Town hall updates campus
IC Staff
Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: News
UT needs to be looked at more as a university town, said UT President Lloyd Jacobs at last Thursday's Town Hall Meeting.
"If one looks around the country, many cities that are going in this economy … have at their center a university," Jacobs said.
The City of Toledo has the University of Toledo at its center, and that's where economic development begins, he said.
"The federal reserve bank did a comparison of cities with a number of growth [factors]," Jacobs said, adding that the study found that universities were at the middle of those cities that had growth.
The two are exponential if graphed, too, Jacobs said.
However, some places in Ohio find themselves in the negative on growth, but not on education - they don't have a focus on economic growth through education, he said.
Outside views on campus weren't the only things discussed at the meeting; Jacobs also summed up a few of the ongoing things on campus.
Project First Class, where students chose the 50 worst classrooms around campus to be renovated, is finished, he said.
But, because of budget constraints, 50 classrooms didn't get renovated - only 40 did, said Chuck Lehnert, associate vice president for facilities and construction.
The project began during winter break of last year, and the classrooms were in Bowman-Oddy Laboratories, the Health Education Building, McMaster Hall, Stranahan Hall, Snyder Memorial and University Hall, Lehnert said.
"It was our pleasure to do this, and we tried to get most of it done before students came back this year," he said.
Jacobs also introduced the new interim vice president of finance, Tom Biggs, at Thursday's meeting.
"I'm here because of my friendship with Dr. Jacobs," Biggs said.
Biggs complimented UT on how far the merger has come, comparing it with the University of Michigan, where he formerly worked, and said that UT was more connected than UM is.
"If one looks around the country, many cities that are going in this economy … have at their center a university," Jacobs said.
The City of Toledo has the University of Toledo at its center, and that's where economic development begins, he said.
"The federal reserve bank did a comparison of cities with a number of growth [factors]," Jacobs said, adding that the study found that universities were at the middle of those cities that had growth.
The two are exponential if graphed, too, Jacobs said.
However, some places in Ohio find themselves in the negative on growth, but not on education - they don't have a focus on economic growth through education, he said.
Outside views on campus weren't the only things discussed at the meeting; Jacobs also summed up a few of the ongoing things on campus.
Project First Class, where students chose the 50 worst classrooms around campus to be renovated, is finished, he said.
But, because of budget constraints, 50 classrooms didn't get renovated - only 40 did, said Chuck Lehnert, associate vice president for facilities and construction.
The project began during winter break of last year, and the classrooms were in Bowman-Oddy Laboratories, the Health Education Building, McMaster Hall, Stranahan Hall, Snyder Memorial and University Hall, Lehnert said.
"It was our pleasure to do this, and we tried to get most of it done before students came back this year," he said.
Jacobs also introduced the new interim vice president of finance, Tom Biggs, at Thursday's meeting.
"I'm here because of my friendship with Dr. Jacobs," Biggs said.
Biggs complimented UT on how far the merger has come, comparing it with the University of Michigan, where he formerly worked, and said that UT was more connected than UM is.
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