BGSU approves innovative early childhood education program

BOWLING GREEN, O.—The Bowling Green State University Board of Trustees today (Dec. 7) approved several resolutions including the creation of a new Inclusive Early Childhood (IEC) Education program and authorization to proceed with new Greek housing on campus.

Other resolutions included an amendment to a land lease for development of a new student health center, funding for renovations to the Organic Chemistry Teaching Laboratory, elevator renovations in Offenhauer Towers and the completion of parking lot repairs.

The IEC program is a state-of-the-art birth to third grade program that will provide BGSU graduates with two teaching licenses—pre-kindergarten to third grade early childhood and pre-kindergarten to third grade intervention specialist plus an Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities certificate. The combination of these licenses and certificate will allow graduates to teach young children with and without disabilities in integrated settings.

The program will be the first in the state, and will prepare graduates to teach all students as well as meet market demands for dual-licensed early childhood/early childhood intervention specialists. BGSU expects to begin accepting students in the program in the fall 2013 semester.

“This is the type of innovative program I’ve come to expect from BGSU,” said William Primrose, chair of the Board of Trustees. “It will both meet the needs of our graduates by giving them an advantage in the marketplace, and also provide teachers who are trained to teach all children in Ohio.”

As part of the Greek housing resolution, the board approved the proposed location of new housing on East Wooster Street, currently occupied by existing Greek facilities. The estimated cost of the project is $28 million for about 400 fraternity/sorority beds in townhouse-style complexes. A timeline will be established after a developer is selected, and temporary housing locations will be established to avoid midyear disruptions. The resolution included the authority to proceed with a competitive bidding process for the project.

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(Posted December 07, 2012 )