BGSU Zoom News

Monday, November 16, 2015

Friday Night Lights saves energy, emissions | BGSU ranks high for return on education

President Mary Ellen Mazey (center) meets with Friday Night Lights volunteers and co-coordinators Mitchell Peebles (front row, third from left), and Miranda Forsythe (on Dr. Mazey’s left).

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS REDUCES COSTS, CARBON USE

Juniors Miranda (Mandi) Forsythe and Mitchell Peebles have a standing date for Friday evenings, but it’s nothing romantic or even for dinner. Instead, the two are committed to helping make sure BGSU is not wasting energy or increasing its carbon footprint by leaving lights on in empty classrooms.

On some campuses, Friday Night Lights means football, but at BGSU it’s a dedicated team of student volunteers who take on the job of shutting off lights in classrooms across campus. Friday Night Lights was begun in 2010 by alumnus Dustin Sabo (who has recently returned to his alma mater as assistant director of admissions), and to date has saved the University more than $77,500. Today, Forsythe and Peebles are the co-coordinators of the weekly effort.

Meeting on the second floor of the Bowen-Thompson Student Union Fridays at 6:30, teams of volunteers fan out across campus to switch off the lights in academic building rooms without motion detectors or automatic controls. Over the years, this simple act has not only saved money but also raised campus awareness of the impact that basic, simple acts of personal responsibility can make in reducing the University’s carbon footprint and protecting the environment.

“Most people recognize that keeping lights on wastes money, but what many aren’t aware of is that purchased electricity is also our biggest share of emissions,” said Dr. Nicholas Hennessy, campus sustainability coordinator. “Coal-fired plants produce most of the electricity we consume.”

UT, BGSU presidents make wage on football game – The Blade

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'Black Hawk Down' demanded extraordinary dedication – Sentinel–Tribune

BGSU students help seniors learn tablets – Sentinel–Tribune

At the Embracing Global Engagement awards were (left to right) Cordula Mora, Clayton Rosati, Gabriel Matney, Jonathan Yoo, Morgan Tucker, President Mary Ellen Mazey, Andrea Haas, Andrew Menich, Christina Guenther, Trinka Messenheimer, Beatrice Guenther and Jenifer Chambers.

THE ECONOMIST RANKS BGSU NO. 1 OF OHIO PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES FOR RETURN ON EDUCATION

BGSU ranks first among public universities in Ohio for boosting former students’ earnings 10 years after college, according to a national ranking by The Economist magazine.

The college ranking is the first of its kind the magazine has conducted, and focuses on how much the colleges help their students succeed economically. In a review of 1,275 four-year, non-vocational colleges and universities, the ranking measures how much attendees earn compared to their peers from other schools.

According to the Economist poll website, the magazine’s first-ever college rankings are based on the premise that the economic value of a university is equal to the gap between how much money its students subsequently earn, and how much they might have made had they studied elsewhere.

The magazine made its calculations using data from the U.S. Department of Education’s recently released “College Scorecard.”

“The government generated the numbers by matching individuals’ student-loan applications to their subsequent tax returns, making it possible to compare pupils’ qualifications and demographic characteristics when they entered college with their salaries 10 years later. That information offers the potential to disentangle student merit from university contributions, and thus to determine which colleges deliver the greatest return and why,” the magazine said.

“The Economist’s study is further affirmation of the tremendous value and quality of a BGSU education,” said President Mary Ellen Mazey. “The focus of our BG Experience — faculty mentoring, a strong undergraduate curriculum, and internships or other experiential learning experiences — helps launch students successfully into the world of work.”

IN BRIEF

A one-day symposium commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 will be held on Thursday (Nov. 19) at BGSU to discuss the act and how it changed the demographic makeup of the American population, especially in Ohio.

The Northwest Ohio Center for Excellence in STEM Education (NWO) at the University will hold its annual STEM Teaching Symposium on Saturday (Nov. 21).

Faculty, staff and retirees are encouraged to participate in fall commencement ceremonies Dec. 18 and 19.

Get details In Brief.