Ohio University’s Board of Trustees’ Academics Committee discussed increased student-athlete graduation rates and a new marketing campaign at its meeting yesterday afternoon.

The Athletics Department and University Communications and Marketing updated the committee about their roles within the university’s five-year plan to achieve the strategic goals outlined in Vision Ohio.

University Communications and Marketing cited several areas of potential improvement within the department, including increasing OU’s national prominence through a new marketing campaign.

“The university’s online presence is a patchwork quilt of different pieces of Web sites maintained by hundreds of different people and 26 different platforms of production,” said Joe Brennan, executive director of Communications and Marketing, adding that a collaborative project is needed to look into the Web site’s production and management.

“Hopefully we’ll find a way to give the power back to the faculty and the students in how they take care of their Web sites,” he said.

In another effort to increase national prominence and attract more students, the university will launch its newest line of commercials in the Columbus area Oct. 1. The commercials are part of the university’s new comprehensive multimedia advertising campaign.

Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt expressed the importance of the Athletics Department in representing the university positively.

“Intercollegiate Athletics is a very small component of this institution,” he said, “but at the same time, Intercollegiate Athletics is one of the most visible.”

In January 2007, the university eliminated men’s swimming and diving, men’s indoor and outdoor track and women’s lacrosse, igniting a controversy that still simmers today. The elimination of the four varsity sports saved the university an estimated $685,000.

However, Hocutt said that this was the first time in the last three years that Intercollegiate Athletics did not take a budget cut.

Hocutt also discussed three goals for Intercollegiate Athletics and their relation to the five-year plan: leading the Mid-American Conference in graduation rates, giving a high-quality experience to student-athletes and competing for championships.

The graduation rate of OU student-athletes increased to 83 percent this year, which is well over the national average.