Dr. Steve Johnson has been at the Sinclair Community College for 14 years, and during that time he has served as president of the college for nine years. The Clarion had the opportunity to sit down and ask him a few questions about himself and about the future of the college.
Q: What’s your favorite thing to eat from the Tartan Marketplace?
A: I’ve never met an edible food substance that I don’t like. I love food. Now, if I was on the proverbial desert island, I would hope that desert island was made of pizza. But then if there was a palm tree that shed coconuts made out of hamburgers and hot dogs, I think that would really be great.
Q: So are you the reason why the Sinclair pizza is so good?
A: If it’s really good, and you really like it, and no one else wants to take credit for it, I will. But other than that, I think Aramark does a great job running our food service.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
A: I really love photography. I admire really, really good photographers – like those on our faculty – even our student photography that is done here is just stellar. If you go over to our faculty art exhibit and our student art exhibit you just see great art. I love guitars. If I had unlimited time and money I would probably buy vintage guitars and create quite a collection and maybe even a museum of guitars. I just love guitars.
Q: Who is your favorite musician?
A: I have a lot. So, probably right now, I really like the Decemebrists as far as current musicians. There’s just a lot, I just can’t even [choose one]. This thing (iPhone) is like full, it’s just absolutely full. The Shins are pretty good too, for me at least. But now that you’ve got me going, I think the best rock band out there right now – that’s really a classic, no frills rock band – the Foo Fighters. I often say, don’t mess with the Foo!
Q: What’s your favorite quote and why?
A: “Don’t mess with the Foo!” I got to tell you that there are so many that come to mind kind of randomly. I read a lot and there are just so many from history. One of them that I really, really enjoy is from Martin Luther King, Jr. and he said, “We live in an age where we have guided missiles, and misguided men.” I think that is a really good warning. Also, [from Henry Ford] “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” That’s a very powerful quote. And from my grandmother Myrtle Johnson, who died a few years before I was born, but was repeated to have always said, “Never say never, because never is a very long time.”
Q: What do you think will affect students the most as we approach the midway point of the semester? Is there any advice that you would want to tell the students?
A: There is always the need for all of us, whether we are students or professionals, to spend more time reading and studying and seeking the support of the math center, the writing center and the tutoring center. It’s really hard to catch up when you get behind.
But we have so many people ready to make sure that you don’t get behind. If students would just ask for help. Don’t try to get away with doing the bare minimum – strive to do the maximum.
I have seen time and time again really smart, smart, smart students falter.
Because really smart, smart, smart, smart students falter because they just did not put enough time and effort into what they were doing. And I’ve seen students with more modest preparation skills do a great job, because they simply work hard.
This is not a game about being the smartest person in the room – this is a game about being hard-working.
Q: What are you most excited to see accomplished this year at Sinclair?
A: It was really important for us to make a very smooth transition to semesters. And one of the most important aspects of the transition to semesters was to make sure that it was as smooth as possible for our students – that students didn’t lose time, that students didn’t waste money or effort, and that they didn’t lose credits and all of that. And it was huge! I mean the change of semesters affecting 20-25,000 current students is absolutely mind-boggling. And the amount of work that went into making sure that the vast majority of our students had a smooth transition, really went well. So that’s really important that we just follow through and finish up and make sure we do a good job with the end-game within the next several weeks. Also, I think that it’s important for us to complete the Dayton master planning that we’re doing right now. Actually, we need to incorporate more student input in that process, the Dayton master planning process. This campus of Sinclair is 125 years old. The campus was planned in the mid 60s. Then they moved from the YMCA to this campus in the early 70s after it was built. And really there has not been a master plan for 40 years. It’s worked out very well. We’ve been a very successful college and campus, but we’re trying to understand, what’s the next 40 years going to look like?
Where will we be putting our focus and our efforts — in student support services, in classrooms, easier parking and easier to navigate facilities. We’re trying to make sure that we provide to all of our students the right education and support services in the right proportion in, a way that’s easy and convenient. We’ve got a ways to go.
Q: What are your long-term goals for the college?
A: It’s really important that we provide the highest-quality education possible. It’s really important that this college remain accessible. We want to maintain accessibility to anyone that wants to go to college, and we give them a shot. It’s also important for us to be sustainable. We need to be environmentally sustainable, financially sustainable and we need to be a healthy organization as we move forward. And the last thing, and it’s not last because it’s the least in priority, but it is very important that we are community aligned. We need to make sure that when it comes to the kinds of majors that we have and certificate programs that we have for our students that those will lead to good lives here in the Miami Valley. They are all very, very important.
Q: There has been a big push for student involvement at Sinclair. Why do you think it is important?
A: The whole college is run for the benefit of students. So, we believe the more that students can be engaged at our college, the better they will be. And why is that important? The education you get here at Sinclair is just unbelievably high-quality. This is an opportunity to take advantage of a world-class education that most people in the world just don’t even have the opportunity to get. When you look at all the 7 billion people in the world, they don’t have access to this. We want our students to just get as much as they can because when you get your associate’s degree and your bachelor’s degree and so on – you make so much more money, and you have so many more options in your life. Just everything goes better with more education. It might not seem like the big thing when you’re 18, 19, 20 or 21, but it is a huge thing. We want our students to really use every ounce of everything that is available for them to use.
Q: What keeps you going? What drives you to work as hard as you do?
A: I love education. I personally love learning. I personally love my school and college education. My teachers and professors in my life as a student changed my life and made it something that I really appreciate and enjoy. I love what education does for other people. I think it’s as important as food, air and water – it just drives me. I would do everything and anything to bring education, or to facilitate education or enable education to anyone who wants it.
Q: Being the Sports Editor last year I spotted you at a couple of the home games. Being as busy as you are, why do you think it is important to come to the home games?
A: Because the athletes are doing a great job and they are very sincere about representing the college – developing their bodies as well as their minds as students – and it’s fun.