SAINTS PERSPECTIVE, SCCC President Brad Bennett
On week four of my column tour of Seward County Community College’s core values, we have reached the final one: consistency.
Consistency can be a difficult thing to maintain. It is a battle between being rigid – and quickly outdated – or so adaptable that nobody has a sense of order. I am so proud of the way SCCC has made consistency a priority in our operations. This spans from updated policies that truly reflect everyday practices, and then implementing those policies fairly and regularly, to the quality of our product.
Product? Well, yes. Our product is education — passing knowledge along to our students until they master the material. Sometimes that is a new welding technique. Sometimes it’s a survey of all the bones in the body. And sometimes it is the ability to speak in public, write a clear paragraph, or solve an equation.
During the summer months, SCCC may seem "quiet," but is anything but inactive. It’s true that the hallways don’t fill with students moving from class to class, and our parking lot offers plenty of spots to choose. But we are working — especially our grounds and maintenance crews — to tackle projects that are just not possible during the regular school year. Vice President of Business Affairs Maddie Day sometimes works strange hours, as she oversees repairs, upgrades, and — of course — the college’s finances.
There’s also a fair amount of travel as various SCCC employees attend conferences and training sessions. Make no mistake — these are far from vacations. For example, Title IX meetings like the ones our Vice President of Career & Technical Education Dr. Amber Jones attended recently, are intense. Our team of trained advocates on campus must stay abreast of law changes and best practices designed to provide all students with a safe and healthy college experience.
Our Associate Vice President of Athletics Cody Cole attended a conference with peers who grapple with similar challenges and changes in the college athletics system. As SCCC continues to build its men’s and women’s soccer and eSports teams, and introduces women’s wrestling — all in the atmosphere of uncertainty about the logistics of travel for our international students — it is great to collect the best ideas out there.
And then there are also actual vacations. Summer is the time when, we hope, all our faculty, staff and administrators have a chance to step away from the daily grind and find some refreshment. On a recent trip, I was able to fish with my dad. It is the ultimate getaway for both of us, a way to relax, spend time together, and continue traditions started by my grandfather.
This is where consistency comes into play. All of us, in our various roles, must make adjustments to a constantly changing world. Laws and policies shift. New trends take off, just when we had gotten the hang of the old trends. Technology itself is evolving so quickly, I sometimes have trouble finding the right menu item on any given day.
Consistency applies to so many aspects of what we provide to our students. As we developed our online platform, Saints Anywhere, a key factor was ensuring that a student enrolled in English Comp I online receives the same quality learning experience as the student sitting in a classroom on the SCCC campus — or a student sitting in a high school classroom where college Comp I is being taught concurrently. This is no easy task. I am proud of how Vice President of Academic Affairs Luke Dowell has overseen the process, and continues to check for … you guessed it … consistency.
During the “regular” academic year, we will encounter all the factors I’ve mentioned here. Circumstances beyond our control, like weather and politics. Advancements in technology that nobody was expecting. Real-life situations where medical appointments, family obligations, and financial stress can make consistency harder to achieve.
At the end of each day, though, one factor remains the same: SCCC is committed to providing an excellent education for the benefit of our students and our community. Day in, day out, that’s what we do. And every day, one thing shines through: we aim to do what we do just a little better than before.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR — Brad Bennett is the president of Seward County Community College and consistently concerned with showing up for our students. His summer hours might be affected by factors such as children’s camping activities, the everpresent allure of fishing, and meetings in Topeka, but most days you will find him on campus where he’s always glad to welcome visitors. Email him at
