The University has selected names for its two new residence halls based on student input.

Northwest Residence Hall, located north of the Offenhauer Towers, will be named Falcon Heights. The South Central Residence Hall, located at the former Rodgers Quadrangle site, will be named Centennial Hall.

Ed Whipple, vice president of student affairs and Sherri Stoll, chief financial officer, made the announcement Friday at the Board of Trustees meeting.

Falcon Heights and Centennial Hall were the top names from a list of 10 that students voted for on the University’s website in early September, Whipple said. The vote was not a binding poll, he said, but instead helped the University receive student feedback.

“Obviously student input was very important,” he said. “We feel very good that we had strong student support and had a lot of fun with this, too, and were recommended Centennial Hall and Falcon Heights Hall by a significant majority.”

Centennial Hall recognizes the University’s 2010 Centennial and Falcon Heights was a write-in suggestion honoring a name given to temporary trailers that housed returning World War II veterans who attended the University.

Stoll emphasized Friday that the University could possibly add to either name in the future if the right opportunity arises.

“In the event a donor would emerge in the future, we think we have recommended hall names that would lend themselves to having an individual’s name added to it if we felt that it was appropriate to do so,” she said. “This is a historical practice, but hasn’t been common at most universities recently.”

The name change policy would be in accord with the naming policy the Board of Trustees approved in Dec. 2008, she said.

Trustee David Levey said Friday he is in favor of a possible addition to the new names to continue a University tradition.

“As I look around campus, almost all of our buildings are named after people — individuals who have contributed to this University in one shape or form,” he said. “It’s a wonderful way to honor our past, if we do have the opportunity to do so.”

Board members said both halls are on track to be open for student usage in fall 2011.

According to the University’s website, Falcon Heights will house over 600 upperclassmen in single room suites and Centennial Hall will house over 650 first-year students in double rooms. Both residence halls will have private bathrooms and air conditioning.

Health care benefits approved for same-sex partners

In a unanimous decision Friday, the Board of Trustees approved extending health care benefits to same-sex domestic partners of all full-time employees, starting Jan. 1.

According to the Academic & Student Affairs committee proposal, the University is one of the last public universities in Ohio to adopt a similar health care benefits plan.

“To continue not offering benefits to domestic partners impacts our ability to attract and retain high-quality faculty and staff today and into the future,” Rebecca Ferguson, chief human resources officer, said.

To be eligible for domestic partner benefits, the couple must be committed to an exclusive relationship, live together for at least six months and demonstrate financial interdependence.

“This is a big development for BGSU,” Board of Trustees secretary Pat Pauken said. “Everyone was very impressed and it passed without difficulty.”

According to a statement on the University’s website, 15 domestic partners will be added to the University’s health care plans at a cost of about $80,000.

Physical Sciences Laboratory Building to receive renovation

The Board of Trustees also passed a motion Friday to renovate the Physical Sciences Laboratory Building with a nearly $2 million National Science Foundation federal stimulus grant.

“The work that’s intended as part of this project primarily addresses some of the significant air handling issues and challenges the building has,” Stoll said. “There is a significant amount of need in all of our academic buildings right now.”

Other replacement work is intended to make the building more energy efficient and address temperature extremes in summer months. It is projected these changes would generate $515,000 in savings per year.

According to the University’s website, the building was built in 1983 and contains 30 research and classroom labs.