New SSCC president takes helm at first board meeting

Southern State moves forward with semester conversion plan

The new president of Southern State Community College took the helm at his first meeting of the college’s board of trustees Wednesday evening. Dr. Kevin S. Boys’ tenure officially began Jan. 1, following the Dec. 31 resignation of the college’s fourth president Dr. Sherry A. Stout.

“It is my pleasure to welcome our new president,” said Kay Ayres, chairman of the trustees. “We’re just very pleased that you’re here. We’re looking for good things and we wish you all the best.”

Ayres announced that plans were under way to provide opportunities for the entire community to meet Dr. Boys.

“It is my pleasure to be here at Southern State Community College,” said Dr. Boys. “My first eight days now have gone rather quickly, some were abbreviated because of the weather!

“I am particularly delighted to see staff and faculty and administrators here tonight, and students,” he said. “This is what it’s all about…what we can do for the students who attend Southern State.”

SEMESTER CONVERSION

Dr. Ryan McCall, vice president of academic affairs, discussed progress on the college’s ongoing plan to convert from quarters to semesters.

In June 2009, the trustees voted to begin the conversion based, in part, on the advice of Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut of the Ohio Board of Regents. Fingerhut suggested that all of Ohio’s public colleges should adopt a common academic calendar to make it easier for students to transfer or participate in exchange programs.

Of the state’s public four-year universities still on the quarter system, Ohio State University, Wright State University, University of Ohio and University of Cincinnati all have plans under way to adopt the semester system.

Southern State faculty members recently participated in a weekend retreat to prepare for the Fall 2012 projected start.

“The biggest challenge is taking all our classes and making them fit into semester guidelines,” McCall said. “There’s a lot involved in that process because when you change one class, it can affect everything else.

“The goal for the weekend retreat was to look at our programs and come up with a format of what we want the end result to look like,” he said. “The group went above and beyond expectations for the weekend and I want to thank them for their hard work and dedication.”

FACILITIES

Jim Buck, SSCC vice president of finance, informed the board that bids had been reviewed for the proposed Central Campus project to move the Patri-Tots Learning Center to the 200 Hobart Drive facility, occupied primarily by the college’s information technology department. As part of the project, the IT department will then move into the newly renovated space formerly occupied by Patri-Tots.

The board voted to accept low bids submitted by B&B Construction of Hillsboro for general contracting and Weller’s Plumbing & Heating Inc. of Greenfield for electrical, mechanical and plumbing.

As part of Buck’s financial report, he also announced that Southern State is now ranked as the lowest tuition in the state among non-levied institutions.

STUDENT PARTICIPATION

At the close of the meeting, the board recognized a student who asked to address the trustees regarding the campus bookstores.

“As everybody knows, the financial situation in all the surrounding counties is putting a bigger squeeze on the lower income families,” he said. “I’d like to start up the bookstore committee again to try to hash out some kind of deal where we can get our prices lowered.”

Discussion included the possibility of book rentals, a book swap agreement, and online used book availability.

James Bland, vice president of student affairs, invited the student to meet with him to further discuss ideas presented at the board meeting.

The board, along with Dr. Boys, then entered into executive session to discuss matters pertaining to the collective bargaining agreement.

The next meeting of the Southern State Community College Board of Trustees will be 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, at a location to be determined. For more information, please visit www.sscc.edu.