NEOCOM and UA to put training center in Akron?

[Zipsrifle]

Can't believe nobody has posted this yet. Apparently there is some talk about a NEOCOM training center in Akron, linking with UA.http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/16439...?page=3&c=yIf this happens, this is a BIG, BIG coup for UA. With all the talk that NEOCOM would stay put and a merger of UA and CSU, this could really set UA apart. IMO, this would firmly establish UA as the premier public Science and Technology school in Northern Ohio.

[Blue & Gold]

Okay, this is a big story; big development. I posted a comment on the Ohio.com site, and I think I'll post the same here. Here's what I posted @ Ohio.com:"Wow, this string is getting emotional. I'm not looking for an argument; just want to toss my 2 cents out here. This is, naturally, a complex issue. However, I think that UA should strongly consider whether this cooperative move w/ NEOUCOM is the direction in which they should to go. NEOUCOM, being a collaborative effort between 3 (and soon 4) universities, is quite political in nature and could possibly be hampered with bureaucracy. I have absolutely no proof of this, but from reading various articles and quotes over the past year, I believe that Dr. Proenza may be putting some pressure (a lot?) on NEOUCOM to make Akron their primary campus. On the surface, that sounds like a great move. I think that the city of Akron's medical facilities combined w/ UA's research makes a logical place for a medical school - much more advantageous than out in the sticks of Rootstown. I think NEOUCOM realizes this. Here's what I believe may be happening behind the scenes: I believe NEOUCOM may be concerned that UA could very easily pull out of the NEOUCOM consortium and start a medical school of their own, in partnership w/ Summa, Children's Hospital, General Hospital and perhaps Canton's Timken & Aultmann hospitals as well (they're a mere 20 minutes to the south). If UA lets NEOUCOM get a foot in the door near City Hospital and UA's campus (as NEOUCOM apparently desires), it would make starting a UofA med school much more difficult. With UA's proximity to City, Children's & General hospitals - even utilizing those facilities for classroom space, how difficult would it be for UA to actually start their own medical school completely separate from the NEOUCOM political conundrum?"So what do you guys think? Would it be wise to bring NEOUCOM to UA - with all the baggage of K.E.N.T., Youngstown State and soon Cleveland State - attatched. Or should UA be considering beginnin their own med school program? With UA's research & development, Akron's hospitals all within minutes of campus & Canton hospitals 20 minutes to the south, wouldn't UA be the ideal location for a med school of their own? I believe we may want to divorce ourselves from a NEOCOM governing body composed of politicos from Can't State, YSU & CSU. I think UACOM may be the way to go.

[zip-O-matic]

So what do you guys think? Would it be wise to bring NEOUCOM to UA - with all the baggage of K.E.N.T., Youngstown State and soon Cleveland State - attatched. Or should UA be considering beginnin their own med school program? With UA's research & development, Akron's hospitals all within minutes of campus & Canton hospitals 20 minutes to the south, wouldn't UA be the ideal location for a med school of their own? I believe we may want to divorce ourselves from a NEOCOM governing body composed of politicos from Can't State, YSU & CSU. I think UACOM may be the way to go.

No way the state ever lets Akron start their own medical school. Ohio already has 5 public medical schools including one in NEO. Ohio produces more medical school graduate each year than new jobs for them. It makes zero sense from a public policy perspective or from the perspective of wisely using scarce taxpayer dollars to start a 6th medical college. Affiliating with NEOCOM is probably the only way that Akron would be able to affiliate itself with a medical college.

[Zipsrifle]

I also don't think that UA will start it's own medical school. With the pressure from the State to cut back on funding to the Public Universities, and with the current financial situation at UA, I don't think UA has the muscle to pull it off. I agree that Proenza is probably putting a LOT of pressure on NEOCOM and the state to establish something in Akron. I don't fully understand the circumstances that exist between the hospitals of Cleveland, the Universities in Cleveland, and NEOCOM, but, if NEOCOM is trying to get out from under the shadow of the Cleveland Hospitals, Akron is a logical choice. With that said, I know I've heard rumors that The Cleveland Clinic was going to buy out Akron General, so this is probably very complicated. What is very exciting to think about is how the Medical industry in Greater Cleveland is starting to grow. I think this could be the "Shot in the Arm", Pun intended, that the region needs. Getting UA involved in this would be huge.

