Sinclair board to vote on fee increase, millions for student services center

Sinclair Community College’s board of trustees will meet today to vote on a new student fee, funding for a student services center and to discuss property.

The board will meet in room 133 of Building 12 at Sinclair’s downtown campus at 3:30 p.m.

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The board is set to vote on whether Sinclair will begin implementing a per-credit-hour career service fee of $7 in spring 2018. To develop the fee, the college worked with the chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, according to the agenda.

The fee is expected to generate $850,000 in revenue during fiscal year 2018 and will bring in $2.2 million for the college annually beginning with fiscal year 2019, according to the agenda. If approved, money from the fee will go toward figuring out how to help students get what they need and graduate, spokesman Adam Murka said.

Sinclair had planned to implement a tuition increase of $7 this spring but those plans were nixed when Gov. John Kasich vetoed tuition increases at community colleges until fiscal year 2019.

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The board will also vote on whether to allocate $13 million to redesign buildings 10 and 11 to create an integrated student services center. The state is contributing $2.5 million to the project while Sinclair will us $10.5 million from its allocated reserve fund.

Murka said the vote was an "early second step" in a project Sinclair would use to establish a clear "front door" to the college.

“As a community we don’t have residence halls so it’s important (students) figure out where to go,” Murka said. “It will be something of a front door… we want to give them that.”

Sinclair’s board will enter into executive session during this afternoon’s meeting. Behind closed doors, the board is set to discuss either the purchase or sale of property and employment and compensation of college employees, according to meeting notice sent out Monday.

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The board will re-enter public session at the close of the meeting, according to the meeting announcement.

Sinclair officials have been in talks to purchase Far Hills Church in Centerville. The college could spend between $6 million and $10 million on the 40-acre property near Interstate 675 in southeast Montgomery County, officials said in July.

Sinclair has signed a refundable purchase option, giving it first right of refusal on the sale of the property, said president Steve Johnson. No update has been announced on the property and a vote on it is not on the agenda for today’s meeting, though Murka said it’s possible it could come up.

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