Sinclair360

Sometimes the best teacher is experience, especially in the world of academia. Just ask Mike Brigner, who chairs Sinclair Community College’s Paralegal program. While he and his colleagues are lawyers, their teaching positions prohibit them from practicing law. So Brigner relies heavily on outside help in the community, to make sure that his program is fresh and relevant. 

That help couldn’t have been more crucial than in recent years, as the department switched from teaching its students how to do paper research in libraries to electronic research on computers. Only those practicing law in the Dayton community could provide Brigner with the right time frame in which to make the transition, ensuring that his graduates were ready for what lay ahead. 

All academic programs at Sinclair have access to this kind of community help, through the formation of academic advisory boards. Individuals throughout the Miami Valley region serve on nearly 50 advisory boards at Sinclair. Each member – including nurses, lawyers, fire chiefs, business owners, public officials and even professors from other universities – brings a different perspective to the group. 

It’s a model that most colleges use; but at Sinclair it’s a requirement from the top. Leadership sees the boards as a vital connection to the community that the college serves and a sure way to produce the kind of candidates that local employers want. Most chairs see them not as a requirement, but rather as an important piece of their departments’ success. “I live and die by my advisory board,” said Frank Clay, chair of Fire Science Technology. “I have a group that puts forth 110 percent to always be there and help with the needs of the program.”

 The advisory board acts much like a rudder. It may appear to be a small part of a department’s everyday activities, but in fact plays a big part in its long-term direction.

 Finding a good tailor

Because the board plays such a vital role, it’s important to pick the right people to serve. Most chairs try to choose a broad representation from the fields in which their students will soon graduate, including Sinclair leaders. “Having a good amount of internal members allows for better dialogue in the meetings,” said Gloria Goldman, associate provost.

 Brigner said that his board always has at least one current student, to make sure that they are hearing from someone who is going through the program. The students on the board have played a vital role, most recently helping to shape the program’s academic honesty policies. “They have a different perspective and always see things through a different lens,” said Brigner, who also draws upon outside resources, including lawyers, judges, county recorders and leaders of the local bar association.

 Goldman, who formerly served as chair of Nursing, said that she called upon a wide range of community experts to help guide her work. At one time she sat at a table with the chief nurse of a local hospital, as well as individuals from Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County, the home-care industry and the long-term-care sector.

 Most advisory boards meet a minimum of two times during the academic calendar year. Still, some chairs take advantage of one-on-one relationships with those on their boards, by calling them up in times of need or seeking their advice on timely industry matters. Through her relationship with area hospital leaders, Goldman was able to gain additional access to adjunct clinical facilities for students. It can be an issue for nursing schools to secure enough clinical sites for their students, because of local competition; but her relationships with advisory-board members enabled that to happen.

 Advisory boards have also served as a formal ground for Sinclair to strengthen its relationships with area colleges. Many board members are chosen from area colleges with which Sinclair has an articulation agreement. Nursing, for instance, has an agreement with Wright State University allowing Sinclair graduates to continue their education in the medical profession at Wright State. “It behooves any college advisory board to include members from other schools,” Goldman said. “It is a great way to keep in touch and a formal way to enhance the communication collaboration.”

 Besides making sure that boards include depth in the industries they represent, the school also ensures that each board creates diversity among the people it serves. One board, in fact, is not even connected to a specific department, but helps Sinclair as a whole. The Appalachian-community board works with Sinclair on the needs of its members.

 Not just a fad

Despite the differences among each board, they all have one thing in common: their role in keeping Sinclair relevant and at the top of its game. Board members help inform each department of what is going on in the industry and whether any vital changes are coming in the near future. “They tell us of any changes they are anticipating and how we might be able to stay responsive to the employers in the area,” Goldman said.

 Clay explained that that’s one reason he has chosen a retired fire chief for his board. Although the individual is no longer in the field on a daily basis, he has incredible ties at the state level. On occasion he has been able to inform the Fire Science Technology program of crucial changes being made in the government that will affect the industry. “When things are happening at the state level, we are in on them early,” Clay said.

 Perhaps one of the biggest advantages that board members bring is their ability to choose and develop a curriculum that adequately educates students for their fields. When Fire Science Technology went after its accreditation with the National Professional Firefighters Association, it was the advisory-board members who did most of the legwork. “It was neat, because it made members of the community feel like they had more ownership of the final product,” Clay raved.

 Advisory-board members also know if there are any changes on the horizon in a particular career area, such as new technologies being used. And many members are the first to hear of fluctuations in hiring patterns – like who’s doing it and who’s not.

 Department chairs evaluate their board members continually and don’t hesitate to relieve someone from their duties, if it seems that their life is taking a new turn; however, it seems that whenever that does happen, there’s someone new always waiting in the wings to take their place. And in some cases – when department chairs simply can’t choose between missing an opportunity and parting with their tried-and-true contributors – a new seat is just added to the mix. After all, advisory boards, like knowledge, shouldn’t be held to a certain limit.

By Julie Thompson

Julie Thompson is a freelance writer in Dayton, Ohio. She can be reached at thompsonwriting@att.net.