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For the fifth anniversary of COVID-19, President Dr. Joe Odenwald reflected for the Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees March 12 on the pandemic’s legacy.

“Are we better than we were five years ago as a college?” Odenwald posed a question he answered, “Yes, we are.”

“I was 10 weeks on the job when we began the shutdown,” he recalled. “Tracy Hertsel’s first day as a trustee, when we took the governor’s call, was March 11. We baptized him in lemon juice. By the following Monday, we were operating both campuses remotely. The year 2020 tested the college in ways it had not been tested in any of the 60+ years as an institution.

“Enrollment that fall fell 17 percent. The final number in spring was 1,887. This spring it is 1,892 — the first semester we’ve been higher than we were in a direct comparison with 2020. The college has recovered our enrollment losses, aided by being up six straight semesters since Fall 2022.

“This spring, 25 percent of all course contact hours are fully online,” Odenwald said. “In March 2020, that number was zero. We’re more resilient, more balanced and meeting the needs of people we weren’t able to meet when we didn’t have that modality. Working adults, returning to get a degree who can’t come during the day, comprise a fourth of our hours.

“Intercollegiate athletics lived only in the History Gallery. Today we’re celebrating a lofty return. We have earned a statewide award for the best overall athletics program, conference titles, district titles, national appearances, multiple Top 15 teams, four All-Americans — three wrestlers, one women’s basketball player— and National Coach of the Year (Todd Hesson, wrestling). Most importantly, student athletes are graduating and serving the community.”

“We used to be able to house 390 students. For Fall 2025, the number will be 426” through a 12-apartment expansion that incurred no debt. “Retention, persistence and graduation rates are higher for every category of students. Some of these numbers are the highest we’ve had since we began collecting data in the ’90s.

“We now have a career development office that works with students from orientation to graduation, preparing them for post-college success, including the March 19 Career Fair, which is completely open to the public.”

Odenwald also reported on the fourth cohort of Grady Scholars dinner March 11.

“It was an emotional good time,” he said, “sharing our students’ stories and success” in the leadership-development program.

“These students are graduating, on average, with a higher GPA than any other group,” Odenwald said. “Of all the things we’ve tried the last five years, I feel this is the thing I may be most proud of.”

In other business, trustees approved a new program, a credential for certified medication aides.

Dean of Nursing and Health Services Dr. Melissa Kennedy said, “The biggest local health-care employer is Corewell Health, but we also have a lot of long-term care facilities. This is for students who have been CNAs (certified nursing assistants) for two or more years who can do a 100-hour course heavy in pharmacology, so they can help RNs and LPNs, giving our residents a higher quality of care.”

“We need agility in rural areas to train people for jobs needed at that time,” Odenwald added. “We cannot let this community be left behind because we don’t have a trained workforce. That’s about $6,000 a year more in earnings” with the credential.

The board also accepted $600 in two gifts to the college and acknowledged 12 donations totaling $10,525 to the SMC Foundation.