In the words of the Old Hog Farmer, it's addition by subtraction for SSCC

May 9, 2012 was the 23rd anniversary of my dad's death. May 9, 2012 was also the end of my six-year term as a member of the Southern State Community College Board of Trustees.

If that's not enough ironic coincidence, consider this: My first meeting as an SSCC trustee was in November. My dad was born in November.

I shared this with SSCC President Dr. Kevin Boys prior to the May 9 board meeting.

Kevin had been kind enough to inform me that the state of Ohio would permit me to serve for up to 60 additional days, or until Gov. Kasich made a replacement appointment.

No, somehow, May 9 seemed an appropriate day to end the term.

Without a doubt, my dad – as well as the Old Hog Farmer himself, Professor Bill Horne – would call the end of my days as a public official "addition by subtraction."

I would expect nothing less.

As a 2006 appointee by former Gov. Bob Taft, I will say that serving on the SSCC Board of Trustees has been an enlightening and rewarding experience.

But with all due respect, it has further served to convince me that God did not intend for me to spend too much time in public office. Six years will be sufficient!

Suffice it to say, I have come to appreciate the "Serenity Prayer" even more. (God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.)

In my time as a board member, it's been a real honor and privilege to have worked with SSCC Presidents Dr. Lawrence Dukes, Dr. Sherry Stout and Dr. Kevin Boys. They are all wonderful people who truly love the college.

In addition, I feel equally honored and privileged to have served with the following SSCC college trustees: Ernie McFarland and Larry Anderson from Adams County; Paul Hall, Bill Herdman and the late Dr. Ben Houser from Brown County; Dan Mongold, Dr. Vicki Wilson, Leilani Popp and Don Gephart from Clinton County; Jim Ward, Patty Griffiths, Don Moore, Judith Craig and Doug Boedeker from Fayette County; and Kay Ayres, Ralph Shell and Michelle Cimis from Highland County.

Moreover, serving Ohio Govs. Bob Taft, Ted Strickland and John Kasich has been another honor and privilege. I will always hold each of these governors in high regard for the opportunity to serve Southern State Community College.

The Adams County Republican Party, and in particular, central committee members David Kelley and Dewey West have my thanks for putting their trust in me six years ago.

Southern State Community College will always be special to me. Many, many years ago, I attended the college. I also used to occasionally drive one of my sisters to classes at the college. Another sister used to teach English at Southern State. That sister's husband is currently an adjunct professor of history at SSCC.

Through the Ohio Post-Secondary Enrollment Option Program (the absolute best thing that Ohio lawmakers have ever done for middle-income families, so don't mess with it!), my two daughters, Caitlin and Meghan, graduated from Southern State prior to graduating from North Adams High School. They are among the youngest siblings to have graduated with associate's degrees from SSCC and bachelor's degrees from Wilmington College.

It is my hope that their younger brother becomes the fourth member of this family to attend SSCC. (Sorry, Annie!)

One of my best friends, the aforementioned Professor Bill Horne, taught for many years at Southern State. Bill wrote a newspaper column for me for almost a decade. While we were political opposites, our friendship and mutual respect always trumped partisan rhetoric.

Attending funeral services for good friends Bill Horne and Ben Houser were two of my more challenging days on the SSCC Board of Trustees, I assure you. Two good men, and two good friends. I miss them on a regular basis, as I'm sure their families and friends do.

I would like the record to show that in my service on the board from 2006-12, I did not vote for a single increase in college tuition.

Granted, there were years in which the Governor's Office restricted such increases. Still, when given a chance to raise tuition on those students who could least afford it – the often neglected middle-income families – I resisted the increases and would proudly do so again.

Six years ago, after my appointment, the first advice I received from Professor Horne was this: "Don't be afraid to vote 'no.'" 

Lord knows, I wasn't.

(On May 9, I considered voting "no" to the motion to adjourn, but Paul Hall gave me the evil eye.)

To be honest, I am not at all proud that the college budget has increased from approximately $10 million in 2006 to roughly $20 million ($19.5 million) today.

Whether I like it or not, the simple reality has been that as the southern Ohio economy fell into a Great Recession, the college found it to be a period of Great Prosperity, with heretofore unprecedented increases in enrollment.

Furthermore, as the college begins development on a new multimillion-dollar campus in Brown County, I am not pleased that the college moved forward on this project in spite of having an offer of up to 60 acres of free land in Adams County along the same four-lane corridor across southern Ohio, Route 32, the Appalachian Highway, and in spite of the fact that for years Adams County brings more students to the college than does Brown County.

While I hold unwavering respect and admiration for the college's current president, I was not supportive of the board's approval of a significant increase in total compensation for the president in January 2012, at a time of a pending college deficit of almost $1 million that was announced in February 2012.

In my personal opinion, the college board could have been a bit more judicious in its use of public dollars. That statement is a personal opinion and does not reflect my positive impression of the overall good work that the board does.

As I said at the outset, serving on the Southern State Community College Board of Trustees has been an enlightening and rewarding experience. But it has, indeed, further served to convince me that God did not intend for me to spend too much time in public office. Forty years of working in the private sector, without public grants, revolving loans or any other taxpayer handouts has, no doubt, left me somewhat jaded. You'll have that.

To close on a much more upbeat note, there are many, many college faculty and staff members who have been wonderful to my children. With apologies to those I'm sure I'll overlook (my memory is not as young as it once was), I must mention a few: Bill Horne, Peggy Chalker, Kathy Daniels, George Carver, Cathy LaParl, Don Storer, Becky Storer, Linda Chamblin, Terry Flum, Steve Bikowsky, Annie Rankin, Nicole Roades, Rainee Angles, Wendy Johnson and Bob Brown. (There are many others I'm going to regret overlooking.)

While Southern State Community College provides academic opportunities for all students, it also does something that larger colleges and universities do not. Southern State has a much more personal touch. Students actually get to know not only their classroom professors but the college president.

My oldest daughter used to come home from class and announce that "Dr. Dukes came over and talked to me today…"

With all due respect to Ohio State University President Dr. Gordon Gee, I'm willing to wager that a higher percentage of Southern State students knows their college president. At least, I hope so.

All friendships and learning experiences aside, one of my most special memories as a Southern State Community College board member will always be the night at Commencement 2007 when I handed my daughter, Meghan, her first college diploma at the Patriot Center. (I temporarily replaced trustee Bill Herdman in the reception line next to President Sherry Stout!)

Stevetta Grooms, the executive administrative assistant to the college president, made that special moment happen for me. (I will always be grateful, Stevetta.)

The year before, Pam and I sat in the audience as our oldest daughter, Caitlin, after being home-schooled by her mother, received her first college degree at age 16.

I will always hold a sincere appreciation for the opportunity to represent Adams County on the Southern State Community College Board of Trustees from 2006-12.

Rest assured, the current board is in capable hands. And always remember that there's nothing wrong with addition by subtraction.

Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.