Q&A with Fr. Niehoff

The Student Union hosted Fr. Niehoff on Tuesday, September 21 for a question and answer session addressing hot topics on campus. Below are the minutes taken from the meeting.

Question 1: What are the future plans of Bohannon?
We invited an architectural firm to campus and they reminded us of the eyesore that is the temporary lot. They said that we would be able to get more parking after tearing down Bohannon. Ideally, we hoped to take down Bohannon first but that is a multimillion-dollar project. Alumni were upset and continually asked when the quad would be restored. We knew we would be close to being maxed out with parking and in my years here, we have not been close. We have been working with Target to use those spaces. We have to work with the city to get a permit and then disassemble the inside before we can begin demolishing the building. One of my daily headaches has been to deal with University Heights despite the efforts of the mayor. Our strategy now is that we have raised most of the funds to tear down Bohannon but we have to wait until we get more donations. In aggregate, it is about a three and half million-dollar project. It is a 3-month project so even when we have the perfect time for this is to have the new parking in place by fall of 2011 after reunion weekend and graduation.

Question 2. Could you give us an update on the new IM fields planned for Milford?
We are going to need the cities permission to do that. I believe that those intramural fields, which will be available to Gesu during the school year, will be a huge improvement to the campus. In addition, after we tear down those first five houses we will have a view of the tower from Warrensville, which will be great for us. Back to Bohannon once the quad is in place we can use it for soccer fields and a number of other things. University Heights will be a better place once those fields are in place.

Question 3. In regards to the new Dean of Arts and Sciences:
The conversation that the dean and I had was how we include you in the process. How do we incorporate students in deciding with new majors, programs, etc. Everyone who meets with her leaves amazed at her new ideas, amazed with her knowledge of campus, and amazed with her engagement.

Question 4. I do not know if you have heard or not but the cities offer to us was rejected by me. This was because they said that we could not purchase any other property after this. We just cannot agree that. Many neighbors approach us asking us to buy their houses. The cities expectations of us were unreasonable. 4070 Carroll Blvd. can accommodate six students in a nicely renovated duplex. We will put an ad in the CN but still waiting on a building permit. We cannot give our negative neighbors any reason for complaint. We have to be very careful to follow exactly what the cities regulations are even though. I came here naively 5 years ago thinking that reasonability and cooperation would be enough.

Question 5. Over the last five years, we have reduced our operations budgets by about 10 million dollars. Last year alone we reduced it by 4.5 million. Those of you who have been around awhile have seen a little bit of the impact. There is fewer staff around, we do not offer as much without compromising educational experience. Population will decreases in NE Ohio, our incoming class has a larger out of state population than before we are well on track to increase our overall graduation rate by 10%. We try to do a better job of supporting you in your experience and by admitting better students. JCU is a school for only those student who are really willing to work. It does us no good admitting student who can only stay for a year or two. It takes talent but also a decision and we have that.

Question 6. What are the current efforts being made to increase inclusion on campus?
I can tell you that after leaving the diversity task force last week that there are two types of things that need to go on. Jcu needs to put in place and even stronger sense of support for all students especially students of color and not typical. One group of non-typical students is older students, we have little in place for them. We only admit students who are able to succeed at JCU and we need to support them more. Task force talked about how to diversify curriculum. JCU will be rolling out a series of things all designed to support diversity on our campus. Those who will be in admission, academic affairs, and student affairs have never been more serious than they are now,

Question 7. What efforts have been made to improve relations with city council if that is where we keep having problems?
My first year I met 6 or 8 times with the mayor and members of council, since then we now have a person in our advancement office who meets regularly with the mayor and council until now when we are in a legal discussion. We were asked a number of years to give the city a list of what we want and we agreed to limit the number of properties we would buy, set a minimum what JCU would pay. JCU pays over 400,000 dollars in property taxes to UH. JCU provides 15% of all income UH residence. Milford houses will eventually be taken out of the property tax since they will provide a service to the community. Totals 15 million a year in income tax and the increase in prices targeted our faculty and staff that work but do not live in UH. What is happening now and I am glad you asked that question, .5 the city council in getting ready for re-election we need to be careful that the candidates look for common thread. Small group of council members who said they would help UH.

Question 8. You need to be very thoughtful about where you party. One of the things I hear a lot about…frankly one of the reasons we have acquired the apartments is to control our students. Every time a JCU student gets in trouble, I hear about it. Thankfully, the Sun Press would attack us anytime a JCU student sustained an alcohol violation. I have to give the Sun Press credit and one of the reasons is we now have a media person to reach out to the Sun Press. Be thoughtful of your choices and encourage your friends to do the same, I love to tell the neighbors that I am sure your children or grandchildren will never do this because they seem to be clueless.

Question 9.Very much an option for us. Sustainability funding has come from give funding and one of the things you might have heard is that in the last 2 years our gift donations have gone up despite what other universities are getting. Alumni support growing and being directed to sustainability.

Question 10. Those budget cuts were sig. directed to tuition reduction. JCU gives more financial aid to incoming students than most universities. If your family circumstance change, your financial aid package can change. Help document because aid will change. We are in this dilemma. There are cheaper institutions but they do not provide the education we do, they do not provide quality of faculty, they do not graduate in 4 years, they do not have quality education. JCU is a high cost education but it is worth it. We have cut 10 million dollars in the time I have been here. If you know, of areas to cut let us know and we will evaluate and try to implement in some form or another. There are places we are investing more: counseling, admissions, student support.

Question 11. Great question more students voting would likely cause an irritation to the small group of those who control UH. The mayor received about 6,000 votes not many student votes and her opponent received 3,700…1000 votes will make a difference in council elections but we also need to hold them accountable and make sure they represent the whole city.

One of the things I would like to see would be to get the student body more engaged in the conversation with UH. We should share copies of the Sun Press…it is a neighborhoods newspaper (not just UH) people are moving away. When I last got the data there were over 300 empty homes in UH because of foreclosure or job relocation. 300 of 6000 homes is a significant number. Why are 5 houses on Milford and a duplex on Warrensville being better for UH. The houses that border JCU actually sell for more than any other houses. Being around a green, vibrant campus is better. We have across the street the premier elementary school in the area. We have a great relationship with Gesu and any relationships you have with Gesu or neighborhood are great relationships. The CN is one way to engage with media. Tanya Ray Charles is regularly in contact with Sun Press and can set up an r ship with our students and the Sun Press. JCU does not have as much influence since we are not big and they are not big. The property taxes we pay cannot go on forever.

Thank you for everything you do. People talk about what a great experience you have at JCU and that is mostly due to you and a little to me.