Several name changes affecting two academic units and two campus buildings were announced Nov. 5 during a Faculty Senate meeting.
The Faculty Senate voted to approve the renaming of the Graduate School of Education to the College of Education and the Office of Graduate Studies to the Graduate School.
Faculty Senate Presiding Officer Thomas Luckett also announced Neuberger Hall will be renamed after Fariborz Maseeh, a Portland State alumnus whose foundation has donated $5 million toward the $70 million renovation of the building and has donated over $12 million in the past.
Neuberger Hall was named in 1972 to honor Army veteran and Oregon Senator Richard Neuberger, who championed a four-year public college in Portland during PSU’s tumultuous early years.
PSU plans to preserve the name by renaming the Market Center Building after Neuberger.
“There will be a renaming ceremony in about a month,” Luckett said. The Neuberger family is expected to attend the ceremony.
The Education Policy Committee voted to recommend the Graduate School of Education be renamed to the College of Education to reflect changes made to the program, including offering a curriculum in special education to undergraduate students. A majority of public universities in Oregon that offer education programs refer to themselves as Colleges of Education.
The Office of Graduate Studies had offered $10,000 to assist with the name change, according to Dean of the Graduate School of Education Marvin Lynn, and the name changes were the result of collaboration between the two academic units.
The proposal outlined how the rebranding of the school will follow the five-year plan to have the school nationally recognized for its work with the surrounding communities, tribal nations and increase the validity and credibility with grant funders.
The Office of Graduate Studies name change proposal to Graduate School was unanimously voted for by the EPC. Their proposal stated the Office of Graduate Studies already performs the roles of a graduate school and remarked other universities with comparable-sized graduate programs, commonly refer to themselves as “Graduate School.”
According to Dean of Graduate Studies Rossitza Wooster, renaming the Office of Graduate studies to “school” or “college” will elevate and illustrate the importance of the program.
