The Greenstein Award is given annually to a staff member, faculty member or administrator of COTC and/or Ohio State Newark. Its recipients are honored for their efforts, attitude, deeds and behaviors toward perpetuating a genuine spirit of mutual respect and cooperation between the two institutions.
Brillhart, vice president of business and finance at COTC and senior fiscal officer at Ohio State Newark, received the award during a board reception on Aug. 19.
Throughout his almost 30 years at Newark, “David has served as the financial lifeline for both institutions, consistently demonstrating an unwavering commitment to balanced, collaborative stewardship,” said Amy White, the campus’s director of accounting and one of the people who nominated Brillhart for the award.
More than a lifeline, Brillhart’s colleagues claim he has helped bring the cost-shared partnership to life. He designed a framework that includes multiple shared budgets to support the partnership. He maneuvered financial challenges during the pandemic with effective forward thinking. He’s a trusted administrator who makes each decision with a dual-institution approach.
“The cost-shared agreement is more than a document under David’s care,” said Jackie Parrill, EdD, COTC’s vice president and both institutions’ chief of staff. “It’s a living model of collaboration that he has helped shape, strengthen and sustain.”
He’s also helping to usher in Ohio State’s Regional Campus Commitment, through which eligible students who begin their Buckeye career on a regional campus can get their degree tuition-free. Also an architect of COTC’s Promise programs, Brillhart helped bolster the existing Knox and Coshocton Promise programs while implementing the new Licking County Promise earlier this year. Such initiatives allow qualifying students in each of those counties to receive free tuition to COTC.
“These efforts have strengthened access and opportunity across the entire campus community,” said Faith Phillips, the campus’s director of student financial services. “It’s a great example of how David sees the bigger picture and works toward solutions that benefit both institutions.”
Jessica Mautz, director of financial planning and analysis on the Newark campus, stated plainly her perspective on Brillhart’s role in developing these life-changing initiatives. “Without his leadership,” she said, “I’m not sure they would have come to fruition.”
That leadership has helped maintain this campus’s cooperative essence through institutional changes, administrative transitions and operational complexities. Brillhart’s receiving this honor is a fitting recognition of that hard work. Just ask Phillips: “David Brillhart is exactly the kind of person this award is meant to recognize.”