Tim Krezman

Staff Writer

Dr. Jonathan Dryden was selected as the interim provost and vice president of academic and learner services.

Dr. Jonathan Dryden was named the Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic and Learner Services when Dr. Marcia Ballinger was selected as Dr. Roy Church’s successor as Lorain County Community College president. Dryden said there are many initiatives that he and the college are working on to help students that play into LCCC’s ‘Vision 2020’, a strategic outline of the college’s mission.

One of those initiatives is called Guided Pathways. “This program is about helping students identify career and academic goals,” Dryden said. “If students are interested in an area but are not sure specifically what they want to do, this will help them figure that out.”

For example, if a student knows they might want to pursue something in business, they will be assigned to an advisor who specializes in those programs and they can help the student decide which specific program to pursue.

“We need to do a better job helping students complete their programs more efficiently,” Dryden said. “Even though graduation rates have risen at LCCC, there is still more that can be done to ensure students are able to complete their programs and not get discouraged by taking classes that they do not need.”

Another initiative is a redesign of the advising process. “The goal of this is for every student to be assigned to one advisor, even if they don’t meet with them every time they need to see an advisor,” Dryden said. “That way they know who they can talk to about their program and the advisor can help them finish in the most efficient way.”

The final plan Dryden mentioned is called Math Pathways. “We just want to make sure students only take the math classes they need because so many get held up on their math requirements,” Dryden stated. He hopes this will also help improve graduation rates.

Dryden said that LCCC will be looking for a permanent provost in the near future. Even though there is no timeline for that, he said he would be interested in the position because he loves helping students at this level.