Dayton's largest educational institution is embarking on a more than $2 million project that will relocate two departments into one building and introduce new space for an innovation lab.
Sinclair Community College will renovate the third floor of Building 4 at its downtown Dayton campus into a single, combined space for its eLearning Division and Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Division, as well as the new innovation lab. The eLearning Division is moving from Building 7, and the CTL Division is relocating from Building 5.
A Request for Qualifications for the nearly $2.1 million project has been posted to the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission website. Sinclair is seeking an architect/engineer for the project. The response deadline is 2 p.m. Aug. 1.
The eLearning division develops and maintains Sinclair’s catalog of all technology-empowered courses, which include online, blended and competency-based courses. The division also supports digital learning needs of high school programs and returning citizen programs at Sinclair. Additionally, the division of 38 professional staff provide support, training and development for faculty and staff in digital learning technologies, while working to integrate new and emerging technologies in Sinclair classrooms.
CTL provides faculty development in evidence-based pedagogies; promotes transformative teaching and learning through collaboration and reflection; and ensures Sinclair’s diverse students have varied educational experiences that develop their full potential. Sinclair faculty and staff, as well as community and national experts, have allowed CTL to model and develop comprehensive innovations in professional development that are aligned with campus and community needs, and focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice.
The college's new innovation lab will include makerspaces and other features, creating a space where Sinclair students and employees can come together.
"This project will introduce a groundbreaking space for the innovation lab, Sinclair’s eLearning Division and the Center for Teaching and Learning," Sinclair eLearning Division Dean Christina Amato said. "Placing eLearning and faculty professional development teams together will allow Sinclair to move forward with the work of digital transformation necessary to meet future needs of teaching and learning. A space for students, staff and faculty, the innovation lab will anchor eLearning and the CTL with a makerspace to test new technologies, harness promising ideas and bring the power of research, testing and collaboration to support student success."
Staff from these divisions helped lay the groundwork for the innovation lab. In March 2020, Sinclair’s eLearning Division rapidly converted 3,000 course sections and transitioned more than 14,000 students to online instruction. Since that time, the college has rolled out 620 additional courses in the eLearning environment and served 39,000 students.
Sinclair currently offers 90 associate degrees and certificates that can be completed entirely online. Online certificate and degree offerings have increased 154% since 2019. Students can also complete part of any of Sinclair's more than 300 associate degrees or certificates online.
In 2021, the Center for Teaching and Learning provided professional development to 291 full-time faculty, 362 staff and administrators, and 126 adjunct faculty across the four academic divisions. Collectively, Sinclair faculty and staff participated in in a total of 5,044 professional experiences with CTL.
Also last year, Sinclair delivered more than 100 eLearn and learning technology workshops via CTL, and developed 360-degree tours of science, mathematics and engineering Labs, and the Health Sciences Simulation Center. Sinclair is operational in 48 states and 112 countries around the world.
With total enrollment of nearly 31,800 students and more than 2,300 employees, Sinclair is the largest college/university in the Dayton region, according to DBJ research.
