OPEEP Co-Directors and Program Coordinators tabled at the Lima campus student center alongside OSU Lima Dean Tim Rehner and English Professor David Adams (left to right, Dr. Mary Thomas, Dr. Tiyi Moris, Nicole Edgerton, Dr. Adams, Dean Rehner, Babette Cieskowski).
OPEEP Co-Directors and staff had to stop and snap a photo of the group in front of the OSU Lima sign at the campus entrance!
OPEEP Directors Dr. Tiyi Morris (left) and Dr. Mary Thomas (right) posed with a portrait of Senior Vice Provost for Student Academic Excellence Charlene Gilbert while on a visit to OSU Lima. OPEEP is grateful to have the support of both the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) and the Mellon Foundation!
Lima Professor David Adams spoke with students about OPEEP and his upcoming Spring 2023 course, ENG 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing, which will take place at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville.
OPEEP had a wonderful time visiting Lima and tabling at the student center alongside Dr. Adams!
OPEEP Co-Directors, Dr. Mary Thomas and Dr. Tiyi Morris, and Program Coordinators, Nicole Edgerton and Babette Cieskowski, recently had the pleasure of visiting Ohio State's Lima regional campus on October 28th, 2022! Increased presence and facilitation of courses across OSU's multiple regional campuses is a core piece of OPEEP's mission, as the project aims to increase overall enrollment and expand in terms of geographic reach. Regional campus involvement has always been important to the project, given Co-Director Dr. Tiyi Morris' appointment at OSU Newark and the many other trained OPEEP faculty teaching at regional campuses, including Lima. Thus, when OSU Lima Dean Tim Rehner and Spring 2023 OPEEP instructor David Adams invited the group to come visit the campus, OPEEP was thrilled at the opportunity!
The visit began with a productive meeting between OPEEP and Dean Rehner, with conversation centering around opportunities for further collaboration and involvement. Following this successful meeting, OPEEP Co-Directors and staff set up a table in the Webb Student Center to spread the word about the project and speak with students about upcoming courses. Dr. David Adams, who will teach his first OPEEP class in Spring 2023, joined OPEEP Co-Directors and staff while tabling. Adams seized on the opportunity to speak with students about his upcoming course, English 2268: Introductory Creative Nonfiction Writing, taking place at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. Adams' presence and involvement also helped in spreading awareness about the project more generally to Lima students, faculty, and administrators. In addition to this, Adams led OPEEP Co-Directors and staff on a campus tour, informing the group about various programs, facilities, and opportunities available at OSU Lima. Following this, the group met with Dean Rehner along with other OSU Lima administrators and faculty for lunch at a local restaurant, where quality conversation and food was enjoyed by all!
The visit ended with a brief tour of the city of Lima, which was also generously led by Adams. The group learned about various historic and contemporary points of interest in the area, from locally-famous Kewpee Hamburgers to the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution, where OPEEP hopes to facilitate course offerings in the near future. Altogether, the visit was a great success for OPEEP, and project leadership and staff were able to learn a great deal about OSU Lima and the surrounding community. The trip provided invaluable opportunities to discuss the project's mission and future plans with Lima administrators, faculty, and students, and OPEEP hopes to return soon to continue building upon these conversations and ideas for future collaboration!