Thanks to the support of people
like you in our community, Shawnee State University has grown
tremendously in the past few years. We now have nearly 4,600 students on
campus and more than 1,000 students living in university housing.
We want to continue to grow — for us, for our students, and for our
community.
Our plan for continued growth is our Master
Facilities Plan that was developed in 2007 utilizing the services of a
professional planner and involving the entire university community, City
leadership, and community members. This plan reflects our intentions to
increase enrollment, provide enhanced living and learning opportunities
for our students and tie our campus and campus community more closely to
Portsmouth City Schools and Portsmouth’s downtown.
Two years ago
we decided to move ahead with our request to close Third Street as we
dealt with the need to accommodate an exploding enrollment, the need to
provide a safer campus, the desire to have a cohesive campus
environment, and the need to begin the process to site, plan, and secure
funds, for a new classroom/laboratory building.
These actions
are critical to our growth – and we believe that the growth of Shawnee
State University is good for the community, and translates to jobs –
both at the university and in the community; a more educated workforce
which allows us to compete for jobs of the future; more money spent with
local businesses by students and SSU employees; and an enhancement of
the quality of life in our community.
Our request to close
Third Street is now before City Council. We have prepared a fact sheet [fact
sheet.pdf]
with more information about what the closure of Third Street means for
us, and our community. I ask that you consider supporting our efforts to
expand across Third Street by voicing your support to Mayor David Malone
or City Council by emailing
dmalone@portsmouthoh.org.
Please
feel free to copy and attach this sample letter [letter.pdf] regarding the closure of
Third Street.
Thank you for your continued support of Shawnee
State University and our community, and thank you in advance for your
support of our plan to grow.