The Clarion recently sat down with Sinclair Community College president Dr. Steven Johnson for an interview on August 19.
Clarion: Give the Clarion readers an idea of who you are off-campus. What are you like outside of Sinclair?
Dr. Johnson: I have several hobbies. I enjoy playing my guitars. I enjoy playing with my computer—music and video and photos. I am a serious hobbiest photographer.
So photographer, computer stuff on my new Mac and then my guitar. I also have a flock of chickens and I have a flock of ducks. So that’s about it.
Clarion: With the recent rise in enrollment this fall quarter, what are Sinclair’s plans to adjust to a new wave of students?
Dr. Johnson: We have opened a lot of additional sections … I think we’re at about 200 more than we were at a couple of years ago. We’ve hired lots and lots of adjunct faculty. We have not hired lots of staff. I think our staff are working lots and lots of hours for advising, admission and financial aid.
A lot of the college is just going to be jam packed from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Clarion: Are there any negative aspects to rise in enrollment?
Dr. Johnson: I think the positive and the negative go hand-in-hand. It’s really, really positive that Sinclair is here and has the capacity to serve so many more students. The negative is just the general statement of the economy.
It’s just unfortunate that the economy is tough and really hard for so many people, but the good side is a lot of people are coming back for re-training or they’re staying in college because it’s hard to get a job or get a job they want.
On the good side, at least we’re here and we have good things for them to do so people are not wasting their time and are making progress. And we’re the most affordable college in Ohio.
Clarion: Are there any ways for students to give you feedback?
Dr. Johnson: Through the newspaper, through my office, through sending E-mails to the president’s account, through stopping me in the cafeteria or the hallway.
Clarion: Do you ever hear any complaints from students?
Dr. Johnson: Oh gosh, yeah! Do you want a list?
‘Please make a rule outlawing rolling book bags.’ ‘Please make the elevators go faster.’ ‘Please make the parking closer.’ ‘Please lower the cost of textbooks.’
Clarion: You mentioned parking, and that seems to be a problem, obviously. If a concerned student asks you and wonders what the plans are—if there are any plans—what would you say to that person?
Dr. Johnson: What we have done is that we’ve made sure that our parking garage—which is a pretty nice garage—is safe and maintained. Parking garages are pretty expensive to maintain … we have our shuttle system and the free parking that goes with it. We are looking at other areas to increase parking.
Clarion: With the possible re-emergence of swine flu, what steps would Sinclair take if the virus were near Dayton?
Dr. Johnson: A few years ago we began plans for pandemic and illness response. Last year, when the swine flu popped up, we were able to go back and add to it.
Madeline (Iseli, director of Government Relations) is one of our leaders in this area.
We have a evolving plan and what we will do is match the severity of the situation. No one knows what will happen at this point in time. It’s probably not going to be a really bad situation. There probably will be more fear and concern than there is actual illness.
There is a chance that it could be a very, very serious pandemic with people getting really, really sick. If that’s happens, the range of things could be everything from stepping up the availability of hand sanitizer to potentially cancel some of our events. Worst-case scenario would be to suspend school for several days.
Even the Center for Disease Control and experts are saying schools are not going to need to close for this.
Clarion: You mentioned hiring a lot of adjunct faculty for fall quarter. Why is hiring part-time adjunct higher on the list than full-time faculty?
Dr. Johnson: One of the reasons is that we wouldn’t want to hire a great number of full-time faculty for a temporary rise in our enrollment and have to then lay them off in a year or two when enrollment goes down.
One of the things that we are well aware from last recession cycles is that our enrollment has always spiked during a major recession at Sinclair.
If this enrollment, however, stays at this level we would consider at least some of these adjunct positions into full-time positions.
Clarion: If you were a student at Sinclair, and with all the different degree programs that Sinclair offers, what would you look to go in to?
Dr. Johnson: I like to eat, so I would probably be over in Culinary Arts.
I like everything. I’m the worst person to ask this because I want to do everything. I could go to arts classes, I could go to photography classes, Culinary Arts, Aviation, AutoTech.
Clarion: You’re not mentioning math.
Dr. Johnson: I finished my college math career with calculus. I never felt like I mastered it and it’s like hanging over my head. Now I would have to go back to the third-level and start and move forward.
It would be fun to go back and master calculus. That’s pretty twisted.
Clarion: How long will Sinclair’s tuition stay frozen?
Dr. Johnson: Not very long.
It’s been frozen for about 12 or 13 years out of the last 19 or 20. I’m guessing we are the only college in America—and it would probably be true—that it’s been frozen that much.
I’ve likened it to a person who decides to get fit and trim. Sinclair, like 20 years ago, decided that in tuition they were going to be fit and trim and be the lowest, which is really good.
I think we’re always going to have the lowest tuition in Ohio.
Clarion: Where do you see the college in five years?
Dr. Johnson: We will probably be flirting with somewhere between 25-30,000 students. We might have a new building downtown, probably have some additional parking within five years.
Our learning centers (Englewood, Huber Heights, Preble County and Courseview) will continue to grow and provide more services to students.
I think we’ll have more international students in five years. I think we’ll have more opportunities for our native students to study abroad, or at least study about international issues that we have now.