[Blue & Gold]

Does UA need to seek permission from the state government in order to begin a new program? How does that work? Did UA need the state's permission to allocate funds to build InfoCision Stadium? When can the state step in and say no to a UA proposal?

[UAZipster0305]

Does UA need to seek permission from the state government in order to begin a new program? How does that work? Did UA need the state's permission to allocate funds to build InfoCision Stadium? When can the state step in and say no to a UA proposal?

The Ohio Board of Regents must approve all program additions and changes for any state supported programs. This group oversees and inventories all other programs currently available in Ohio before considering to add another. To some extent, Case Western is even required to interact with this board.http://regents.ohio.gov/They would never allow UA to add its own medical school while keeping NEOUCOM. The best opportunity for UA would for NEOUCOM to be moved to Akron and incorporated as a school within the university. The addition of the training center, biomedical corridor, and an orthopedic research center are all positive signs that such a transition is beginning to happen. However, the other schools would never approve it as a pure coup. Therefore, I recommend UA forfeit its positions in the BS/MD program in exchange for a move of the medical/pharmacy school to campus and within the structure of the university. This would strengthen the opportunities for students, researchers, and the hospitals while also being attractive to the other universities in the consortium.NEOUCOM currently performs <$3million worth of research annually, which is by far the lowest of any medical school in the country. In part, this is due to the weak collaborative efforts with the hospitals and consortium universities. To put this in perspective, Harvard and Johns Hopkins have >$1billion dollars worth of research. Even good public schools like OSU and Pitt (where I am currently a student) perform around $400million worth of research. Hence, NEOUCOM provides an extremely poor return on investment. The only way it can be strengthened is to move the medical/pharmacy school to Akron and strengthen its relationship with collaborating hospitals and universities (especially UA).

[ziptrumpet87]

The reason NEOUCOM exists in the first place is that none of the three universities could do it on their own so they agreed to do it together. Has UA's position changed that much in 20 yrs or so that it could now do it alone? Probably not IMO.

[Zipsrifle]

UA is a much more competitive campus now than it was 10 years ago and some programs are also gaining recognition nationally. I don't think it has strengthened enough to pull a medical college away from the other colleges. I think it is the combination of needing to cut back on public school expenditures and trying to bolster sagging rustbelt downtowns. I'm not sure what is going on behind the scenes, but you would think that with the influence Cleveland has, it would easily pick up something like this an tag it to CSU. Does Proenza have that kind of pull to offset that or is NEOCOM such small change that Cleveland isn't even bothering with it?

[zip-O-matic]

UA is a much more competitive campus now than it was 10 years ago and some programs are also gaining recognition nationally. I don't think it has strengthened enough to pull a medical college away from the other colleges. I think it is the combination of needing to cut back on public school expenditures and trying to bolster sagging rustbelt downtowns. I'm not sure what is going on behind the scenes, but you would think that with the influence Cleveland has, it would easily pick up something like this an tag it to CSU. Does Proenza have that kind of pull to offset that or is NEOCOM such small change that Cleveland isn't even bothering with it?

Not sure that Cleveland considers it small change, but they do have the Clinic and Case's med school. It truly might be a case of the two 800lb gorillas sitting at the table and saying, "we don't need a third med school/research hospital in the city." It's just that in Akron's case it's a potential jewel with no existing competition. One man's junk is another man's...While I think the idea of adding a 6th public medical school (even if it is on UA and Dr. P's wishlist) is absurd and a colossal pork-barrel waste of taxpayer dollars, I do believe that NEOCOM should be relocated to downtown Akron and should affiliate primarily with UA. The state got the general idea right when they founded NEOCOM. They just kind of screwed up on the particulars. Now would seem to be a window when a lot of things are in flux, and Akron should make the grab.

