Johnson discusses campus renovations, helping EGCC transfer students

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN)- Preparations are underway at Youngstown State for the next academic year.

One of the big undertakings is them accommodating students who were enrolled at Eastern Gateway.

First News sat down with YSU’s President Bill Johnson. He says they’re trying to make the transition as smooth as possible for the students coming to YSU from Eastern Gateway. He says YSU has worked to be able to offer as many of the Eastern Gateway programs as they could.

With the added credential and certificate programs, Johnson says YSU will be the only public research university in the state that offers everything from skilled-trade training to doctorate programs.

“We are going to make it as smooth as possible, almost transparent to them. We’re going cover the full continuum of education and as far as I know, we’ll be the only university that will be doing that,” Johnson said.

Johnson also says YSU has worked to make sure the students coming from Eastern Gateway will be paying roughly the same in tuition.

Johnson says one of the university’s priorities was to make sure the students coming from Eastern Gateway to YSU didn’t experience sticker shock. He says they’re doing this by setting up a tiered tuition structure for the students transferring over.

“It’s going to be very, very close to what they would have paid going to Eastern Gateway,” Johnson said.

As far as facilities, Johnson says YSU probably won’t need Eastern Gateway’s downtown Youngstown classrooms. But YSU does hope to use its Steubenville campus.

“There’s still some settlement that has to take place before we can begin to access that building and the equipment and all of those things,” Johnson said.

Something future students can look forward to, is about $40 million worth of updates to the Kilcawley Center. Johnson says construction on the building should be underway by May of next year.

“Hopefully we’ll see a brand new look and feel to the Kilcawley Center, a very much upgraded facility by the time students start school in the fall of 27,” he said.

Johnson says the updates will include maintenance on plumbing and h-vac systems, and making the 60-year-old building more functional.

It’s a very, very old building. A lot of wasted space. If you’ve been in it, you know, long hallways, you can’t meet in a hallway. So a lot of that wasted space is going to go away,” Johnson said.

Johnson says the Kilcawley Student Center is one of the most important buildings on the campus and these renovations he says will help in recruiting future students.

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