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Watsons give $1M to YSU for student success center
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
milliken@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
Photo
Prominent local philanthropists, who generously have donated to Youngstown State University over many decades, now have given the university $1 million to support development of a new Student Success Center.
The gift from Frank and Norma Watson of Canfield, for whom the center will be named, was announced Friday.
“This is truly a special day. ... Their commitment to this community and their commitment to Youngstown State University has been extraordinary,” Jim Tressel, university president, said during a news conference.
The center will “take us into the next century of learning and resources and things that will benefit each and every one of our students,” Tressel said.
The new center will consolidate all services related to student
retention, success and on-time graduation on the third floor of Jones Hall and will
include construction of a connecting building linking Jones Hall with Maag Library.
The university’s human resources and employee benefits offices already have moved out of that third-floor space at Jones Hall and into the Tod Administration Building in anticipation of development of the new Student Success Center, said Ron Cole, university public information officer.
The university’s emphasis on student success is being accentuated by the fact that state funding for the university is now based largely on student retention and graduation rates, rather than on university enrollment, he said.
“It’s also the right thing to do. We have a responsibility when we recruit students here that we do absolutely everything we can to make sure that they’re successful” and graduate on time, “with as little debt as possible,” and prepared to enter the workforce, Cole added.
The student financial-aid office will remain in Meshel Hall, Cole said in an interview.
“It is one of our passions for us, as well as our family,” Norma Watson said of the university.
“Please interest your children in coming to Youngstown State University. ... It’s close. It’s well-run, and we’re so proud to have been part of it,” she told the audience.
Frank Watson graduated from Youngstown College in 1949, was a member of the YSU Board of Trustees from 1978 to 1987 and is one of the original members of the YSU Foundation Board of Trustees. He led the 1970s fundraising campaign for the construction of Stambaugh Stadium.
This is the latest in a series of gifts to the university by the Watsons. They also have made significant donations for YSU’s Stambaugh Stadium, the Scholarship Loge program, the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center and the indoor training facility called the Watson and Tressel Training Site.
Frank Watson, a native of Webster, N.Y., who served in the Navy in the Pacific during World War II, was president of Youngstown Welding and Engineering Co. from 1959 to 1998. In 1964, he was president of the greater Youngstown Area Chamber of Commerce. He also was a member of the Canfield Board of Education from 1967 to 1975 and Canfield city manager from 1989 to 1991.
Watson served on the boards of the Dollar Savings and Trust Co., Ohio Bancorp, Ohio Edison and the Youngstown Hospital Association. He received an honorary doctor of science degree from YSU in August 2003.
Norma Watson has been a volunteer for many area organizations, including the Federated Women’s Club, Mahoning County Residential Financial Cancer Campaign Chair, Friends of American Art, Fellows Riverside Gardens and the Youngstown Playhouse.
She is also an active member of the Canfield Republican Women’s Club. She has served as president of Canfield United Methodist Women.
The Watsons have been married for more than 66 years. They have two daughters, Janet Stephens and Ellen Tressel, and four grandchildren. Their son, David, is deceased. Ellen Tressel, a YSU alumna, is married to Jim Tressel.