The Sinclair Community College Learning Centers located in Englewood, Huber Heights and Preble County provides a different environment for students who do not attend the downtown Dayton campus.
“The Learning Centers provide access, high quality instruction and affordability,” Dawayne Kirkman, director of the Learning Centers said.
Kirkman expressed his excitement in the Learning Centers by discussing some of the goals the centers have been working toward.
At the Preble County Learning Center, Wright State classes started this fall in Organizational Leadership. These classes will help Sinclair students who plan to transfer to Wright State and work toward their bachelor’s degree.
“It will get students in the pipeline for Wright State’s Organizational Leadership degree,” Kirkman said.
In the spring, a plan for video conferencing is underway.
“Sometimes for a class to run, you need a certain amount of students to be enrolled,” he said. “With the live class, you can offer it in Englewood and stream it to Huber and Preble at the same time.”
Kirkman said with this option, it almost guarantees that there will be enough students enrolled in a class to keep it going.
“It isn’t like students at Preble and Huber are just watching the class either,” he said. “They are interacting; its two ways and the teacher is interacting.”
Kirkman said a survey was given over the summer to students, where they expressed appreciation for convenient parking and aspects of personal relationships, such as knowing one another on a name-to-name basis.
“Our first goal with the Learning Centers is creating awareness and availability,” he said. “Our second goal is focusing on creating a one-stop shop characteristic that becomes well known to students and faculty by increasing the resources that are available.”
More than 2,000 students attend the Learning Centers, according to Kirkman.
“I love that students can actually complete here,” he said. “A lot of students can start their Ohio transfer module classes, but they can also complete here in Liberal Arts and Business Administration.”
In addition, Kirkman said he is proud of what the Learning Centers brings to the community.
“I love that Sinclair is a college for the community and that we are literally in the community in Englewood, Huber Heights and Preble County,” he said. “I am proud of what we give the community.”
At the Learning Centers, every first Wednesday of the month a Sinclair Talks is presented.
On Wednesday, Oct. 16, the Englewood Learning Center will present a Sinclair Talks on Poetry reading at 10 a.m. and then again at 1 p.m. At the reading, students will be able to bring poetry of a favorite author to read, as well as their own poetry if desired.
“Instructor Dottie Bely is going to lead that and anybody can bring their own poetry to read or your favorite poet,” Kirkman said. “That will happen in the Englewood lobby.”
For more information on the Learning Centers, visit sinclair.edu/learningcenters/.