Sinclair Community College’s President Steven Johnson described Sinclair as one of the largest community college campuses in the United States. But it has grown over the past 40 years and although it has worked, he hopes to regroup and see how Sinclair’s campus could work even better for students.
“I think the primary and tentative effect is that Sinclair’s parking will be better, Sinclair’s beauty will be greater, Sinclair’s safety will be maintained or enhanced, the efficiency of running the buildings and the grounds will result in keeping tuition low. We have a very efficient campus. It’s one of the reasons why our tuition is lower than colleges that might not [be] as efficient,” Johnson said. “Education, we hope and expect will be better.”
Johnson has recently revealed a polished draft of Sinclair’s future plans pertaining to construction, program locations, parking plots as well as pedestrian and traffic plans.
“So we’re [taking a look] at the Dayton campus and trying to give as many departments and programs as possible the opportunity to say ‘this is what I really need for the future,’” he said.
Johnson said he is hoping to have the first phase of the plan, which is taking a look at what needs to be changed, completed by this spring. Overall, he hopes decisions will be made starting this summer and will continue over the next few years. “We’re taking a good, hard look. And it’s not done yet… But we’re going through the process.If we don’t stop and look… it just won’t happen,” Johnson said. “So to stop and take a look at what we’re doing and take assessment of what’s happening—that’s why I’m excited, that we’re actually looking and we’re asking hard questions.”
Johnson said he feels that atmosphere is an important factor to learning, adding that tuition is not planned to increase due to the plan.
“It’s a work in progress,” he said. “Right now we’re in the phase of looking at the possibilities and it will be down the road until we start making any decisions about the realities. And we’re going to still be committed to the lowest tuition in the state and we’ll be committed to the highest quality education we can possibly provide and keeping Sinclair to be one of the best colleges you can go to.”
Although the plan is in motion, no final decisions have been made yet. All plans and ideas require Board approval before being finalized.
“Sinclair has so much to offer. Of course we have high quality education in the classroom and labs, but outside of the classroom and labs, there are outstanding tutoring services, support services, career services, there is just so much that really augments the classroom and lab experience,” he said. “And the second things is that aside from those support services for the classroom, there are leadership opportunities, getting involved in the student government, student leadership, getting involved with Phi Theta Kappa, the Clarion, there’s just a lot to do here.”