From the 1/4/07 Portsmouth Daily Times:

 

 

SSU's master plan revealed

Plan includes redirecting traffic

Wednesday, January 3, 2007 11:15 PM EST

BY RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY

PDT Staff Writer

 

Shawnee State University had a public meeting Wednesday evening at Clark Memorial Library to discuss the university's efforts to update its master plan.  In the announcement released last month, Jeff Perez, executive director of communications and legislative affairs, says the SSU Master Plan is “a model for physical growth over 20 years that will help guide the campus' development of academic programs and other services for students and give direction to the university's efforts to serve as a resource for the community and region.”

 

The meeting began with a presentation by the university's master planning consultant, Jim Butz.

 

Among the university's 20-year vision were plans to manage and redirect traffic as it expands its facilities to encompass parts of Fourth Street to the north, Washington Street to the west, and Offnere Street to the east.

 

The new facilities would include additional parking, recreational centers and sports fields, learning centers, and an amphitheater capable of seating 250 people. The project also plans to increase its student housing from the current 600 beds, to more than 1,300.

 

Read more at http://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/articles/2007/01/04/news/local_news/1news_plan.txt

 

From the 1/30/07 Ironton Tribune:

 

 

Shawnee State looks to build for future

By Mark Shaffer/The Ironton Tribune

Monday, January 29, 2007 1:23 PM CST

 

PORTSMOUTH — Shawnee State University is kicking off its capital and endowment campaign with a goal of raising $12 million.

 

President Rita Rice Morris outlined the seven-part plan that she hoped will lead SSU to a new level of excellence.

 

Called “Poised for Tomorrow,” the campaign has seven areas that the university is looking to build on including increasing undergraduate research, applying technology to the classroom to improve student’s preparedness for job fields, advancing the study of history of southern Ohio and northern Kentucky, building a faculty development center to attract more academics, expanding scholarships, and enhancing the number of healthcare students who study under professionals.

 

Read more at http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2007/01/30/news/news707.txt

 

From the 3/2/07 Portsmouth Daily Times:

 

 

Morris plans future of SSU

BY RYAN OTTNEY

PDT Staff Writer

Friday, March 2, 2007 9:06 AM EST

 

Shawnee State University President Rita Rice Morris, Ph.D., charted the course for the future of Shawnee State University this week. In her annual State of the University address, “Charting a Course for Shawnee State,” Morris outlined a new multi-year planning initiative called Shawnee 20/20 to set priorities for new academic and student life programming, as well as for facilities and budget planning.

 

Morris called the plan “an open and transparent process, in which we will listen carefully to ideas, proposals, and concerns from all governance groups, as well as the surrounding community,” Morris said. Drafting “Shawnee State 20/20” will be completed by December to integrate into the 2008 budget planning, she said.

 

Morris also explained the university was in the final stages of updating its Master Plan, which provides a long-term design for physical growth, including building additions and new buildings, and expansion of the campus to the east, north and west.

 

Read more at http://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/articles/2007/03/02/news/local_news/1news_ssu.txt

 

Oh, awesome! I graduated from SSU in 2003 and served on the Facilities Committee for two years while there.  Shawnee has distinct advantages in attracting students that seek more freedom than the average university provides.

 

1. No traditional dorms. All resident students live in apartment buildings and share a restroom with a maximum of four people (most only share with one). Visitors can come and go as they please. Students have one or zero bedroom mates, and each apartment has its own common area and kitchen. Housing is quite affordable. Many students find it difficult to accept other school's living arrangements after visiting Shawnee. Today's kids value privacy much more than previous generations.

 

2. You don't have to give up your car. That may sound like a bad thing, but Portsmouth is very walkable and students take advantage of this immediately. By keeping their cars, Shawnee students can explore the wonderful Appalachian region and visit family and friends much more easily. Some people think that can contribute to suitcase-schoolism, but in my experience, almost all state schools are subject to that problem.

 

3. Shawnee State has the lowest tuition in Ohio.

 

4. This is going to sound nasty -- but it's the truth. Shawnee doesn't saddle its professors with over-the-top research requirements, so the quality of teaching is vastly better.

 

5. Killer facilities. Every building at Shwanee is new or has been properly maintained and renovated. Other schools have made ugly, tasteless, half-assed renovations to their buildings. Not SSU! This has become a source of pride for ever one involved whether they know it or not. Every building matches perfectly. There are no brokedick poorly ventilated buildings on campus.

 

6. Portsmouth is tons of fun. At first people think Portsmouth is run down (although Portsmouth is getting nicer very rapidly) or scary. Within a year, the town's manifold charms sweep over students and Portsmouth burrows into their souls, never to escape.

 

From what I've learned about other schools by getting two Master's degrees at two different schools besides SSU and visiting many other schools, I don't believe Shawnee's growth is going to slow any time soon. Once people actually find out about the school, they're hooked.

From the 5/10/07 Portsmouth Daily Times:

 

SSU, Chinese university join forces

By FRANK LEWIS

PDT Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 9, 2007 11:19 PM EDT

 

South China Normal University is far from the shores of the Ohio River and Shawnee State University, but for the next few days, those institutions will be much closer together.  A delegation from South China Normal University will be in Scioto County as a part of an agreement that was hammered out over a long period of time and by people on both sides of the ocean.

