Sinclair Community College: A Comprehensive Overview of Divisions and Departments

Sinclair Community College is structured into multiple divisions and departments, each playing a crucial role in providing educational opportunities and support services to students. These divisions encompass a wide array of academic disciplines and administrative functions, all working collaboratively to foster a thriving learning environment.

Academic Divisions

Sinclair College's academic structure is primarily organized into divisions, each focusing on specific academic disciplines. These divisions offer a variety of associate degrees, certificates, and courses designed to prepare students for the workforce, transfer to four-year institutions, or enhance their current skills.

Liberal Arts, Communication and Social Sciences (LCS) Division

The Liberal Arts, Communication and Social Sciences (LCS) Division offers a wide range of programs, certificates, and courses, providing students with opportunities to enrich their lives and achieve their goals. From psychology to performing arts and design to English, the LCS division fosters the skills necessary for success.

The LCS Division provides opportunities to attend a music performance or dance concert, or a theatre production in Blair Hall and to visit art galleries in Building 13 and the Library. The Liberal Arts, Communication and Social Sciences (LCS) Division Scholarship Fund supports students whose work is showcased on stage, in galleries, and at special events.

Developmental Language Arts, dedicated to providing access to all students wishing to achieve a college degree, teaches developmental reading and English. It offers a variety of courses aimed at assisting students in developing the academic skills necessary to accomplish this goal. Both personal and academic counseling are also available to help ensure student success. Students can learn to move in classes designed for adults of all experience levels, or study Dance Appreciation which offers an introduction to dance from a nonperforming perspective.

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Jenny McDermott, Social Work Program Coordinator and Professor at Sinclair College, advises an active Social Work Club, teaches social work to incarcerated students, and fosters a learning environment grounded in equity, empathy, and evidence-based practice. Jenny promotes the important role that NASW (National Association of Social Workers) plays in a social workers’ career and provides the opportunities for connection at the associate level, including annual field trips to Advocacy Day.

Health Sciences (HS) Division

The Health Sciences (HS) Division promotes health and wellness, and has earned a strong reputation for preparing professionals to encourage healthy lifestyles, assess levels of wellness, and treat compromised health.

Business and Public Services (BPS) Division

The Business and Public Services (BPS) Division offers a variety of fully accredited associate degrees, certificates, and professional credentialing opportunities.

Leadership within the BPS Division fosters a culture of collaborative teamwork and continuous quality improvement. Interpersonal relationships among faculty, staff, administrators, and students are professional, courteous, and respectful. The division leadership team discusses what is happening and what changes are needed to make progress in achieving goals if specific targets are not being met. The dean gathers data throughout the academic year to assess the division's success in achieving its goals and shares this with the division leadership team in their weekly meetings and with the whole division during the once a term division meeting.

Graduates are very pleased with their experience while taking classes at the College, boasting about their positive experiences as a student and their pride in continuing to be in contact with business unit faculty. The Advisory Committee confirmed that the business unit does an excellent job in meeting the needs of the local business and communities. The business unit takes full advantage of opportunities to offer courses at satellite campuses, 7-12 grade schools, and prisons. This provides traditional and nontraditional students with the opportunity to attend college courses.

The business unit has adequate leadership measures of performance in place. The business unit participates in a systematic program review and evaluation process, and the performance results are used to improve the process.

Adequate budget funds are allotted to support the changing technology, program improvement, and professional development of the faculty. The College has a flexible budget requesting process and form to ensure the alignment of the requested budget with the strategic initiatives of the College. The College’s Innovation R&D Fund is an additional fund source (on top of the annual budget) for new initiatives, to support time-sensitive fund needs and other activities. The fund is accessible to all faculty and programs. The business unit is using an established budgeting process and an attempt is made to link requests to the business unit strategic (initiative) plan as well as to the college’s strategic initiatives.

Tutoring, a major service provided to students, is available for specific courses, as well as for general disciplines such as math and writing. The tutors must complete CRLA certification to ensure quality tutorial services. The tutorial services provided to the business unit courses include accounting, economics, and marketing.

Opportunities for Improvement in BPS Division

The business unit could benefit from beginning a formal recording of departmental meeting minutes and associated discussions, ideas, and strategies. The minutes may provide a means of tracking progress and assigning responsibility for projects.

A formal action plan would allow the business unit to map the implementation of objectives and track progress. The business unit is currently in the process of developing a new action plan; faculty is involved in the development of the plan.

A review of all learning outcomes would ensure that they are closely related to the business education being provided. This will allow the business unit to collect data which is more specific to programs and information which more directly leads to continuous improvement efforts. The majority of learning outcomes are broad and seem to provide the Division with only an extension of the College's General Education measures.

The business unit may benefit if it can become part of the College's Early Alert system to provide business students with progress information early in the semester.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Division

The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) division offers programs, associate degrees, and certificates that allow students to gain the skills necessary to succeed in the STEM fields.

The Associate of Science is designed for students who are planning to transfer to a four-year college or university and pursue baccalaureate degree programs such as Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Physics and Pre-professional programs , i.e. Medicine, Pharmacy, etc.

Sinclair offers students an opportunity to learn about astronomy. Astronomers use laws of physics, chemistry, biology, and geology to study the Earth as a planet and anything beyond the Earth's atmosphere.

Administrative Divisions and Departments

Beyond the academic divisions, Sinclair Community College also relies on several administrative divisions and departments to support its operations and ensure a smooth experience for students, faculty, and staff.

Administration Division

The Administration Division brings together essential departments that support the day-to-day success of faculty, staff, and students. Dr. Jennifer Kostic joined Sinclair in 2001 and assumed the role of Senior Vice President of Administration in May 2024.

Human Resources Department

The mission of the Sinclair College Human Resources Department is to offer comprehensive services to faculty and staff, including onboarding, compensation and benefits, employment opportunities, employee relations, training programs, and professional development.

Facilities Management Department

The Facilities Management Department is dedicated to maintaining the campus's aesthetic and functional standards. Its mission is to ensure the upkeep of buildings, grounds, utilities, equipment, and mechanical and electrical systems in a cost-effective manner, providing a safe, healthy, and comfortable environment for the entire college community.

Title IX Office

Sinclair Community College is dedicated to maintaining an academic and workplace environment free from any form of inappropriate and disrespectful sexual conduct and communication. This commitment extends to all students, faculty, and staff, who are protected by and must adhere to the Title IX Sexual Harassment and Sex Discrimination Policy and Procedures.

Assessment and Accreditation

The College is committed to the assessment of student learning. Within each academic division is a Division Assessment Coordinator. The Division Assessment Coordinator receives three reassigned hours per semester and coordinates all assessment efforts, including serving on the five-year program review committee, designing program student learning outcomes and assisting faculty in measuring student learning results.

There are a great many opportunities for faculty and staff professional development and scholarly activities. There was a strong consensus that the opportunities (mini-sabbaticals, Center for Teaching and Learning, Innovation R&D Fund, etc.) are readily available.

Faculty and Staff

Sinclair Community College employs a dedicated team of faculty and staff across its various divisions and departments. Some notable individuals include:

Dawn Allen
Richard Andrews
Rocky Belcher
Dennis Brode
April Carpenter
Donna Chadwick
Ribhi Daoud
Jennifer Day
Angela Fernandez
Jack Giambrone
Anita Gilkey
Kenneth (Chip) Hodges CPA MSA
DeAnn Hurtado
Steven Johnson
Jessy Jones
Ryan Murphy
Cheryl Reindl-Johnson
Charles Richardson
Jennifer Romero
Stephanie Travis
Jeff Vance
Brad West
John Wilson
Ned D.

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