For some students, Sinclair Community College’s campus can be a confusing world of passageways, plazas and parking lots. So for those students that find it all a little overwhelming, Sinclair Learning Centers offer an alternative.
Sinclair has three Learning Centers located in Huber Heights, Englewood and Preble County. At the Huber Heights and Englewood Learning Centers, a student can complete all the steps necessary to becoming a college student as well as obtain an associate degree; including the application process, placement testing, academic counseling and financial aid completion.
Dawayne Kirkman, director of the Learning Centers, is committed to bringing students and faculty together in a family-type atmosphere. Kirkman said he loves Sinclair’s main campus, but for some students it might be a little intimidating.
“There is something to be said for keeping it small,” Kirkman said.
Asia Williams, a student at the Huber Heights Learning Center, agreed.
“The reason I chose to come to Huber Heights is because I like that it is smaller than downtown, classes are easier to find and everybody knows each other. It made college less of a shock for me,” Williams said.
Kirkman said, especially for new students, the stress of signing up for classes, finding parking and searching for the right building and classroom is enough to discourage some students from attending college at all. Adding that not everyone comes from a supportive environment and making the decision to go to college can be quite a difficult one.
“For some, the walk from the parking lot to this building is 10 miles long,” Kirkman said. “The [Learning Centers are] an excellent way to begin a college education and you won’t get lost in the crowd. It’s not about counting heads, it’s about making heads count.”
Huber Heights and Englewood offer a mix of the top 45 classes at Sinclair— all the general education requirements for any associate degree. Kirkman said they offer every class a student needs for a Liberal Arts associate degree or for a transfer module to a four-year university.
In addition, the Huber Heights Learning Center offers a full certified nursing assistance program and the Preble County Learning Center offers a phlebotomist program. Kirkman said classroom size is kept to about 24 students and every classroom is multi-media equipped.
Kirkman said although the Learning Centers are “student inspired,” the instructors are crucial.
“If you don’t have the right teacher, a student is not going to stay,” he said.
Many instructors teaching at the Learning Centers are from Sinclair’s main campus. Kirkman said the instructors that teach there love it and everyone stresses the importance of the student/faculty relationship.
The Learning Centers have a Student Ambassador program and a Faculty Friends program where faculty members volunteer in the library to tutor and mentor students.
“We’re making everyone a part of it,” Kirkman said.
The Huber Heights and Englewood Learning Centers offer tutoring, a bookstore, library and a vending area. These Learning Centers are attached to YMCA, so students not only get discounts on YMCA services, but can also take advantage of the affordable childcare services.
It is $2 per hour for up to four hours a day for children six weeks to nine years old.
Allison Kuntz-Smith, a Sinclair Nursing student, took advantage of the childcare services offered by the YMCA in Huber Heights.
“Most daycares won’t even take babies and if they do it is outrageously expensive,” Kuntz-Smith said. “Thanks to the services at the Huber Heights Learning Center, I was able to get back to school soon after my daughter was born. And you can’t beat the parking.”
The Huber Heights and Englewood Learning Centers offer a weekly financial aid seminar to help students navigate through the process. They also offer new student orientations once a week and academic advising to help students lay out an education plan and choose classes.
In addition to academics, the Learning Centers offer many extra-curricular activities as well. In fall, the Huber Heights Learning Center has basketball the first Friday of the month. In spring, the Englewood Learning Center has flag football while the Preble County Learning Center has softball. Kirkman said students and faculty are invited to just “show up and play.”
A few months ago, the Huber Heights Learning Center held the Arts in the Center night, transforming the atmosphere at the Learning Center into a coffeehouse with hot beverages and live acoustic music. A monthly calendar of events is posted throughout the Learning Centers and also on their website. For more information, visit http://www.sinclair.edu/learningcenters/.
Now that the Learning Centers have been operating for almost six years, Kirkman said that it’s time to reassess and determine what the next phase looks like.
One of the changes Kirkman is working on for Fall Semester 2013, is offering classes on Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays.
Kirkman said in many ways Sinclair has come full circle. Sinclair started out in 1887 in a YMCA and “125 years later we’re back at the YMCA.”