Trustees approve smoking ban, discuss presidential search process

April 23, 2014 | News, UTMC
By Jon Strunk



University of Toledo trustees approved a resolution to ban the use of tobacco products on Main Campus during their April 14 meeting, finalizing a push initiated by Student Government and incorporating the opinions of faculty, staff and the University Council.

UT President Lloyd Jacobs said after the meeting that he would establish an implementation committee to recommend the best method and timeline for when the ban will go into effect.

During the meeting, trustees also approved a proposal by Dave Morlock, CEO of UT Medical Center and executive vice president for finance and administration, to consolidate UTMC’s family medicine residency program in the former Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic on Glendale Avenue.

UTMC will assume control of the family medicine residency program at St. Luke’s Hospital July 1, 2014, Morlock said, and the plan is to physically relocate the St. Luke’s program and the family medicine residency clinics in the Ruppert Health Center to a newly renovated portion of the former VA building by July 1, 2015. Morlock said the renovation and relocation would cost $3.6 million.

Joseph Zerbey, chair of the Board of Trustees, announced at the meeting the board’s intention to enter into an agreement with an executive search firm with experience in higher education and health care as it begins the search process for UT’s next president.

“The board recognizes that one of its great responsibilities is the selection of the president of the University,” Zerbey said. “To that end, it is critical that a transparent and effective process be developed and executed.”

Cavanaugh

Cavanaugh

Zerbey announced that while the board itself will serve as the search committee, he has asked Lawrence J. Burns, vice president for external affairs, and John Barrett, vice provost for faculty relations and accreditation assessment and program review, to lead an advisory group to be populated by faculty, staff, students, alumni and community leaders.

Rich Martinko, director of UT’s Intermodal Transportation Institute, also presented to the board an opportunity to propose a new Dorr Street exit off I-475 that would coincide with an Ohio Department of Transportation expansion of the western leg of the interstate to three lanes in the coming years.

Trustees approved a UT commitment of $1.5 million to help fund the exit construction, but made that support contingent on numerous factors, including similar commitments from other local municipal partners and a Dorr Street location.

Zerbey also announced the appointment of Steven Cavanaugh to the UT Board of Trustees. The chief operations officer for HCR ManorCare, Cavanaugh has served as treasurer of the UT Foundation Board of Trustees and chair of the Business Advisory Council for the College of Business and Innovation. Cavanaugh’s term will expire in 2022.

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