YSU president-elect’s 1st goal: work to build student success

By Harold Gwin

Cynthia Anderson said state funding will be based more heavily on student achievement.

YOUNGSTOWN — The president-elect of Youngstown State University said dealing with changes in the state funding formula for higher education has to be one of her first initiatives in office.

Cynthia Anderson, vice president for student affairs at YSU, wasn’t on campus last week when the university’s Board of Trustees unanimously selected her as YSU’s seventh president. She was out of town at an academic conference and had her first press conference Wednesday after returning to campus.

She said that changes in the state funding formula from basically just counting heads to counting course completion and graduation rates to secure state financial assistance for the university is a major concern, particularly in light of YSU’s 37 percent graduation rate for incoming freshman.

The state has been covering about one-third of YSU’s annual general fund budget for a number of years, but that support is slipping and will drop to just over 30 percent ($47 million) this year.

To retain students, YSU has to put processes in place to prepare them for success from the time they arrive, Anderson said. Early success encourages them to continue their education, she has said.

The university has students taking one, two and even three remedial courses to get them up to speed for college-level work, and the proper courses must be offered to them, courses they are prepared to take and in which they can succeed with proper mentoring and guidance, she said.

Eric Fingerhut, Ohio’s chancellor of higher education, has indicated he sees the newly created Eastern Gateway Community College serving the Mahoning Valley as the venue for providing those remedial programs, a move that could cost YSU some enrollment numbers.

Anderson said Eastern Gateway’s effect on YSU enrollment is unknown at this point.

“There are plenty of students to go around,” she said, adding that where they enroll depends on their particular needs.

YSU will have agreements with Eastern Gateway that will allow students who enroll at the community college to move seamlessly into four-year programs at YSU, Anderson said.

There are also a lot of people who started college at some point in the past but never finished, and YSU needs to work on bringing them back as well, she said.

“We are truly going to put the emphasis on academics,” Anderson said, noting that she wants to build a national reputation of academic excellence for the university.

“I think we have a solid foundation here,” she said, adding that YSU also has “a promising future.” Anderson said she believes in the charge from the governor and chancellor that YSU needs to become an economic catalyst for the Mahoning Valley. The university has the capability to catapult itself into the role of catalyst for Northeast Ohio and on the national stage, she said.

She also pledged her commitment to working with the community, collaborating and partnering in ventures to build successes.

Anderson also called for the investment in information technology and the need to provide innovative methods of education, including online and perhaps weekend programs to provide the level and scope of education required in the 21st century.

As a marketing professor, she said she believes in offering the right product at the right time to the right people in the right venue.

Anderson takes over as president on July 1, succeeding David C. Sweet who retires June 30 after serving as president for 10 years.

gwin@vindy.com