SSCC's Mt. Orab Campus on track to open August 2014
Its steel framework soundly in place, Southern State Community College’s Mt. Orab Campus is right on schedule to open August 2014. Quandel Construction representatives Nathan Minnich-Weber and Todd Clevinger updated the college’s Board of Trustees on progress at the site.
“I’m pleased to say we’re vertical; we’re all the way topped out with our steel,” said Minnich-Weber, at the Oct. 9 regular board meeting.
A June groundbreaking ceremony kicked off construction of the two-story, 50,000-square-feet complex at the intersection of State Route 32 and Brooks-Malott Road in Brown County’s Mt. Orab.
“It’s amazing how far we’ve come since groundbreaking, even despite some weather setbacks,” he said.
Southern State’s expansion project has been several years in the making. In 2010, the college invited an architectural firm to complete a facilities assessment.
The study revealed that South Campus in Fincastle required a significant reinvestment to bring the facility up to current standards, which led to the decision to first pursue a replacement campus in Brown County and later a new campus in Adams County.
Following the construction update, the Board of Trustees passed a resolution to authorize the divestiture of the South Campus property via sale or lease.
Southern State is working with the Department of Administrative Service’s Office of Real Estate and Planning (DAS Real Estate) to coordinate the sale or lease of the property.
Interested parties including local realtors should contact Marc Half, DAS Real Estate Evaluator, at 614-466-8435 or Marc.Half@das.state.oh.us.
South Campus will remain open for classes through May 2014. The college will then transition to the opening of Mt. Orab Campus in August 2014.
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SSCC PRESIDENT APPOINTED TO COMMISSION
During the meeting’s President’s Report, SSCC President Dr. Kevin Boys announced that he had been appointed by Governor Kasich as co-chair of the Capital Bill Funding Commission. Dr. Boys and co-chair Dr. Roderick McDavis, President of Ohio University, succeed E. Gordon Gee, retired President of The Ohio State University, who led the effort in 2012.
“It’s an honor to have been invited by the Governor,” said Dr. Boys. “Even more so, it’s an acknowledgement that within higher education the state’s community colleges get equal footing.”
The commission was established in 2012 and, according to last year’s summary: “Governor Kasich presented Ohio’s higher education community with an unprecedented opportunity. Anticipating the realities of an austere capital construction budget, the Governor asked higher education leaders to think differently about the task of allocating the state’s scarce resources … Ohio’s college and university leaders embraced the challenge to act collaboratively—instead of competitively—to best serve all 11 million Ohioans.”
DELONG EARNS FACULTY EMERITUS STATUS
Following a recommendation by the Southern State Faculty Senate, the title of Faculty Emeritus has been posthumously granted to Jim Delong who served as an SSCC instructor for 14 years.
“Mr. Delong was not only a supportive colleague, but one of the finest teachers that I have had in my college career,” wrote Kristi Hall, SSCC computer science faculty member. “He was a dedicated faculty member in the business management area. He brought a wide variety of expertise, which came from the vast experience he had in creating and managing businesses prior to his employment at Southern State.”
The college’s Board of Trustees supported the recommendation and voted unanimously to bestow the honor.
UPCOMING TRUSTEE MEETING
The next meeting of the Southern State Community College Board of Trustees is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, with the location to be announced. For more information, please visit www.sscc.edu or call 1-800-628-7722.