NEWARK − Bill MacDonald started as a student at the Bowling Green State University regional campus in Huron, unsure of his career path.
That experience helped guide him throughout his career at another regional campus, Ohio State University at Newark, where he will end 20 years as dean-director on July 31. He will stay at the campus, where he started in 1992, to teach sociology.
Matthew Smith, dean of the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences at Radford University, a public university in Radford, Virginia, will begin Aug. 1 as the new dean-director.
MacDonald acknowledged some local high school graduates unsure of their future go to the Newark campus because it’s close to home.
“We’re here,” MacDonald said. “We’re close. You could start working and go to school here. I think that’s a good thing. It was good for me. I could have gone elsewhere, but my parents said, ‘No, we can afford to send you here (in Huron). You can live at home and save a lot of money.’
“I think it’s a good thing we’re here for people who are uncertain what they want to do. It’s OK. I tell parents it’s OK.”
Those students may be less likely to stay at OSU-Newark, but the school’s retention rate is at 74%, the highest in a decade.
MacDonald, who grew up in Norwalk, spent two years at BGSU Firelands, then moved to the main campus. He started out as a as radio, TV and film major, then switched and earned his bachelor’s degree in interpersonal and public communication. He earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in sociology at BGSU.
He came here in 1992 as an assistant professor of sociology. A decade later he was academic dean, then interim dean and in 2004 the dean-director.
“I think students that start at Ohio State’s regional campuses are incredibly capable,” MacDonald said. “We have a huge range. We have open admissions, but we’ve had a national merit scholar. We have people come in who really don’t know what’s happening with respect to their career plans and they’re going to try to figure them out. Others who weren’t sure college was the right thing but want to give it a try.
“There’s much more diversity in interest, preparation and in goals and, to me that makes for a really, rich environment. You can really, really make a difference in a student’s life.”
The OSU main campus can control student enrollment with its admissions policy, but Newark campus cannot. The enrollment this year was 2,422. In the fall, it could be a little higher, MacDonald said. It was 2,882 in 2018. With more student housing, enrollment could someday reach 3,000, but that should not necessarily be the goal, he said.
Maintaining enrollment will be a challenge in coming years, MacDonald said, because of shrinking populations due to declining birth rates. But 20 years ago, the retention rare was probably in the low 50s, he said.
“It will become more competitive to get students,” MacDonald said. “We’re a little protected because central Ohio is growing. In five years, we might grow a little bit.”
The number of racial or ethnic minority students at the Newark campus has increased from 4%, when MacDonald arrived in 1992, to 34% in 2020.
MacDonald said the community support has been a tremendous asset during the past two decades, allowing for the addition of the Warner Center, McConnell Hall student housing, facilities building, the Alford Center for Science and Technology and renovation of Founders Hall, which will become Hodges Hall.
“I had no idea we had the capacity to make the campus what it is today,” MacDonald said. “The community made a big difference. Every building really transformed the campus. The Warner Center was like an overnight transition. Students hung out there. They stayed on campus.”
MacDonald, 60, will also stay on campus, teaching for the first time in 17 years.
“That’s something I wanted to eventually do,” he said. “I wanted to wrap up my career going back to teaching. There’s a lot for me to catch up on.”
He will also work on a book he has planned to write for 20 years, on the sociology of religion and supernatural beliefs.
“I just love working with everybody here and have been inspired by their commitment to helping students succeed, he said. “I loved the job. Loved working with everybody. It’s been really, really rewarding.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: OSU Newark dean-director Bill MacDonald reflects on 20 years in role
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