, and I quite invested myself personally,” Johnson said. “You know, the combined heat and power plant was envisioned in 2017. At the time, Ohio’s grid was quite a lot dirtier than it is today — so a lot more coal. It was a good project. As we decarbonize, we will look at ways to run it to optimize it for reducing carbon emissions.”
Jacob Benge contributed reporting.
