BOT 612: Buildings and Facilities-Naming

Note: A revised version of BOT 612 was approved by the board on February 2, 2024. This version is available here. This revised version has an effective date of July 1, 2024.

Prologue:

Naming buildings and facilities at Michigan State University has become increasingly significant because of the growing importance of private giving and the value of naming gifts for institutional advancement. For this reason, and because of the longevity of named buildings and facilities and the need to maintain the integrity of MSU’s values and public image, a relatively predictable, published process for considering such gifts is advantageous. At the same time, each naming opportunity and gift has a different context, and the University must remain flexible enough to seize special funding opportunities. Therefore, though it is expected that these naming guidelines will serve as generally used standards for naming buildings and facilities, they are not intended as a set of rigid policies that permits no occasional, well-justified exception.

I. Committee

There shall be a University Advisory Committee on the Naming of Buildings and Facilities.
University Advisory Committee on the Naming of Buildings and Facilities
The Committee shall advise the President on the appropriateness of proposed names or changes in names for buildings and facilities at Michigan State University. Facilities shall include designated areas of the campus, major spaces within buildings, streets and any other physical facilities of the University.
Authority for naming University buildings and facilities is vested in the Board of Trustees. The Policy Committee of the Board has responsibility for evaluating proposed names for buildings and facilities.
This procedure neither constrains the authority of the Board, nor supplants the responsibility of its Policy Committee. The Advisory Committee provides a mechanism for advising the President on the appropriateness of proposed names for buildings and facilities at Michigan State University. This procedure is based on the premise that the Board and its Policy Committee look to the President for guidance in naming buildings and facilities at the University.

II. Composition

The University Advisory Committee on the Naming of Buildings and Facilities shall be composed of four faculty members, one non-faculty staff member, one alumnus of the University, and one student. In addition, the University Archivist shall serve ex officioas a member of the Advisory Committee without vote.
The terms of the faculty, staff and alumni members of the Committee shall be six years. The term of the student member of the Committee shall be two years.
The members of the Committee shall be appointed by the President. For each vacant faculty position, the faculty of the University Committee on Academic Governance will provide the President with at least two nominees. For each vacant staff position, the President will request one nominee from each of the unions representing University employees. For each vacant alumni position, the Michigan State University Alumni Association will provide the President with at least two nominees. For each vacant student position, the President will request one nominee each from the Council of Graduate Students and the Associated Students of Michigan State University. At the discretion of the President, additional nominations may be requested from any or all nominating groups. The President will appoint the members of the Committee from the persons nominated.
At the time the Committee is initially constituted, the alumni representative shall serve a term of five years, the non-faculty staff representative shall serve a term of three years, and one term each of three, four, five and six years shall be allocated to the four faculty representatives by lot.
In the event that a member of the Committee is not able to complete the term of office, the President shall request a list of nominees from the appropriate group or groups described in II.C. At the discretion of the President, additional nominations may be requested from any or all of the nominating groups. The President will appoint a person from among the nominees to fill the remainder of the term of office.
The members of the Committee are representatives not only of their constituent groups, but also of the collective institutional values of the University. Insofar as possible, nominees for the Committee shall be distinguished members of their groups.

III. Guidelines

Academic buildings and facilities may be named on the basis of primary academic use, location or for a person or business entity.
Non-academic buildings and facilities may be named on the basis of primary use, location, for a person or business entity, or, in the case of athletic facilities, in recognition of the primary sports conducted therein.
Proposals for naming buildings and facilities solely on the basis of primary use or location, shall be submitted directly to the President, and are not considered by the Committee.
When a proposal is made to name a building or facility at MSU after an individual, that individual should be a person whose life, work or activities exemplify values for which Michigan State University stands. The following criteria are suggested:

