The Post is sending this five-item questionnaire to candidates running for Johnson County Community College Board of Trustees.
We will publish candidates’ responses during the week of Oct. 20, before early voting starts.
These questions are partly based on input from readers.
The Post discussed some of the same topics and more at our live, in-person candidate forum on Wednesday, Sept. 17. You can watch that forum here.
Here’s what we’re asking candidates:
- Background: Readers want to know something of your background. Briefly explain your education and employment history and how those experiences qualify you for this job.
- Enrollment: Student enrollment at JCCC has steadily bounced back following a dip during COVID-19 but still remains well short of pre-pandemic levels. What will you do as a board member to continue to push JCCC’s enrollment to grow and make the college an attractive option for prospective students?
- Artificial intelligence: Artificial intelligence is a new and rapidly evolving technology that proponents say can revolutionize many aspects of modern life, including teaching and learning. But many people in higher education worry about AI’s impacts and possible abuses, including facilitating cheating and making students’ and staff’s personal data less secure. How should JCCC approach establishing policies and protocols when it comes to the use of AI on campus?
- Academic freedom: Freedom of expression has long been a bedrock tenant of higher education, but many in academia fear that freedom of speech on campus is threatened in today’s hyperpartisan climate. The JCCC Faculty Association on its webpage decries “a nationwide wave of administrative disciplinary actions taken against individual college professors for matters pertaining to their research and teaching, or for statements made on matters of public concern.” If you are elected to the board, what would be your stance in support of faculty’s academic freedom? Are there any limits to academic freedom or individuals’ expression on campus that you would support? Why or why not?
- Tuition: Johnson County resident students this year are set to pay roughly $100 per credit hour in tuition and fees. That’s one of the lowest tuition rates among community colleges in Kansas. Some readers say tuition should be increased in order to shift the burden of who pays for JCCC more from taxpayers to students. Currently, property taxes account for two-thirds of the college’s budget. Do you agree with this idea, that tuition should be raised to possibly offer taxpayers some relief? Why or why not?
