SAINTS PERSPECTIVE, SCCC President Brad Bennett
The older I get, the more surprised I feel when fall comes. In my mind, August was just a few days ago, but the calendar says something different — and the fall semester at Seward County Community College is more than half over.
It’s been a great year so far, as I told the attendees at our most recent Town Hall meeting on Thursday, Oct. 17. Enrollment numbers are the best in Kansas thanks to a 17 percent increase, and our students are flourishing. That does not mean we are calling the fall semester a wrap, however.
Thanks to our late-start class calendar, students who want to fit in one more class before the holiday break can do so. A final section of fall classes opens Oct. 21, and we hope students will take advantage of the opportunity.
The multiple-session model throughout the semester is just one more way SCCC is working hard to meet students where they are. We all know life is unpredictable, and students are no exception. Perhaps money was tight and a student had to pick up extra shifts at work, reducing their academic course load to compensate. Or maybe there was an illness or death in the family. Sometimes, childcare arrangements fall through. And, there are always a few students who just need a little extra time to feel ready to take on another class.
No matter what the reason, our schedule aims to accommodate various circumstances. The many options on Saints Anywhere, our online platform, expand choices even more, as those online classes can be accessed whenever a student has the time and energy to “go to class” virtually.
We are also looking ahead to the winter break, when SCCC will once again ofter a few short courses designed to fit into the weeks between the holiday season and the new year. As Vice President of Academic Affairs Luke Dowell often warns us, it’s important to realize that these short-term classes still contain a semester’s worth of work — it’s been compressed into a dense and intense timeframe. Students who sign up for the winter break classes can expect to spend several hours daily on study, with less free time for celebration and relaxation.
That said, I’m thrilled we are offering the option. As I said before, we want to accommodate the many circumstances our students experience. For some, being able to complete a “fall” course before the official start of spring semester is a lifesaver.
Right now, campus is abuzz with everything related to fall. The HALO (Hispanic American Leadership Organization) club set up an ofrenda display in Hobble Hallway/One Stop Shop to provide a place for Saints on campus to remember loved ones who have died. This Mexican tradition for the “Day of the Dead” follows Halloween, and it has been very meaningful to students and SCCC employees over the past two years.
Another fun display in the One-Stop Shop is our cosmetology students’ manikin competition. Students created hair and makeup around a spooky theme, and presented the designs for a voting contest. Their fellow students and campus employees will vote on the winners over the next week.
We’ll welcome more than 200 high school seniors to campus next Wednesday for Senior Day. Although we recruit new Saints year round, we wanted to move Senior Day to the fall in order to give those soon-to-be graduates a good look at what SCCC has to offer. We often hear from high schoolers in our region that they hadn’t visited our campus before, and they’re surprised and impressed to find a real, exciting, engaging college atmosphere so close to home.
For Halloween itself, our Ag program will host an outdoor Trunk or Treat event on Monday, Oct. 28, with rumors of goats in costume and promises of fun for kids. My family has a tradition of dressing up for a theme decided by my two daughters, and I was thrilled about their choice this year: in keeping with our Tulsa-based family loyalty to OU, they picked an OU football theme. I lucked out with the job of coach, so there will be no makeup or masks for me this year. It will be your job to figure out which of my daughters plans to dress as a football player, and which one is putting on a cheerleader costume.
Once November arrives, expect a whirl of activities on campus. Among them:
Tech-Biz Challenge, hosted for area high school students by our business and computer programs.
We’ll celebrate Indigenous People’s Month by welcoming the Wichita War Dancer in a free performance Nov. 4.
The Financial Aid office will offer several more sessions of “Create Your FSA ID” via Zoom during November. Dates are Nov. 7, 14, and 19.
Campus vans will transport students to the Seward County Event Center on Nov. 5, election day. We’re so proud of the HALO students for registering nearly 100 new voters this fall!
Of course, with spring enrollment open starting Oct. 28, we expect November to include many students on campus registering for classes.
It has already been a record-breaking, enthusiasm-boosting year on campus, and I expect it will only get better. Please come to campus and enjoy the exhibits, the fall treats, Free Coffee Tuesday in the Saints Bookstore, and the upcoming Saints Athletics events. We can’t wait to see you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR — Brad Bennett is not the football coach at OU, although that's what it will look like on Oct. 31. As president of Seward County Community College, his favorite colors are actually gray and green — Seward Green — and the evidence is there thanks to paint splatters on his shoes, clothes, and even the rims of his truck wheels. You can reach him at
