Bowling Green State University is moving ahead but won’t be rushing into a decision
on replacement housing for fraternities and sororities.
Trustees were told Friday morning that the 42 "Greek" organizations on
campus will have a lot of long-term decisions to make in the coming months.
"It could take some of these chapters quite a while to come to grips with this
and that is probably a good thing," Steve Krakoff, associate vice president
of capital planning, said. Membership in the 42 groups ranges from a handful to
more than 60. Study of the replacement housing has been under way for several
years.
Trustees will get another update at their next meeting in late June.
"’Be careful not to overbuild,’" is the message we are hearing from other
schools that have gone through this," Krakoff said.
Chris Bullins, associate dean of students, told trustees numerous meetings have been
held with affected students, alumni and their national organizations, along with
developing some recommendations on space and possible options from floor plans
to early cost estimates.
Several sites are being considered but outside of renovation a portion of Founders
Quadrangle for smaller groups. BGSU is not ready release other specifics.
"We plan to take our time with this and re-energize the effort in the early
fall. When the board meets in late September we may have a better sense of the
preferences of the groups," Krakoff said.
BGSU Chief Financial Officer Sherri Stoll said the project needs to be revenue
neutral. "We do not want to pass a burden from this project on to other
students. If one of the groups decides it wants a detached unit, they would
probably be asked to provide some of the capital," she said.
Most of the existing fraternity and sorority units at BGSU are stand-alone units.
Trustees also:
• Heard a report on the Higher Learning Commission Reaccreditation planned during the
next academic year.
• Set the next meeting for June 21.
• Went into executive session to discuss legal matters, personnel and collective
bargaining. The board adjourned about an hour later without taking further
action.