Trustees address variety of issues

Furthering the University's goal of promoting high-impact programs that help define the undergraduate experience, the board approved initial design and preconstruction services for University Hall of $2.17 million.

Upon project completion, the renovated space will serve as the home for the Office of Admissions, the Office of Service-Learning, COSMOS, the Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship, AIMS, pre-professional programs, ACTION, the learning communities office and International Programs and Partnerships. In addition, the building will feature six active-learning classrooms.

In compensation action, the trustees ratified a collective bargaining agreement with the International Union of Police Associations, representing the BGSU Police. The three-year agreement covers compensation and benefits and is valid through June 30, 2018. It provides for an initial, individual market adjustment and then 2 percent across-the-board increases in each of the following three years.

The trustees also set the stage to allow the University to participate in the FCC incentive auction of the 600-megahertz broadcast spectrum. BGSU holds an FCC license in the spectrum that it uses to operate WBGU-TV, its public television station. The resolution authorizes President Mary Ellen Mazey and her designees to participate in the FCC incentive auction. The University is still exploring the issue and seeking input from University and community stakeholders. No final decision will be made until after the FCC finalizes the rules of the auction later this year. The board will be asked to approve a final recommendation from the administration.

Also at the meeting, the board took action on an Academic Charter amendment moving oversight of the Academic Honesty Policy from the Office of the Provost to the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs. The amendment is designed to streamline the process of handling academic honesty cases by housing them in one location. It does not alter the academic decision-making authority contained within the policy.

A second charter amendment was approved establishing an Adjunct Faculty Committee of the Faculty Senate, comprising members of each degree-granting college and University Libraries, along with representatives of the Graduate College and Honors College, when available.

Board officers were elected for the upcoming year. Trustee David Levey was named chair and trustee Megan Newlove vice chair. Dr. Patrick Pauken remains secretary to the board. National Trustee James Bailey was reappointed to a second, three-year term.