By John Ostapowicz and Nicarlyle Hanchard / The Jambar
From navigating criticism to planning a new student center, Youngstown State University President Bill Johnson reflected on his first year in office and looked ahead at the future of the university.
Since his first day in office, Johnson has worked to increase YSU’s enrollment, helped with renovations for the student center and provided pathways for Eastern Gateway Community College students to become Penguins, among other notable successes.
Johnson began his term Jan. 22, 2024 and was officially installed as the 10th president of YSU Sept. 19, 2024. As Johnson enters his second term, he said he plans to continue monitoring YSU’s spending, prioritizing student needs and beginning the phased renovations for Kilcawley Center.
“It takes me back to the very beginning, keep doing the things we’ve been doing. We are in the best financial shape of any university in northeast Ohio, we are the flagship university — the anchor university — of northeast Ohio,” Johnson said. “We’re going to continue to be good stewards of the resources our state entrusts in us [and] we are going to put a lot of emphasis on caring for our students.”
A recent change students will notice is that Chartwells Dining Services contract with the university has not been renewed. A new dining provider will take over starting in May.
Although Johnson could not comment on who the new provider is, he said that students will be excited about new food options appearing on campus.
“There are going to be some really interesting things showing up on campus with the new dining provider,” Johnson said.
In state politics, a possible change that could affect business at YSU is Ohio Senate Bill I, which prohibits teacher strikes, bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs and other student support services.
Johnson said if Bill I is approved by Gov. Mike DeWine, the university will take steps to ensure its compliance.
“If it does [pass], I can tell you that Youngstown State will do whatever we need to do to comply with the law and address the challenges that it presents to us,” Johnson said. “But here’s what we are not going to do, we are never going to change our mission and our vision.”
In his first year, Johnson helped with the creation of the fundraising campaign Kilcawley: Centered on the Future — created to generate the estimated $40 million needed to renovate the student center.
In June 2024, YSU received $12.7 million from the state for various renovation projects — almost $10 million will go towards the construction of the student center. Johnson said the money that pays for the Kilcawley renovations is centered on state and local funding.
“Depending on how you dice the project up — it’s somewhere between $44 and $54 million. $10 million is a big range, but we don’t know how much it’s actually going to cost,” Johnson said. “We don’t think it’s going to cost more than $54 million, and we’ve allowed room to take on that much debt.”
Although the budget has shifted from its original projection of $40 million, Johnson said the YSU board of trustees voted to take out bond issuances to pay the construction costs upfront, as donations are allocated gradually.
“What we don’t raise, we have to borrow. When we borrow money, it’s not like going to the bank … you are making a pledge to the bank that you’re going to pay that back over time, a philanthropic gift to the university is the same way,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t all come in at the same time, it takes five to seven years to get the entirety of that money.”
Another important milestone under Johnson’s tenure was YSU’s overall student enrollment increase in fall 2024 by 10.7%. Total enrollment increased from 10,993 to 12,164 an 11.4% increase in undergraduate and 8.1% increase in graduate students.
Johnson said the almost 11% jump in student enrollment was one of the highest increases out of Ohio’s 14 major institutions.
“That’s pretty remarkable. It wasn’t the most by just a little bit, it was the most by a lot,” Johnson said.
Since the start of this semester, Johnson said YSU has seen another jump in enrollment with over a 9% increase in 2025, which he credits to the university’s dedication to student success.
“For some reason, and I got to believe it’s because people just see the value and the quality of the education that’s delivered here at YSU, our enrollment numbers continue to go up,” Johnson said.
YSU has also added several programs that were obtained with the acquisition of EGCC. Over 60 new associate degree and certificate programs were added to the university catalog.
The institution also added an aviation program in partnership with the Youngstown–Warren Regional Airport and the Western Reserve Port Authority — originally a part of EGCC.
While Johnson’s appointment was met with some criticism, he said that he never paid much attention to the naysayers and focused on improving the university.
“If you faint and fall back when you’re faced with negativism, you will never go anywhere in life. Life’s not about the troubles you find yourself in, life and success is how you pick yourself up,” Johnson said.
With Johnson almost halfway through his initial three-year contract, he plans to continue helping YSU navigate potential changes.
