Mathies leaves legacy at campus

CELINA - Bonnie Mathies leaves behind a strong legacy after retiring June 30 after five years as dean at Wright State University-Lake Campus.

During her tenure, campus enrollment grew from 845 to 1,147. The number of bachelor's degrees offered rose from seven to 10. The campus' first residence halls were built and about 40 acres were purchased for future growth.

Professors from several countries including China, Ghana, Iran, Jamaica, Indonesia and Canada, now teach on campus, she said.

The moment that stands out in her mind is the 2011 opening of the first on-campus housing.

"We'd never done anything like that before," she said.

Mathies called the housing expansion a learning experience when 30 students moved onto campus. Now more than 50 can live in campus housing.

Having resident students increased the bonds between the campus and the surrounding community, she said.

"I saw my role as to be an advocate for the campus and the faculty with the community as well as the Dayton campus," she said.

To emphasize those local ties, campus leaders have begun talks with Celina officials to help improve student life on and off campus, she said.

"This is the community's campus. It's very much like the Dayton campus. Both campuses were started by community members that wanted to provide access to higher education," she said.

"It is not unusual at any time to see people walking around the campus, in the building, who are community members, who have never gone there themselves, never had anybody in their family go there but are just interested in seeing what's going on and are very supportive. We welcome that," Mathies said.

Another major change was moving the campus from a schedule of quarters to semesters in 2012, she said.

"It was a pain in the rear end but in spite of that it was probably the best thing to ever happen. Where in your professional life do you get the chance to completely start again?" she said.

Every class, program and degree had to be adjusted to fit the semester schedule. The change allowed faculty members in Celina and Dayton to engage with one another, an uncommon occurrence before the switch, she said. Lake Campus faculty still stay in touch with their Dayton counterparts, Mathies said.

"I was putting a lot of time and effort into where the infrastructure needs to be. It's a start," she said.

Mathies feels she helped create the groundwork for future growth on campus.

"I feel like we've been pushing it up the hill and it is poised at the top of the hill to really take off, and I think that's what's going to happen," she said.

The campus added a full-time police officer for the grounds in 2012 and a new health clinic this year.

"It's never a dull day there," she added.

Her time with Wright State began in 1974 as a pioneer in teaching technology. She taught the university's first computer class and first online class.

She spent about 30 years at the Dayton campus, eventually becoming associate dean, the position she held when she first retired in 2007.

That retirement was short-lived because weeks later she accepted Lake Campus' associate dean position. She replaced Jim Sayer as interim dean in 2010.

"I was really not ready to retire, I guess, and the opportunity to work at the lake came up and seemed to be a good fit," she said.

"I never thought I would become a dean," Mathies said. The campus was familiar to her, though, since she had taught a few classes there and knew many of the prior deans before she assumed the role in May 2011.

Mathies thanked her husband, Bill, for his support during her time in Celina.

"When I had the opportunity to come up here he said 'let's do it,' " Mathies said. She added she is still deciding what to do in her retirement.

"I really like higher education so I probably (will) engage in something with that. I don't know what it will be," Mathies said.  Her successor, Dr. Jay Albayyari, started in June as interim dean and officially took over as dean on July 1.