By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Still in its early, quiet stages, the current Bowling Green State University Capital Campaign has already met with success.
BGSU President Mary Ellen Mazey told trustees last week that the campaign has raised $72 million of a $200 million goal. Last year Shea McGrew, the vice president for University Advancement and president and chief executive officer of the BGSU Foundation, described that as a working goal.
The campaign was first announced in spring, 2014, and is expected to run for six years.
On Friday, the trustees heard what the deans and other top university officials envision as the ways that money would be spent.
Not surprisingly the plans offer donors plenty of chances to put their names on something, whether a building, program or professorship.
In at least one case, though, a funded position would be named for the current occupant. Sara Bushong, dean of libraries, said one of the capital campaign priorities was to get funding to name a position for Bill Schurk, the sound recording archivist. Schurk begins his 50th year of service in July.
Bushong also said that the library would like to have a visiting professorship named after pop culture pioneer Ray Browne, who planted the flag of the then-new discipline at BGSU.
Each endowed professorship would cost $300,000.
The priorities represent more than a wish list; they offer a look at the direction the university is heading.
Health and Human Services
Dean Mary Huff stated that the college would look to attracting funding for five named professorships, in several disciplines. This would require $300,000 to $1.5 million. She said that additional money for recruiting faculty is necessary because of the competition for top candidates.
The Optimal Aging Institute will be a prime focus. A search for a director is underway with a hire expected this summer. Huff said she hoped a donor would could be found to sponsor the center.
The project was launched in March with a $1 million donation from Medical Mutual.
Another area where the college wants to boost its research, training and outreach is forensics.
She also would like to establish new scholarships. These would help the college attract an ethnically diverse student body that “reflects the communities they will serve.”
Arts & Sciences
Dean Ray Craig said creating 340 new scholarships is one of the top priorities for the College of Arts and Sciences.
The school is already engaged in massive facilities upgrades, including the opening of the Michael and Sara Kuhlin Center, new home for the School of Media and Communications, this August. Later at the meeting, the trustees approved that new name for what had been South Hall.
Next up is a renovated Mosley Hall, which will open fall, 2017, and house interdisciplinary classrooms and labs for teaching lower level science courses.
Craig said that funding will also be used to make sure the equipment in those new facilities will be continually upgraded. The innovative classroom structure also will be extended into the traditional laboratories.
The west wing of the Fine Arts Building also needs renovation especially in its heating and cooling systems.
The college is also focusing on a number of collaborative projects and would be looking at donors who may want to attach their names to centers, institutes and facilities devoted to water quality, photochemistry, developmental neuroscience, media and communications, and arts and design.
Also, Craig said, the college is looking for $10 million for named professorships.
Education & Human Development
Dean Dawn Shinew said the College of Education and Human Development is looking to make sure the “great renovations” of the college’s facilities in Eppler and the Education Building continue to be updated “so when our students go out they can help push what goes on in K-12” education.
She noted the naming opportunities for labs, classrooms and support centers.
Shinew said it was also important to bring the expertise of those out in the field back into the classroom. In line with that she’d like to see six to 12 “Professor of Practice” positions endowed. These would be visiting positions. Those teachers would bring their experience to students, and when they returned to their districts they would bring with them knowledge of research-based practices.
The “Professor of Practice” model could also be employed in other disciplines, such as apparel merchandising, in the college.
She said she would also like to fund scholarships for applied and clinical experiences, including some overseas.
Business Administration
Dean Ray Braun came with the shortest list that contained the biggest item.
He’s looking for a $16 million investment in a new home for the college of business.
After exploring the idea of building a new facility, the university has now decided to renovate and expand on Hanna Hall while continuing to use the existing building for classrooms.
Construction is not expected to start before 2020. “We want this new building to make BGSU a leader in business,” Braun said.
Braun also said would be looking to find donors for four named professorships and for more money, up to $1 million, for merit and need-based student scholarships.
Technology, Architecture & Applied Engineering
The College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering boasts one of the most stunning makeovers on campus – the transformation of a warehouse into a state-of-the-art home for architecture on campus.
Now, Interim Dean Venu Dasigi would love a new name for what was the Park Avenue Warehouse. The trustees, somewhat reluctantly, changed the name to the Built Environment Center, but they would happily vote to change the name again.
Two other areas of interest for recruiting faculty and students are mechatronics, an interdisciplinary area that includes systems control, electrical engineering and robotics, and aviation.
“Interest in aviation studies is exploding,” he said.
Dasigi said that the university has recently acquired a dozen robots, but still needs to find proper space to operate them. He envisions another $1 million investment in robots.
Musical Arts
Interim Dean William Mathis said much of the focus of the College of Musical Arts priorities is on two of its signature programs music education and contemporary music.
The music education program is “arguably the best in the state,” he said, and has a 100-percent placement rate.
Funding 15 undergraduate scholarships – eight in music education, five in performance and two in composition – would help the college “target the most talented and academically gifted students.”
The college also would like to find endowments to support three professorships. One would be in composition, and another in music education.
The third would be the director of the Falcon Marching Band. The marching band, he said, is the largest student organization and each of its members “is an ambassador for the university.”
Mathis said the funding to name the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music. The center and its signature event the New Music Festival “contribute greatly to our national profile.”
The college is also seeking sponsorship for the radio series “New Music from Bowling Green,” that features performances from the festival and other MACCM sponsored concerts.
University Libraries
In addition to the named scholarships, Bushong said the library would like money for four scholarships for students who work in the library. Expanded facilities within Jerome Library, including a new entrance, were also on list as were naming opportunities for existing facilities.
She said the library would also provide support to visiting researchers.
Honors College
Provost Rodney Rogers, filling in for Simon Morgan-Russell, dean of the Honors College, said the college was “a very robust program” that was helping to boost the academic profile of the students coming to BGSU.
The goal, he said, was to increase the college’s enrollment to 1,000. “Naming of the honors college would provide the base foundation” of about $9 million “to drive that expansion along.”
The college would also use the capital campaign money for scholarships, fellowships for faculty and travel and research grants for students.
Athletics
McGrew, who heads the development efforts, spoke about the athletic priorities. Athletic Director Chris Kingston is leaving the university.
McGrew described athletics as “the front porch” of the university. “It serves the university by bringing the university attention in various ways” and fostering community involvement.
That front porch is expensive to maintain. The athletic priority list includes more than $25 million for upgrades to Doyt Stadium, Steller Field and other facilities.
He said that 80 percent of student athletes receive some sort of financial aid. If private funding could be found for those scholarships, it could free up university funds.
McGrew said the athletics department would also seek funds to endow three coaching positions.
Student Services
Increasing the diversity of the student body and making sure a BGSU education is financially accessible to all is the focus of the Student Services priority list, said Sidney Childs, interim director.
To that end it would seek campaign money to fund up to $2.5 million in scholarships.
Maintaining a health intramural program is also important. That could be helped along by finding a donor to name the Student Recreation Center.
Firelands
Firelands College spelled out $8.7million in campaign priorities, more than $7 million of which would go toward Allied Health laboratories and student support spaces.
