Facility Unit Naming

General Guidelines

The Ames CSD Superintendent and Board of Education shall have complete authority and responsibility for the naming of district facilities. An Ames CSD Facility Naming Committee will be established to advise the Superintendent and Board after thorough evaluation of a naming nomination.

The term “facility” refers to a new or existing school or district-wide complex owned and operated by the district. The term “portion of a facility” includes a space within a building such as a media center, auditorium, performing arts center, gymnasium, athletic field, or other portion of a school support complex or property owned and/or operated by the District. A portion of a facility shall not include individual classrooms nor may any portion of an already named space within a building receive a secondary name (example: Media Center is named and a request is made for then naming individual meeting rooms within the space).

Initial Requirements

A facility or portion of a facility may be named for a person.
A facility or portion of a facility may also be named for a distinctive geographic location or in honor of a historic event or place. The location must be significant to the District and/or Ames CSD community.
In consideration of naming a facility in honor or memory of a person: the person must be connected to the District, be a role model and must have made significant contributions to the District and/or their field.
Consideration of naming a facility or portion of a facility for a major donor will be considered directly by the Superintendent.
Consideration of naming a facility in honor of a historic event or place: The event or place must have major significance, and a connection to the District.
All required documentation must be provided for review, and all nominations will be thoroughly researched.

Process

A name may be submitted by the public, the District, or any member of the Board to the Ames CSD Facility Naming Committee.
Nominations must be made in writing on a form provided by the District, along with supporting documentation, to the Ames CSD Facility Naming Committee. Documentation or communications in opposition to nominations may also be submitted to and considered by the Committee. Documentation shall reflect facts/evidence which address the criteria to consider (listed below).
Nominations will be considered and final recommendations to the Board of Education will be made based upon the schedule of the Facility Naming Committee.
Naming requests submitted without sufficient supporting documentation may be summarily dismissed by the Facility Naming Committee.
The Facility Naming Committee will submit its findings and recommendation to the Ames CSD Superintendent.
The Ames CSD Superintendent will make a recommendation to the Board and final approval for all nominations rests with the Board of Education.

Committee

The Facility Naming Committee shall consist of at least 3 members, at least one of which has significant knowledge of the nominee being considered. Committee members should include a mix of current or former students, teachers, administrators, parents, community, and School Board members. In the instance there is no member with significant knowledge of the nominee being considered, the Superintendent has the authority to add a new member at any time.
Committee Members will be appointed by the Superintendent and/or their designee annually.
The Committee will meet within a reasonable period of time (no more than 60 calendar days after receipt) following the submission of a nomination to the Board of Education office. Notice of a meeting of the Facility Naming Committee will be provided to the public at least 30 calendar days in advance to allow time for documentation supporting or opposing the proposed name. Supporting or opposing opinions and required documentation will be received by the Committee at least 5 calendar days prior to the noticed meeting. Meeting notice information will be shared on the District website and all meetings will be closed to the public.

The committee’s responsibility shall be to review all submitted names and supporting documentation and conduct background research to determine whether the names meet the requirements of this policy. The district and school administration shall also review all documentation, research, and input to determine whether it is in the best interest of the district to consider a name. If a name is selected by the committee, the name shall be submitted by the Superintendent to the Board of Education for consideration.
Selected names shall be recommended to the Board through decision-making consensus. Decision-making consensus is defined as the apparent preference after each committee member has had an opportunity to participate in the discussion, and then the committee members shall decide whether they can support the name as a recommendation to the Board. The committee chair shall declare the consensus of the committee for each name selected and recommended to the Board. A selected name may be tabled or dismissed for further consideration If the committee is unable to reach consensus.
The Committee will submit recommendations to approve or deny nominations as items of consideration on the Board’s regular session meeting agenda to the Superintendent or their designee. Any recommendation of the Committee shall be decided by majority vote.

Criteria to Consider

Does the nominated name reflect direct and substantial association and achievement of extraordinary and lasting distinction (i.e. an individual’s scholarship, creativity, leadership, and humanitarian and public service)?
Has the nominee served the Ames CSD? Length of years of service? Quality and quantity of contributions?
Weight may be given to an individual who gained distinction in the area or areas related to the usage of the facility.
A potential name’s negative meaning (if any) and an individual’s conduct unbecoming, negative and/or unjust acts and behavior will also be considered. Such acts would include, but not be limited to, acts considered criminal/illegal, and/or immoral.
This listing is not exhaustive and other facts and details of significance can and will be considered.
Consideration of naming a facility shall keep an eye on diversity, equity, and inclusion so representation shall be reflective of our District and community.
All naming considerations shall have the same opportunities regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or creed.

