With 39 years of working at the University under her belt, Jill Carr is now working on a new goal: running for the Bowling Green school board.
Carr, who earned her master’s degree in college student personnel at the University in 1976, worked as dean of students before being appointed to vice president of student affairs.
“I was at BGSU for quite a while so I’ve had a variety of positions,” said Carr. “I think my favorite was dean of students cause that gave me the most student contact, which is what I love.”
Carr decided to run for the Bowling Green school board because she had been interested in being a board member for a while, but did not have the time when she was VP of student affairs.
Carr said, “I’ve never run for an office before so this is a whole new experience.”
Andy Newlove, Carr’s treasurer for her campaign, said his first impression of Carr was that she was a “really, really solid person.”
“She’s very knowledgeable, she’s deliberate with things … kind of quietly strong,” said Newlove.
Carr believes strongly in education and a good education system and took that with her in her campaign as she transitioned from a career at the University to running for public office.
The difference between working for the school board and working for the University, should Carr be elected, is she will be focused on K-12 education instead of higher education.
“(There are) some differences there too: understanding school finance up to state level and the local level, understanding how levies work, how the communities feel about potentially needing to pay more taxes,” Carr said.
Something that will not change during Carr’s campaign is her love for interacting with students and the community.
Jodi Webb, the current dean of students at the University and friend of Carr, said no matter what position Carr was in, she always put the students first.
“She will be able to balance what is in the best interest of the children … as well as understanding all of the behind the scenes pieces,” said Webb.
Carr said if she were elected she would want to work on getting school board members out connecting with the community.
“I’d be interested in, once a month, kind of putting myself (out there) and saying ‘Come on in, let’s talk about what your issues are,’” said Carr.
Carr also wants to use technology more to connect with the community.
“She’s got incredible experience, she’s got a passion for education,” said Newlove. “I think she understands we need to have good teachers, (and) they need to be paid fairly.”
Webb also said she had no doubt that Carr would be “someone that will always be very focused on the impact on students.”
Carr has three grown children who all went through the Bowling Green school system and she said she would look forwarding to reconnecting with the system.
“Seeing what’s different from when my kids were in school and what’s the same and how can I get to know teachers and administrators better and interact with them, I’m really looking forward to that,” said Carr.
