The Whitman Center is starting fall semester without a director.
Sandy Kosmyna, director of the Whitman Center for seven years, resigned over the summer to take a position with the University of Toledo.
Grace Yackee, MCCC’s vice president of Instruction, announced Kosmyna’s resignation in an e-mail to MCCC faculty and staff.
“Since March of 2005, Sandy has served as the director of the Whitman Center in Bedford Township, and has been instrumental in student recruitment efforts and expansion of student services at Whitman,” Yackee said.
Kosmyna lives in Bedford and knows the significance the Whitman Center holds in the community.
She said one of her main goals in directing the Whitman Center was giving it a campus feel despite its size and location.
“Bringing displays and speakers to campus, through funding by The Foundation at MCCC, gave students and the community a broader view of the world,” she said.
As center director, Kosmyna had many roles.
She served as a student advisor, a recruiter and an operations manager, while also creating and implementing Lifelong Learning classes and summer camps held at Whitman Center. She served as the MCCC representative at the Source in Toledo, and as a trustee for the Bedford Business Association.
“I was instrumental in acquiring evening security, tutoring, a television for the student lounge, an electronic kiosk, and upgrades in technology for all classrooms,” she said.
Kosmyna also was the founder and president of the Lake Erie Higher Education Consortium, an organization that helps colleges collaborate on recruitment efforts.
She said it was important to her to always put students and their education first.
“Students always knew that they could walk in and ask me a question or voice a concern. Students were my number one priority,” she said.
The position of Whitman Center director will not be filled immediately, according to another e-mail to faculty and staff from Yackee.
“Instead, the college will be reviewing all activities at the Whitman Center through fall 2012 and subsequently make a determination regarding the position,” she said. “In the interim, several Instructional and Student Services area administrators will be at Whitman to help with daily operations.”
Kosmyna said she thinks the position should be filled.
“I hope that a new director who shares my passion to maintain a center in South County will be hired,” she said.
Kosmyna said she would like to be remembered most for the informative displays in the Whitman Center.
The displays have included topics ranging from human trafficking and AIDS to the Holocaust and environmental safety.
Kosmyna’s new job at the University of Toledo will be in the College of Adult and Lifelong Learning.
She said she chose this position because her favorite part of working at the Whitman Center was “helping students formulate and move forward with their goals through advising.”
