a. Overview: Considering the full scope of OSU’s academic enterprise activities and operational support functions, examine all aspects of the institution to identify areas of opportunity, and emphasize a balanced enhancement of student and institutional outcomes, financial performance, and organizational health and capabilities. The objectives of this engagement are to 1) identify opportunities to improve student outcomes, enhance research, and strengthen financial performance; 2) set realistic and achievable targets for the institution to pursue within the identified opportunity areas to help free up resources and enable investments; and 3) prepare for subsequent initiative design, collaborative planning, and implementation to execute against the targets. It is essential that this engagement is university led, and consultant supported. The University expects the following areas will be included in the review: i. Procurement Optimization: Proposals to streamline procurement, reduce duplication, improve efficiency, and optimize strategic contracting. ii. Gift Utilization Strategy: Recommendations to maximize the strategy for use of available gift funds at the institutional and unit levels. iii. New Revenue Generation: Analysis to increase revenue diversification, create new sources of revenue and/or leverage existing resources to enhance revenue. These enhancements may include updated enrollment strategies, including tuition and aid structures, new or expanded markets, and other opportunities for optimizing enrollment. iv. Capital Optimization: Opportunities to improve OSU’s existing space utilization, contain costs, and optimize its real estate portfolio (owned, occupied, and leased properties). v. Portfolio Evaluation: Analysis that will provide additional tools to evaluate its return on mission and realize new net revenue for institutional investment. These opportunities may include optimizing the academic portfolio and administrative services, to be able to reallocate resources toward advancing student success; research priorities; and financial sustainability.
