By Benjamin Davis / The Jambar
A town hall was held in Williamson Hall with Youngstown State University President Bill Johnson and Provost Jennifer Adams on Feb. 3. At the event, the president and provost were asked a series of presubmitted questions and addressed concerns directly.
During the start of the town hall, Johnson reiterated his goal of making YSU an anchor university in northeastern Ohio, tied to the community.
“In our efforts to pursue our vision of being the anchor university in northeast Ohio, we believe we are and want to continue. That’s a journey,” Johnson said.
Citing an increase in enrollment, Johnson said the university has seen a consecutive increase in both overall and full-time student enrollment.
“It was … the first time in a decade that we have had two years of enrollment increase,” Johnson said. “We had a 2.1% increase in overall enrollment [and] a 1.2% increase in FTE, that’s full-time student equivalent.”
One major issue up for discussion was progress on YSU’s satellite campus in Steubenville, formally the site of Eastern Gateway Community College. Johnson said classes are planned to begin in the fall of this year.
“We are making solid progress,” Johnson said. “If everything goes well, we’ll begin teaching classes in the fall.”
Among the programs to be offered at the satellite campus, Johnson noted courses in aviation and commercial driving.
“We do have a [commercial driver’s license] program that we’ve launched here. We’ve already had eight graduates from that program,” Johnson said. “We also have an aviation program.”
For those interested in registering for classes at the satellite campus, Johnson said that there will be an upcoming open house at the Steubenville campus to provide information to prospective students.
“Between the first and the middle of April, we’ll be having a community open house there in Steubenville where we’ll be telling people much of this same information and getting them set up so that they can register for classes in the fall,” Johnson said.
To answer a follow-up question regarding the satellite campus, Adams said students will be able to take applicable classes for their program at both locations.
“Students will be able to take classes both at the Steubenville location and Youngstown location,” Adams said. “It is considered a second location, so you’d be able to take courses from both if it applies to your program.”
For those who plan to teach at the satellite campus, a concern was that faculty would be required to drive out to the location from YSU. Adams said faculty will not be required to drive from Youngstown to Steubenville.
“No, we’ll never force anyone to drive to Steubenville,” Adams said. “We will hire other faculty in Steubenville and hire them to teach there, so nobody’s going to be forced and they’re not going to be paid to go to Steubenville.”
One of the other concerns to the YSU community was the lack of a grocery store on campus for students to buy food. Johnson said that unless there’s more people on campus, it does not justify the expense for a grocery store.
“A lot of our students, and even some of our faculty and staff, have talked since I got here about the lack of a grocery store nearby,” Johnson said. “Until we have more people downtown and on campus, it’s hard for vendors to justify the spoilage that would be created.”
Among other items discussed were the university’s plans for America250 events, which celebrate the anniversary of the U.S., plans to bring back summer concerts at Stambaugh Stadium and plans to hold the YSU homecoming parade downtown this year.
Cutline: The town hall, hosted Feb. 3 in Williamson Auditorium, covered questions regarding YSU’s satellite campus in Steubenville, among other topics. The event was only open to faculty.