Ohio State Lima students see Assistant Dean Bryan Albright (second from the left, above) mostly through the lens of his work in student success, advising and student life. What they may not realize is that his role in outreach and engagement reaches much further back and forward in the student pathway to Ohio State.
Albright coordinates and develops almost all of Ohio State Lima’s work in the community. The events, partnerships and projects he shepherds touch every age group from pre-K through retiree. Some, like STEM Steps and scholastic bowl tournaments, you would expect. Others have come as a surprise even to Albright.
Through a partnership with Mercy Health, high school juniors and seniors interested in the medical fields visit the hospital as part of Healthcare Futures Day, including a session in the Ohio State Lima anatomy lab. Drawing on his experience outfitting the academic lab, Albright found himself placing an order for a body donor and a table of body organs.
“That was certainly one of the most unexpected things I’ve done, and certainly well worth the ‘other duties as assigned’ responsibility,” Albright said. “Having the opportunity for our undergraduate students and prospective future students to learn about the human body firsthand in a lab setting like this is second to none. You can see the students get excited and want to learn more during the sessions.”
In essence, Albright builds micro-communities of interest and activity that give future and current students another place to thrive. In the process, community members have new sources of information and ways to build knowledge as well.
“Academic enrichment is a huge part of the Ohio State Lima student experience and through programs that bring Ohio State expertise and resources out into the community, we try to share that richness with more than just college students,” Albright said.
The hot topic of the year is the total solar eclipse coming in April and Albright has knitted it into both the longstanding Fowler Science Series with the Lima City Schools and the 2024-only Eclipse Science Series.
“Ohio State’s role as a land-grant university is to bring the knowledge, expertise and resources of a top research institution to the people of our state,” Albright said. “In the case of the Eclipse Science Series, the experts we have coming in will discuss everything from what to expect from the weather to the physics behind the eclipse to how to stay safe while watching what is turning out to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Albright and his team’s work fades into the background by design so that the participants in the programs and the programs themselves have a chance to shine.
“For example, both the competitors and the volunteers at the two scholastic bowls we host are under a lot of pressure to do a really good job,” Albright said. “We want everything behind the scenes to go seamlessly so all they have to focus on is the questions and the answers.”
Albright’s attempts to stay in the background are somewhat ironic. The outreach projects he works on are the stories that most often pop up on social media and play across our screens in the news media.
