The Board of Trustees approved different motions to change the names of various locations throughout the University’s Ice Arena in their final meeting of the semester on Friday.
The arena, where BGSU hockey plays all of their home games, will now be called the Slater Family Ice Arena, after University alumni, Scott Slater, ‘73.
According to the Board of Trustees resolution, Slater and three of his four children all have degrees from the University. Slater has been a “lifelong contributor” to the University and Bowling Green High School’s hockey programs and has established a varsity hockey scholarship. The agenda also said Slater made a “transformational gift to the University … so that future generations of hockey players and figure skaters could skate in the historic and iconic facility.”
The University Library’s Sound and Recording Archives have now been renamed the Bill Schurk Sound Archives, after ’66 alum, William “Bill” Schurk, who has built and led the Archives since it was first established in the 60s. He has also gifted the University with more than $460,000 to help expand the Archives. He has worked in the Archives for almost 50 years and will be retiring this month.
A conference room in the Education Building was renamed after alum Paul Agne, a 1955 University alum who established a scholarship in 2014 and has taught in the education field for 30 years.
A robotics laboratory in the Technology Building has been renamed the Stephen and Deborah Harris RIXAN Laboratory. According to the resolution, the two Falcon Flames and the robotics company RIXAN “have provided equipment to create an integrated lab experience” for technology students, which included a gift of “10 industrial robots, hardware and software.”
The Board of Trustees also approved the creation of a new major within the Computer Science department called Software Engineering. This major will specialize in computer software and applications and will teach students to analyze, design, test and develop software. Currently, 16 students have software engineering specialization in the computer science major, but as a new major, the resolution said software engineering is projected to attract 50 students in the first year and 200 students in the following five years.
A name change to the Aviation Studies degree was also approved from a Bachelor of Science in Technology to a Bachelor of Science in Aviation. The change would “greatly enhance … BGSU graduates who choose to pursue graduate studies in aviation as well as … students seeking employment within the aviation profession” the resolution said they’re hoping the name change of the degree will help increase enrollment and retention in the program to make the program visible.
The next Board of Trustees meeting will be in the spring semester in February.
