Being the only public college in Warren County, Sinclair Community College’s Courseview Campus is growing quickly with much to look forward to, according to George Sehi, executive dean of Courseview.
The campus which is located in Mason, Ohio opened in the fall of 2007 with 340 students enrolled and has grown to about 1,250 as of the start of this academic year. They have more than 180 sections of courses with six associate degree programs and 15 certificate and short term certificates that can be completed at their campus. Most general education classes are also available for students that prefer to take them there.
Sehi attributes the growth to being the only college in the area, offering high-quality education with the lowest tuition in the state and the need for students to come back for training because of the downturn in the economy.
“A lot of parents are realizing that, ‘I cannot afford to send my kids as I could 10 years ago to Miami or UC and here is Sinclair’s quality education in my backyard, why not go there for two years, save a lot of money, take all those courses and go to wherever you want to go,” Sehi said.
“We repeatedly here from four year universities that students transferring from Sinclair to their colleges and Universities graduate with the same if not higher GPA that they bring in. So we feel very good about that.”
One of the campus’s focuses has been to form respectable relationships with four year universities so that students can make “seamless transitions,” Sehi said. The campus has articulation agreements for select programs with several area Universities that include Wright State, Miami University, University of Dayton, University of Cincinnati and Wilmington College. At Courseview students can also start and finish certain four year and master degree programs that these colleges offer.
“An example of that is Wright State University is offering an MBA program on our campus on weekends,” Sehi said. “The first class graduated in August of 2010 and there are currently two (groups of full time students) that come every other weekend. Another class will graduate next year.”
The campus has also been dedicated to improving the economic development in the region, according to Sehi. They provide training and opportunities through their workforce division for companies in the region, offer classes to all of the high school students in the area and proactively hire their staff and professors from within the community.
“I’ve been extremely pleased with the support that the college has received from the region, the industry and the community at large. We are very grateful to be welcomed to Warren County,” Sehi Said. “As we go forward my role as a Dean is to cultivate relationships with the community so that we are truly a college of choice in Warren and surrounding counties.”
Sehi said that they are trying to expand within the next 18 months to accommodate the rising enrollment, but that no set plans have been made yet. In addition, they will be adding a new program for next year, physical therapy assistant, and are looking into attaining more programs that can be finished at Courseview.
“We are really blessed here with quality faculty and staff that they take their job very seriously. Each and every student is precious here and we go out of our way to assure their academic success while they are here and even after they leave,” Sehi said. “I think that’s really the strength of the campus here. Without of the support of the faculty and staff we would not have been able to manage and provide the quality education we are offering today.”
For more information on Courseview Campus please visit www.sinclair.edu/courseview