Timing

Completed nomination forms may be submitted via the official process at any time. The Facility Naming Committee’s recommendation process must be complete and in the hands of the Superintendent prior to Board consideration.
Nominations submitted without required supporting documentation will not be considered by the Facility Naming Committee until complete and neither the Committee nor Ames CSD Schools will be responsible for incomplete submissions.

Renaming

A facility or portion of a facility may be renamed based on a programmatic change if the new name would not affect the namesake of the facility or the portion of the facility. This type of name change would only require the recommendation of the Superintendent. For example, if a library had been named after an individual, such as the John Doe Library, and the term for “library” changed to “media center,” a recommendation could be made for the name to be changed to the John Doe Media Center.

Submissions may be made electronically at the form below. Any questions may be sent to: facility.naming@ames.k12.ia.us.

Nomination Form

Facility Naming Nomination

DIRECTIONS: Please complete all required portions of this form that relate to your nomination. Only one name is accepted per form submission. Partially completed forms will not be considered.

Today's Date(Required)

Your Name(Required)

First Last

Your Address(Required)

Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code

Your Phone Number(Required)

Your Email(Required)

This naming nomination aligns with:(Required)

A person

Historic event, place, or geographic region

The following section is used for a nomination for a person.

Name of Nominee(Required)

Please use full legal name and not nicknames.

Relation to nominee (if any)(Required)

Portion of facility recommended for naming(Required)

Be specific. Individual classrooms/offices cannot be named nor can any space already named.

School building where this space is located(Required)

How many years has the nominee lived in Ames?(Required)

How is the nominee connected to the District?(Required)

Student/graduate who attended Ames Schools

Staff member

Volunteer

Community member

Other

Years attended Ames Schools(Required)

Approximate years employed, building, and grades/disciplines taught.(Required)

If you selected other above, please explain how this person is connected to the District.

In what ways has the nominee made a significant contribution to the District? If not to the District, how has the nominee made a substantial contribution to their field of endeavor and/or society in general?(Required)

How has the nominee represented the virtues or characteristics as a role model to students, staff, and the community?(Required)

Describe in detail how the nominee made a significant contribution to K-12 education?(Required)

Provide specific examples of how has this person exemplified excellence? Give examples that display scholarship, creativity, leadership or service to school and community.(Required)

Please complete this section if the nomination represents a historic event, place, or geographic location.

What is the significance of the nominated name to Ames CSD, geographic area, and/or the Ames community?(Required)

What supporting documentation are you providing to support this significance?(Required)

Supporting Documents

1) Required: If you have nominated a person’s name, please include a written and signed release from the nominated person, or the most closely associated family representative to the nominated person (e.g., spouse, parent, children, or sibling). 2) Required: Please include contact information for the nominated person or the most closely associated family representative. 3) Required: Please attach any and all research/documentation that supports the name that you have nominated for consideration, including picture(s). 4) Required: Three (3) letters of recommendation. 5) Suggested: Additional letters of recommendation are welcome, but not required.

File(s)(Required)

Drop files here or

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, png, jpg, Max. file size: 63 MB.

I acknowledge that I have reviewed Ames Community Board of Education Policy 801.5.E, have submitted the Facility Naming Nomination Form with all required documentation and confirm that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, all information provided is true and correct.(Required)

Type your full name to acknowledge

Reference

Ames Community School District Policy 801.5.E “Naming Facilities and Sub-Units”

Note: Names may be submitted at any time. The Facility Naming Committee will meet within a reasonable period of time (no more than 60 days after receipt) following the submission of a nomination to the Board of Education office. Notice of a meeting of the Facility Naming Committee will be provided to the public at least 30 days in advance to allow time for documentation supporting or opposing the proposed name. Supporting or opposing opinions and required documentation will be received by the Committee at least 5 days prior to the noticed meeting. Documents received late may not be considered. Meeting notice information will be shared on the District website and all meetings will be closed to the public.