University District Education Committee

Columbus, Ohio

The University District Education Committee (UDEC) is a collaboration of educators, parents and citizens working to improve the education of children and youth in the 13 public schools which serve families living in the neighborhoods around the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.

The committee was formed under the auspices of the University District Organization and Ohio State's Campus Collaborative. UDEC is composed of principals and teacher representatives from the 13 schools serving students from the University District and of representatives of Columbus Public Schools, the Columbus Education Association, Ohio State, and the University District neighborhoods. The founding co-chairs of the committee were Doreen Uhas-Sauer, board member of the University District Organization and member of the University Area Commission, and Nancy Zimpher, dean of Ohio State's College of Education and chair of the Campus Collaborative. Dean Zimpher left Ohio State in July 1998 to become chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Ms. Uhas-Sauer continues as chair of UDEC.

The schools which have been part of the committee's discussions have included schools which enroll children and youth from the University District, not simply schools located within the boundaries of the district. The elementary schools are Fifth Avenue, Hubbard, Indianola, Medary, Second Avenue and Weinland Park; the middle schools are Everett and Indianola; the high schools are Centennial, Fort Hayes, Linden-McKinley and Whetstone, plus North Education Center.

Brief History of UDEC

July 1996 Campus Partners publishes the University Neighborhoods Revitalization Plan: Concept Document, the culmination of an 18-month public planning process to identify measures to improve the University District. The plan includes a chapter on the public schools which encourages neighborhood and university partnership with the schools. The university's Board of Trustees and Columbus City Council subsequently adopt the plan as a blueprint for improvements. Meanwhile, through the planning process, Ohio State's College of Education and the Campus Collaborative have already established a Partnership for Technology in Education with the schools serving the University District, have helped secure an Ameritech grant for a community computer center at North Education Center, and are preparing a major School-to-Work grant, which has been funded.

February 1997 The Columbus Board of Education announces the closure of seven school buildings, including Indianola Middle School, as a cost-saving measure. The Education Task Force of the University District Organization (UDO) organizes an educational campaign to explain why Indianola Middle School should be kept open and how schools in the University District might be better structured or reconfigured to fill buildings to capacity and offer programs which strengthen student achievement. The task force discussed whether Ohio State would be interested in working with it.

March 1997 The University Area Commission, in conjunction with UDO's Education Task Force, passes a resolution against the closing of Indianola Middle School and recommends the building's reuse to achieve one priority of the faculty and community -- not to eliminate a neighborhood school within walking distance for children in the area. The school board decides not to close the seven schools, and instead it commissions a comprehensive facility use plan to be overseen by a district-wide steering committee. Several representatives from UDO's Educational Task Force, the University District and Ohio State serve on the steering committee, which begins meeting in late spring and holds public forums in May and July.

April 25, 1997 Representatives from UDO, Columbus Public Schools and the Campus Collaborative meet to discuss common interests in the schools serving the University District. Those in attendance decide to form a broad-based committee to consider a partnership of the schools, the neighborhoods and the university.

May 9, 1997 Doreen Uhas-Sauer, board member of UDO, and Nancy Zimpher, dean of the College of Education, convene the first meeting of the University District Education Committee. Principals and faculty representatives from 12 schools are invited to attend, as well as representatives from Columbus Public Schools' central administration, the Columbus Education Association, the neighborhoods, Ohio State, and Campus Partners. UDEC meets once or twice a month through the summer.

August 1997 UDEC widely distributes for public comment the first draft of a statement of "Planning Preferences and Philosophies" for a partnership among Columbus schools, the University District and Ohio State. The statement's guiding principle is: "Schooling in the University District should be provided through a comprehensive individual learner-centered partnership between the public schools, the community, and the university."

Autumn 1997 Representatives from the University District and Ohio State serve on the Area One community committee formed to consider school facility issues for northwest Columbus. This committee, in turn, reports to the District-Wide Steering Committee for the Comprehensive Facility Use Plan. As a result of these discussions, representatives from Centennial High School are invited to join UDEC because that school receives students from the southwest corner of the University District.

Sept. 28, 1997 UDO and UDEC sponsor a public forum at Indianola Middle School on the future of public schools in the University District. The forum was widely publicized through the schools, through direct mail and in The Dispatch. Some 60 people attend. Reports on the forum are published in The Dispatch and Lantern and broadcast on television.

Nov. 9, 1997 UDO's Center for Civic Values and UDEC sponsor a Town Meeting on Community and Learning at Indianola Middle School to further refine ideas for the schools. The meeting uses a innovative public deliberation format with moderators from Ohio State University Extension. The meeting focuses on four issues: Measuring success in education in the University District, linking community resources through the schools, taking ownership for education, and learning over a lifetime. The forum was widely publicized through the schools, through direct mail, and in UCNews, a new monthly newspaper distributed to every household in the University District. Some 70 people attend the meeting.

December 1997 UDEC circulates a draft of a "Preliminary Proposal for Improving the Schools in the University District." The draft notes four broad concerns which emerged from the committee's discussions and the two public forums:

Educational excellence and success in student performance.
Community-based involvement and collaboration.
Linking community resources through the schools.
Learning for a lifetime.

Jan. 8, 1998 UDEC meets and decides to seek educational models which support those four concerns and could be considered in the University District. UDEC wants to actively encourage greater parental involvement in these discussions through winter and spring of 1998.

April 4, 1998 UDEC discusses a draft proposal to establish a non-profit school improvement organization to foster educational excellence in the 13 schools. This proposal represents an evolution in the committee’s thinking. Instead of recommending the educational model, the committee would invite each of the 13 schools to develop its own model for improving education. The school improvement organization would assist each school in developing and implementing its model through the partnership with Ohio State and the community.

April 30, 1998 UDEC sponsors a town meeting with dinner at Hubbard Elementary School to further the discussion of how a strong partnership between the schools, community residents and Ohio State can be most helpful to the schools.

May 28, 1998 UDEC sponsors a second town meeting with dinner at Medary Elementary School on the same topic of the partnership.

Summer 1998 UDEC meets in July and August to continue discussion of the structure of this partnership and the role of a non-profit school improvement organization. The committee members brainstormed ideas which would help implement UDEC’s goals and reviewed the proposal to form the school improvement organization.

Last updated October 23, 1998.

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