News

At its regular meeting on Feb.12, the Southwestern Michigan College Board of Trustees set October as a target time to discuss selecting a permanent president.

Last week on Feb. 6, the board accepted President Dr. Joe Odenwald’s resignation and unanimously appointed long-time administrator Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Brent Brewer as interim president, effective May 11.

Vice Chair Tracy Hertsel put forth a motion that the Board of Trustees will discuss and determine next steps for filling the president’s position on a permanent basis in October.  The motion passed unanimously. 

Hertsel said, “The Board of Trustees is sensitive to the many major activities the administration has on its agenda and charges them to complete them by summer’s end.”

Service pins were awarded to two business faculty members, Andrew Churchill of Cassopolis for five years and James Benak of Osceola for 15 years.

Benak joined SMC in March 2010 to teach hospitality. He added a master’s degree in learning and design from Purdue University in 2016 and an MBA from Indiana University South Bend in 2021.

He became a specialist in SMC’s Moodle learning management system and, since COVID, has been quality coordinator. His leadership is evident in chairing several key committees, such as distance education, instructional technology and artificial intelligence. He was the first faculty advisor for e-sports.

In 2019, Benak was voted Faculty Member of the Year. He and his wife have two children.

Churchill, an SMC graduate from Marcellus, added a bachelor’s degree through Ferris State University and holds an MBA, a master’s degree in information security and intelligence and a master’s degree in Biblical studies.

Churchill’s father, Al, graduated from SMC in 1978. Andrew worked for Ferris State from 2012-2022, serves as treasurer of Cass District Library and is an Army veteran who earned open-water diving certification in Hawaii.

In his president’s report, Odenwald said spring enrollment is up 75 students — 4.1 percent in head count and 2.5 percent in contact hours — over Spring 2024.

“Any way you slice it, enrollment is up,” Odenwald said. “This is the sixth straight semester of year-over-year growth, an amazing job by so many of our employees. This spring, 25 percent of contact hours are online, up 6 percent from last spring. We’re ticking up very consistently. In two years, from January 2023 to January 2025, spring enrollment is up over 15 percent.”

Board Chair Tom Jerdon said, “This continued SMC enrollment growth is sourced from many areas, but especially from those staff members who have been diligently working to meet our enrollment goals.  Congratulations to all the departments who make this happen every year.”

Odenwald reported that Math/Science Department Chair Ria Thomas is retiring after 30 years of service.

Odenwald noted that Coach Todd Hesson’s wrestlers three-peated at the MCCAA Individual Championships in Dearborn on Sunday. Ten Roadrunners won or placed second in their weight classes.

The board approved two new programs, an Associate of Applied Science in cardiovascular technology and an AAS in surgical technology.

Similar to the radiography technology program added in January, these offerings are shared with other rural two-year community colleges, combining online courses with local clinical components.

Trustees accepted a $100 gift to the college and acknowledged 31 individual donations totaling $41,690 to the SMC Foundation.

Jerdon said, “SMC is truly blessed to have so many loyal and dedicated donors who support the scholarships for our students.”