 

“We are part of the most exciting exchange between two universities, but it has a much more far-ranging effect on our two countries,” said Dr. John Lorentz, professor of international studies at SSU.  “This is brand new. This is the first time our university will be able to send students to teach in China.”

 

MORE: http://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/articles/2007/05/10/news/local_news/3news_ssuchina.txt

 

Here are my opinions about Shawnee State, where I attended for one year while in high school --

1. No traditional dorms, but the ones that are currently there are not large and do little to the streetscape. They resemble typical suburban dorms in the middle of a dense, urban envrionment, and do not significantly add to the population. If the university is seriously considering upping the ante on bringing students in, they should construct more traditional dormitory structures while keeping the current layout of four to a restroom, common areas, etc. I could see infill being developed along Gay Street, for instance, and boosting the developments not along along Gay, but west towards downtown. It would be an easy way too boost the downtown's revitalization.

 

2. Giving up your car is a good thing, in a sense. The campus is very much walkable and so is the downtown. But the intersection of Gay and 3rd should become fully signalized to facilitate greater pedestrian travel.

 

3. Shawnee State is NOT about research, which is a welcome change. That gives it more focus on the arts and sciences, which is sorely lacking at many other public universities that have devoted much money and resource to research.

 

4. Killer facilities = newer buildings. There are no old structures on SU's campus.

 

5. Portsmouth is "tons of fun"? The theater was nice but it was recently gutted in a fire. The downtown is mostly vacant and there are not any nightclubs to draw in students. BW3's is the closest you can get to a traditional student envrionment, but it's not walkable from campus.

"Nightclubs" in Portsmouth have always turned out to be bad news, and is why so many have opened and closed shortly thereafter. Inevitably, a small portion of the more isolated locals get a little too worked up seeing all those young college girls dancing. Plain old bars and places who run bands are much better for the student population anyway. A "traditional" student environment is not what the average SSU student is seeking, and is why SSU has been able to grow so well -- through product differentiation.

SSU capital campaign raises $11.4 million and counting

Portsmouth Daily Times, March 28, 2008

 

Shawnee State University has announced the largest fundraising campaign in the history of the region - the university's Poised for Tomorrow capital campaign - has reached more than 95 percent of its total $12 million goal.  According to SSU, the campaign - which began in April 2005 and raised more than $500,000 it its first year with 94 percent of faculty and staff donations -�now has earned $11.4 million.

 

SSU President Rita Rice Morris said the success of the campaign is a demonstration of the community's commitment to higher education.  "Not only is this a show of support for SSU, but it's also a vote of confidence in the future of southern Ohio," Morris said. "The commitment our volunteers have shown over these past three years has been extraordinary, and I am so thankful for their participation in this important effort."

 

Anyone wanting more information on the campaign can call the SSU Development Office at (740) 351-3284, or visit it online at www.shawnee.edu/campaign.

SSU might was well change it's alma mater to "Seek & Destroy" because it is going to take over the world with awesomeness.

Renamed the thread to developments and news.

 

Construction begins on Shawnee State University’s addition to the University Center

Shawnee State University, August 14, 2008

 

The construction fence is up around the University Center at Shawnee State University as expansion and renovation begins on the $15 million addition, making it the largest facility investment in the university’s history.  The new addition will double the size of the dining facility, provide meeting spaces and a host of activities and services that students need on campus.

 

The University Center project is the largest at Shawnee State since construction of the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts more than 10 years ago. When finished, the center will be more than double in size, from the current 39,000 sq. ft. to 89,000 sq. ft.  During construction, access to the University Center is limited to the southwest entrance that faces the Advanced Technology Center. All other entrances to the building will be closed during construction.

 

Additional parking spaces are being added as the tennis courts beside the James A. Rhodes Athletic Center are being converted to parking and plans are also underway to add even more parking spaces during construction.

^ mmm, more surface parking. There have been talks of a garage for many years, but a lot of commuters in the area still don't understand the concept of paying to park. Eventually those students are just going to have to realize that a college campus is not Wal-Mart.

SSU plan to increase enrollment

By Ryan Scott Ottney, Portsmouth Daily Times, November 17, 2008

 

The Shawnee State University Board of Trustees approved institutional accountability targets during its meeting on Nov. 14. The set of measures outline how SSU plans to contribute to the University System of Ohio's 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education.  The USO plan calls for strategies to improve access to higher education, make college more affordable, continually improve quality and drive economic development.

SSU Unveils Part Of New University Center

By Frank Lewis, Portsmouth Daily Times, August 12, 2009

 

Sunday night, media representatives, board members, and other community supporters were treated to a tour of the recent expansion of the south side of the University Center on the campus of Shawnee State University.  “I think the contractors and a lot of people have done a superb job on the design,” SSU President Rita Rice Morris told the Portsmouth Daily Times. “I’m excited about our capacity to handle more students. That’s really what this is about. I’m excited that our students invested in this. I think that says a lot about this university and everybody’s hope for the future of it. We’re excited about geo-thermal too.”

A Master Plan, But Something’s Missing

By Frank Lewis, Portsmouth Daily Times, April 22, 2010

 

The Portsmouth City Building has disappeared.

 

At least in the long-term Master Plan created by Shawnee State University for 2008 forward.

 

In a drawing of the projected growth plan is the new U.S. Grant Bridge, but on the other side of it is a parking lot, where the City Building is now.

Arggh, this school needs a garage badly.