On Oct. 3, the Donald J. Bachand Hall building naming ceremony took place at 10 a.m. to commemorate the service of Saginaw Valley State University’s President Donald J. Bachand.
In honor of his service, the SVSU Board of Control authorized for the name of Donald J. Bachand to be given to the Health & Human Services Building.
“It’s obviously a great honor,” Nic Taylor, executive director of Alumni Relations, said at the ceremony. “The president has done much for the university. You don’t often see how the students and faculty are impacted.”
In a statement released by SVSU, Bachand was praised for his emphasis on a workplace which supported both health as well as success. Bachand was also acclaimed by many of his former students for his supportive and positive interactions.
Bachand served in the Detroit police force before becoming one of the founding professors of the criminal justice program at SVSU in July 1978.
In 1996, he became the dean of the College of Arts & Behavioral Sciences before serving as vice president of academic affairs in 2006 and then provost in 2010.
During his service as president of SVSU since 2014, Bachand has made many achievements for the university. Among these achievements were increases in the graduation and retention rates.
As vice president, Bachand secured a vastly increasing amount of scholarships, and increased connections to other universities on an international scale, from opening Ming Chuan University’s campus at SVSU in 2014 to supporting the construction of Royal Seed Home Clinic in Ghana in 2020.
Next to this, Bachand also increased the universities’ engagement with local communities. The Carnegie Foundation for The Advancement of Teaching gave the Community Engagement Classification to SVSU in 2015, a distinction of which only 10% of American universities have been given.
The Health & Human Services Building was constructed from 2009- 2010, and was designed to be environmentally friendly. As provost, Bachand took part in the building’s design.
A statement released by SVSU explained the method for saving energy costs was via an aqua-thermal heating and cooling system constructed of pipes connected to a retention pond. This design has cut heating costs in half for the building
Bachand announced his retirement for December 2022. George Grant will succeed the presidency on Jan. 1, 2023.
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