Buildings and facilities may be named in honor of extraordinary faculty, staff or alumni who a) have been deceased for five years or longer, b) over a long and illustrious career, exemplified values for which Michigan State University stands, and c) brought great credit to the University through major scholarly, professional or public service contributions that have stood the test of time. It should be noted that faculty, staff and alumni, living or deceased, who are worthy of recognition for exceptional University service, but who are not qualified donors or their designees (as noted below), are eligible for commemoration in a variety of significant ways other than having buildings or facilities named in their honor.
Buildings and facilities may be named in honor of living persons, if such persons are a) major donors who exemplify values for which Michigan State University stands and who satisfy conditions for major donors as outlined in these guidelines, or b) persons who exemplify values for which Michigan State University stands and who are designated by a major donor who satisfies conditions for major donors as outlined in these guidelines.
In the case of donations for buildings and facilities, the building or facility designated with the name of a donor or designee shall be consistent with the donor’s wishes and commensurate with the magnitude of the gift. Except in unusual circumstances, it is expected that naming a building or facility for a donor or designee will not be considered unless the gift covers –
1. in the case of a new building or facility, approximately 50% of the private support portion of the costs of the new building or facility. Naming gifts for new buildings or facilities that are substantially State financed will be handled on a case-by-case basis;
2. in the case of an existing building or facility, approximately 25% of the building’s or facility’s replacement costs, as determined by the University;
3. in the case of an addition to, or a substantial renovation of, an existing building or facility, approximately 50% of the cost of the addition or renovation
Whenever possible, donors will be encouraged to consider providing endowments for maintaining the building or facility to be named. More than one building or facility may be named by and/or for the same donor or designee, provided that such buildings’ or facilities’ names include language to distinguish them.
Buildings or facilities may be named for corporations or other business entities, if the business entity’s overall history and activities are consistent with values for which Michigan State University stands. When naming buildings and facilities for business entities, the appropriateness of the business’ name in a public context should be taken into consideration. Ordinarily, a building or facility named for a business entity would retain that business entity’s name as long as that business entity remains in existence. If the name of a business entity changes after a University building or facility is named for the business entity, the name of the University building or facility would not change unless a change is recommended by the President and approved by the Board of Trustees in accordance with these guidelines.
Hyphenating or changing the name of buildings or facilities named for, or at the designation of, a donor will rarely be appropriate, and any such situation will require careful consideration on a case-by-case basis. The names of other buildings or facilities may be changed or hyphenated to honor one or more other persons, business entities or groups that meet the naming criteria if the President recommends the change and the Board of Trustees approves the change in accordance with these guidelines.

IV. Procedures

Proposals for the naming of buildings and facilities of Michigan State University shall be submitted to the President of the University (with prior approval of the Provost or appropriate Vice President).
The President shall inform the University Advisory Committee on the Naming of Buildings and Facilities of all proposals for naming of buildings and facilities, except proposals for naming buildings and facilities solely for their primary use or location. The President shall seek the advice of the Committee in a manner and on a schedule appropriate to the circumstances relating to the specific proposal. The manner and schedule for the Committee’s consideration of a proposal shall be determined by the President or his /her designee in consultation with the Committee.
1. When the President and the Committee determine that it is appropriate and feasible, ample opportunity for all constituencies of the University community to react to a naming proposal may be provided to guide the Committee in its recommendation. The Committee may seek comments from the current or prospective faculty, student and staff occupants of the building or facility. College and department advisory committees, staff groups, student groups and alumni groups may be consulted as appropriate. Open meetings may be held to receive public comment on a proposed name.
2. Proposals for permanent names for new buildings or facilities, which require Board approval, should be submitted to the President and the Committee during planning and design. The Board of Trustees may approve the permanent names of the buildings and facilities along with their construction budgets, thus eliminating assignment of working titles for buildings and facilities.
3. Prompt and expeditious consideration by the Committee may be appropriate to some proposals. In these cases, the President may seek the advice of the Committee on short notice and may request that the Committee provide its advice after brief consideration. A single meeting advisory session may be utilized when immediate response to a prospective donor is required.
4. The President may ask the office of Campus Park and Planning and the Executive Space Committee to provide the University Advisory Committee on the Naming of Buildings and Facilities with information relating to the building or facility proposed to be named.
The Committee shall provide the President with a recommendation on each proposal submitted to it.
The President will provide the Secretary of the Board of Trustees with a recommendation for each naming proposal requiring Board approval.
Except in unusual circumstances, and then subject to appropriate consultation, namings should not be announced publicly prior to consideration by the MSU Board of Trustees. The preferences of donors regarding confidentiality of proposed naming gifts should be given careful consideration.

Enacted: 4/25/80

Amended: 2/3/84, 11/9/89, 10/12/01

Retired Policy No. 02-06-03