[LosAngelesZipFan]

Enhancing the pathetic amount of research at NEOUCOM is probably the driver of this along with Dr. P's pushing. It was a really stupid idea to ever stick the thing in Rootstown-- a politically driven compromise. My understanding was that Can't had actually been the driver of the creation of the med school, but UA cut a deal to get included followed by YSU. None of the 3 would agree to allow the school to reside on the others' campus, so it was stuck in the middle of nowhere. So stupid.To me this is another big argument why Akron and Can't should confederate at some point.

[zip-O-matic]

Enhancing the pathetic amount of research at NEOUCOM is probably the driver of this along with Dr. P's pushing. It was a really stupid idea to ever stick the thing in Rootstown-- a politically driven compromise. My understanding was that Can't had actually been the driver of the creation of the med school, but UA cut a deal to get included followed by YSU. None of the 3 would agree to allow the school to reside on the others' campus, so it was stuck in the middle of nowhere. So stupid.To me this is another big argument why Akron and Can't should confederate at some point.

Interesting. It seems like a big argument why state universities in general shouldn't be allowed to put their competition with each other ahead of common sense public policy and the interests of Ohio taxpayers. There has to be a rational way of allowing a reasonable degree of autonomy while still having enough central control that taxpayer dollars aren't wasted and stupid decisions, like putting a med school in Rootstown, end up being made.

[Zipsrifle]

I can see both sides of this argument. I agree that tax dollars should be spent as efficiently as possible. On the other hand, competition is good, it drives innovation. A middle ground somewhere needs to be reached. At this point, with the financial situation in Ohio, I think finding efficient ways to spend tax dollars is important. Do what is best for everyone and NO university should be exempt.

[ZippyRulz]

I wouldn't mind seeing neoucom move to akron to be near the hospitals and have UA take over the rootstown campus for undergrad classes (I'm sure Can't would be thrilled to have us in Portage Co.) Build a couple dorms out there for students who want to be out of the urban environment -- which would further erode the value of spicertown shacks making them easier/cheaper to acquire for redevelopment of the stadium district. The current med school consortium arrangement makes sense to me...I don't think we need to try to wrest control of it away from the others.

[ziptrumpet87]

Fingerhut's recent commentsI see this as good for the city of Akron, Summa, and UA. I think removing the presidents from the NEOUCOM board and replacing them with independent trustees will be good also because I think independent trustees will see the benefits of being closer to the Akron hospitals and UA research. If the NEOUCOM Akron campus grows enough, I could see them possibly even move the main offices here leaving only the medical school in Rootstown.

[g-mann17]

Fingerhut's recent commentsI see this as good for the city of Akron, Summa, and UA. I think removing the presidents from the NEOUCOM board and replacing them with independent trustees will be good also because I think independent trustees will see the benefits of being closer to the Akron hospitals and UA research. If the NEOUCOM Akron campus grows enough, I could see them possibly even move the main offices here leaving only the medical school in Rootstown.

Yeah, I just wish Cleveland could keep their grubby little mits off of everything. If we are are going to be truly a "region", then we don't need redundancies like NEOUCOM campuses in Akron and Cleveland. Should NEOUCOM be in Akron? Yes. Should CSU be allowed to partner with the current consortium? Yes. Do we need a primary care physician training center in Cleveland? No. We need a good mass transit system between the two cities so we don't have to waste money on building countless medical training facilities.

[Zipsrifle]

g-mann. I'm not suprised that Cleveland was brought into the equation. Cleveland is a city that is really betting the farm that the success of the Cleveland Clinic will make it a center for medical research worldwide. They are going to try to grab ANYTHING related to medicine! This is purely speculation, but I would imagne that there was some rather influential people in Cleveland weighed in on this one when the found out about it. That's why CSU will now START participating in the program AND get it's own training facility. I wouldn't be suprised if the merger between UA and CSU was part of the equation too! In the end, I like our chances with Proenza. He's the top dawg in Akron, and now he might as well start throwing his weight around in NE Ohio as well! UA is a stronger Univeristy that CSU and has a lot going for it right now. If it stays on a roll, Akron will be the home for NEOCOM.