$17,500 awarded in Ed Guse ag scholarships
SMC Trustees Todd Obren and Keith McKenzie; Edward A. Guse Agricultural Scholarship recipients Hannah Gibson of Berrien Springs and Andrea Lee of Hudson; Cliff Poehlman, executor of Edward Guse’s estate; and SMC Trustee Bill White.
Southwestern Michigan College Trustees met Edward A. Guse Agricultural Scholarship recipients at the Dowagiac campus greenhouse prior to their Sept. 17 meeting.
Students Hannah Gibson and Andrea Lee visited with Trustees Keith McKenzie, Todd Obren and William White, Guse estate executor Cliff Poehlman and Stacey Rocklin, coordinator of Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Institute of Agricultural Technology.
SMC adopts 2018-2019 balanced budget
Following a public hearing, the Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees on June 18 adopted the 2018-19 fiscal-year budgets.
During the presentation to trustees, President Dr. David Mathews, along with Vice Presidents Dr. Joe Odenwald, Dr. David Fleming and Chief Business Officer Susan Coulston highlighted SMC’s unique, deliberate budget process that drives college objectives.
SMC Trustees receive legal update from attorney
Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees heard from its attorney Monday about the unanimous 37-0 Michigan Senate vote on May 15 advancing legislation sponsored by Sen. John Proos to clarify a statewide issue and establish once and for all that part-time college student workers should not be enrolled in the teachers’ retirement system.
Leading up to the Senate action, Attorney General Bill Schuette released a statement supporting both Senate Bill 888 and Rep. Aaron Miller’s House Bill 5679. “Our community colleges have been operating in good conscience since the beginning,” Schuette said.
SMC announces $250,000 gift for nursing project
In his President’s Report at the Dec. 18 Board of Trustees meeting, Dr. David M. Mathews announced a gift of $250,000 from Kelly Rose to fund the Karen K. Rose Simulation Lab in Southwestern Michigan College’s new $9.6 million Nursing and Health Education Building under construction on the Dowagiac campus.
Community responds to Welcome Week
The Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees Sept. 17 heard a Welcome Week recap from Vice President of Student Services Dr. Joseph Odenwald, including gratitude from ACTION Ministries for assistance that SMC students provided on Friday’s Community Service Day.
ACTION — Area Churches Together in One Network — operates a food pantry at 301 Main St. in Dowagiac. After being oriented to their new community Thursday evening, Aug. 30, with a Downtown at Dusk scavenger hunt, concert and barbecue picnic, many SMC students returned Aug. 31 to volunteer.
SMC Trustees recognize President Mathews
President Dr. David Mathews
At their June 18 meeting, the Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees recognized “the tremendous positive impact Dr. David Mathews has on the College,” recognizing him as on July 1 he becomes the longest-serving president in the college’s history.
SMC Trustees review academic enhancements
The 22 high-achieving Southwestern Michigan College graduates inducted into Alpha Beta Gamma international community college business honor society boost SMC’s growing population of honors students, the Board of Trustees heard May 21 from Dr. Stacy Young, dean of the School of Business and Advanced Technology, and Leon Letter, ABG advisor.
“Sometimes people wrongly think community colleges only provide last-resort access to higher education. But we’re also the college of first choice for a lot of high-achieving students who could have been admitted to four-year institutions,” President Dr. David Mathews said.
Board devotes day to long-range planning
Southwestern Michigan College Trustees spent over nine hours engaged in their annual Long Range Planning for the College as part of their regularly scheduled March meeting on the college’s Dowagiac campus. After general business and public input, the marathon session continued with an institution-wide Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis.
