History

The Ohio Bursars Association was founded in May, 1977 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from a small gathering of Bursars from the State Colleges and Universities in Ohio. They would get together over lunch and discuss many of the common problems and issues that they faced. At first membership was informal and was limited to only the State Colleges and Universities located in the State of Ohio.

In 1983, membership to this group was opened to include the University of Dayton, a private University located in Dayton, Ohio. Meetings were held on a more regular basis in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus was selected because of its central location and the fact that Ohio State University owned a hotel near the University. This was to be the meeting place for a number of years.

Shortly after, around 1986, the membership was again re-opened. This time it was to include the Bursars and Business Officers from all of the Colleges and Universities throughout the State of Ohio. Regular meetings continued to be held; in the Fall, the Winter, and the Spring. With the limited membership, it was decided that the group would travel to various school locations for the Spring meeting. This movement would provide the opportunity to see the various campuses throughout the state and served to limit the travel required to get to the meetings to only one large trip per year. The Fall meeting is still held in Columbus (9:00AM-4:00PM) as designated. The Spring meeting, traditionally a one and one-half day conference event, is hosted by the President-Elect prior to taking the office of President.

As the organization grew, it began a movement toward formality and the Association was registered with the State of Ohio.

Today the OBA membership is made up of over 50 post-secondary educational institutions (degree granting, public and private, 2 year and 4 year) and over 20 associate members which includes various business entities that deal, on many levels, with the educational institutions. Businesses, such as: collection agencies, billing services, guarantee agencies, legal firms, as well as others.

Our membership is open to any degree granting Ohio Educational Institution or complimentary business that has a contract with a degree granting Ohio Educational Institution.