On June 9, the Sinclair Board of Trustees met and approved several resolutions which will impact the next year at Sinclair College for both students and faculty.
The board voted to increase the base salary for all faculty and staff by 3% for the fiscal year 2027, which is similar to the salary changes that were approved for the fiscal year 2026. The resolution also detailed how Sinclair’s compensation benchmarks compared to other institutions in the region, and recent history regarding changes to Faculty Merit Pay and Staff Incentive Pay.
In Resolution 12 the board voted unanimously in approval of the proposed operating budget for 2027.
Part of the proposed budget was published in May in Resolution 10, which approved specific allocations for the proceeds from Montgomery County Levies, a major source of financing for Sinclair. The total amount of funding from the levies remained the same for Fiscal Year 2026 and 2027, but there were some slight changes to how the funds were allocated. Some things went up, including facility operations, student scholarships and library services. Other things went down, such as student support services and information technology.
No tuition changes were decided at the meeting.
In Resolution 13 a construction contract bid was approved unanimously by the board. The company that received the contract was DRK Construction Services, and the project that was approved is titled Project 25-13 Replacement Door & Hardware, College Wide Phase II.
Resolution 14 was about the approval of numerous faculty handbook revisions, with the motion being carried unanimously.
The biggest changes were many parts being removed and revised, including the sections about the Instructional Council; The Faculty Issues Team (FIT Team); Faculty Assignments and Compensation; and the sections about team teaching and online courses.
Other changes include many stated deadlines and due dates being replaced with more general guidelines regarding schedules; the “Advanced Job Training Program” being renamed to the “Prison Education Program”; several references to Senate Bill 1 being removed; and references to severance being removed. The changes to the handbook go into effect on July 1.
Resolution 16 reorganized and selected the officer candidates for 2026-2027.
For 2026-2027 the Chair of the Board of Trustees is Amy Barker; the Vice Chair is John Neff; the Immediate Past Chair is Bruce Feldman; the Chair of the Finance and Investment Committee is John Neff; the Chair of the Personnel and Curriculum Committee is Joe Sciabica; and the Chair of the Strategic Linkages Committee is Mike Geygan.
Two related non-members of the Board of Trustees are Secretary Steven Johnson, who is also president of Sinclair, and Treasurer Mike Barhorst. Resolution 17 recognized the service and accomplishments of former Chair Bruce Feldman.
As of this meeting, 17 resolutions have been passed by the board in 2026.
The total number of resolutions for 2025 reached 63, the highest number ever recorded, surpassing the previous highest number of 60 resolutions in 2015, and noticeably higher than the average of 45 resolutions per year.
Erik Larson, reporter
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