The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
SUCCESSOR FACES NEW CHALLENGES
Former provost, now president, leads college into the future
A meandering path through nearly every facet of the Lorain County Community College experience, led Marcia J. Ballinger to a place she least suspected when hired 25 years ago.
From her appointment in May as president of LCCC, 1005 N. Abbe Road, Elyria, Ballinger, who holds a Ph.D., sees the impact on a community on the verge.
“I would describe it as a tipping point, as in Malcolm Gladwell’s book,” Ballinger said. “I see the phenomenal 25 years of experience I have had here working at all levels of the college, and I was mentored for those 25 years by (former president) Dr. (Roy) Church.”
After Church retired June 30, Ballinger assumed the presidency July 1.
“I see myself and my new role as I have so much energy and passion,” Ballinger said. “I see the trajectory continuing to build going forward. I’ve never considered working here as a job. I consider working here as a privilege. I love it.”
Advancement
Each position along the way added perspective.
“You always see it through a new lens, as you take on a new role,” Ballinger said. “I always just had such a positive experience with everything. And the new lens for me is being out to listen and learn more, and being able to look at it from the 30,000foot view. Sometimes it feels like you’re drinking from the fire hydrant.
“I believe in home-grown talent. I’m an example of home grown.”
Ballinger grew up in western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh.
“There are a lot of striking parallels to Lorain,” she said. “My grandparents were coal miners. I grew up with a coal mine right down the street.”
A love for writing resulted in a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1983 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, followed by a Master’s in Business Administration in 2000 from Kent State University, and a doctorate in higher education with a minor in community college leadership in 2012 from Walden University.
Along what Ballinger calls a 25-year, nontraditional path to a college presidency through public relations and marketing, she juggled a full time job with higher education classes as she raised two young daughters.
“I’m really proud of the fact that I went through our University Partnership Program when I earned my MBA,” Ballinger said. “I was 18 years out of school with two daughters. That took every Friday night and Saturday night for 2 ½ solid years. I have an understanding of how challenging it is to juggle everything.
“I learned this institution from the inside out, both as an employee and as a student who learned all the great resources that are here. I had an amazing tutor who was an adjunct math instructor here. He also worked at NASA. That helped build my confidence.”
Passion for others
The experiences at LCCC, Ballinger said, created a tenderness toward women heads of households, and students from backgrounds of poverty.
“One of the things I’m deeply passionate about are particularly those at the lower socio-economic status,” Ballinger
said. “We have too many women living beneath the levels of poverty.”
An LCCC and United Way program, WE3 Collaborative, stands for Women Empowered, Educated, Employed, she said. WE3 helps female heads of households 200 percent below the poverty level find meaningful employment to break out of poverty.
For the last five years as provost and vice president for academic and learner services, Ballinger centered her time at the school working closely with students.
“I absolutely love working with students,” she said, adding students brought issues to the awareness of administrators, and worked with the college to solve them.
One student initiative tackled hunger.
“I didn’t realize hunger was such a big issue for students,” Ballinger said. “Students came forward, and we created Commodore Cupboard, which is a food pantry for students. We have community partners raising funds and donating food for students here.”
Located in a hallway of the advanced technology center, Commodore Cupboard is staffed by students who serve as coaches and mentors. Also, art students are creating pottery bowls and the LCCC culinary program is providing clam chowder for Bowls by the Lake, a fundraiser to raise money to combat hunger.
“A second issue students brought that absolutely breaks my heart every single day, and that’s the opiate addictions,” Ballinger said. “The stories and the realities are heartbreaking.”
The college started a student organization and space on campus, the CARE Center, which stands for Caring Advocates for Recovery Education, in partnership with Lorain County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services and Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board of Lorain County.
Achieving community goals
Removing barriers so individuals can achieve goals is about heart, Ballinger said.
“My philosophy is you can’t lead a community you don’t love, and you can’t love a community you don’t know,” she said. “So, I view community inside the college. That’s our community. But I also view community externally throughout all of our communities.
“Being immersed in that
community, and understanding the needs and the aspirations and the challenges and the strengths and the opportunities. I made it a priority in my first few months to be connected and listening and learning.”
Ballinger said she enjoyed a FireFish Festival this month in downtown Lorain, despite pouring rain, because it showed the vibrancy of the city.
“And it gives you an opportunity to see what’s possible,” she said. “Boy, Joan Perch (founder of FireFish Arts and gallery coordinator at Lorain County Community College’s Stocker Arts Center) and James Levin (executive director of the FireFish Festival) pour their heart and soul into that, and I think it really motivated everybody to see what all the possibilities are.
“Thought it was a right way, to relate back to us, to show how cultural arts can be a driver in the economic revitalization of a community, and to build upon the past of what’s been there. Aren’t the buildings extraordinary?
“When you look at the architecture and the design of them. They’re just absolutely spectacular. Hopefully, next year FireFish 3 will be building on the past two years.
“That really is one of the cornerstones of the college. When we look at the four foundational cornerstones: education, economy, culture and community. And in many ways it’s the coming together of all four of those cornerstones.”
Stories of people
“One of my deeply held values is ‘Every student’s dream matters,’” Ballinger said. “And I really take that to heart. What do we do as a college to help every student realize their dreams and aspirations as a reality.
“I’ve been here for 25 years, and part of the growth of the college, is connecting with the community and becoming a part of the community. But you always learn something new about your community. What I discovered recently is our roots in Lorain go deeper than I realized.”
When LCCC was created in 1963, it was the first community college in the state of Ohio, she said.
“But as soon as it was created, Lorain City Schools gifted to Lorain County Community College the Lorain School of Technology,” Ballinger said. “So, all of their technology programs that
were located in what was called the Brownell Building, was our first technical program at the college.
“And the teachers from Lorain City Schools’ School of Technology, became our first teachers. They were LCCC and Lorain City Schools teachers that first year. And then another first for Lorain, the first graduating class occurred in 1966, and the first graduating class was held at Lakeview Elementary School in Lorain. And 33 of the first graduates were joint graduates of Lorain City Schools’ School of Technology, and Lorain County Community College.”
Ballinger said she likes to talk about the “root of our roots,” and why LCCC was created.
“I really thought it was coming full circle,” she said. “The new dedication of Lorain High School and having Titan College there. Here we are 50 years later. What began in Lorain, being in Lorain City Schools. I couldn’t be more excited for future graduates of Lorain City Schools and Lorain County Community College.”
New programs
The college just created a new sales program, and 12 new programs for manufacturing called RAMP, or Retooling Adults in Manufacturing Programs, featuring 10-16-week classes that result in industry credentials so students can be employable while they earn a degree.
“We call it the learn and earn model,” Ballinger said.
The students attend class for two or three days a week, and for the other days, they work at a paid internship, she said. Each credential builds into an associate degree.
Bricks and mortar also change the LCCC landscape. From Abbe Road, motorists see cranes, and construction workers who serve as the first makers at a Center for Ideation and Invention, a maker space expanding what was begun at a Fab Lab built under direction of MIT, Ballinger said.
The college needs to teach different methods of production and manufacturing now, she said, and to ask students to work across areas such as the arts, gaming, marketing and engineering.
“That’s the way the world works,” Ballinger said. “We have to look at where the world is going. And how do we respond? We continue to innovate.”