A letter was shared to the university by President Rodney Rogers on June 26 stating changes will be made to comply with Ohio’s Senate Bill 1 (SB1).
The changes, made effective on June 27, will expand the Division of Community and Well-Being “to deliver services and programming that are still allowed,” as said in the letter, and will no longer “have a standalone Division of Inclusion and Belonging, which includes discontinuing our centers and offices that were offered for specific populations of our learning community ‘based on those individuals’ race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression,’ as outlined in SB1.”
Changes also include the elimination of the Division of Inclusion and Belonging and the centers and offices it housed, including the Centers for Women and Gender Equity (CWGE) and the Center for Student Connections and Opportunity.
The letter said “programming and services that these centers provided that remain allowed under SB1 will now be delivered by the Division of Community and Well-Being.”
The letter also stated staff from the Division of Inclusion and Belonging will be redeployed into roles within the Division of Community and Well-Being, the Office of the Provost and the Division of Student Engagement and Success.
The university has created an Office of State and Federal Compliance and Non-Discrimination to comply with SB1’s requirement for universities to “engage in a more rigorous level of reporting and compliance, as well as ongoing monitoring.”
The letter said Dr. Katie Stygles, former Head of the Division of Inclusion and Belonging, has agreed to serve as chief state and federal compliance officer and deputy chief community and well-being officer.
According to SB1, programs that have been exclusively offered “based on those individuals’ race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression,” will now be prohibited at Ohio’s public universities.
In the letter, Rogers said, “Although few of our programs fall into this category, those that do will be discontinued.”
Under new legislation from SB1, universities are required to eliminate any undergraduate program if it confers an average of fewer than five degrees in that program annually over any three year period.
One program the university will no longer offer after this academic year, due to SB1 requirements and low enrollment, is the World Language Education Program. This program prepared students to receive licensure to teach one of eight languages: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Russian or Spanish.
BGSU’s website has been updated to reflect any changes made due to SB1.
Rogers ends the letter saying, “If a student is willing to work hard to earn their degree, we, as a public university, must work hard to ensure they are supported in being successful,” and “At Bowling Green, this has long defined our work – it is who we are, and who we have always been. Let us be unwavering in our mission as a public university for the public good.”
The Division of Community and Well-Being page on the university’s website includes additional information and FAQ regarding SB1.
https://www.bgsu.edu/health-wellness/e-o-compliance/expansion.html
