members of my leadership team, faculty, and staff...to various cities starting with our local city in the area of Dayton (Ohio) where our Alumni will be hosting us...and that will help us recruit more students locally. We are doing that in Dayton, Columbus, and Cleveland. We are also going to Detroit (Michigan), Chicago (Illinois), Atlanta (Georgia) and other cities as well. So...we will be taking our show on the road. I have mentioned the Student Success Center, as well as our mentoring program... all of those will help us in terms of being successful. We are going to continue to work on our retention and graduation rates. Our retention rate just went up by 10%...so we are proud of that and hope that it will continue to go up based on the programs that we have put in place. Celeste: What impact is the COVID-19 virus having on campus and what changes are in play to advance your academic agenda? Dr. Thomas: The virus has had a tremendous impact. Prior to my arrival, as part of the transition, we created what we call an IRT, or an Institutional Response Team, and that Institutional Response Team was made up of faculty, staff, administrators, board members, and others who looked at how we were going to open this fall...to include what that would entail. We looked at things that we had to do in terms of sanitizing... how we were going to have our students practice social distancing... how we would open the residence halls...what would students do in terms of the dining facilities...wearing masks...testing...and other such things. We tested all of our students... as well as faculty and staff. Greene County...where we are located...helped us with pretesting, along with providing assistance from the National Guard. We did have some cases (of the virus), but the governor stated that he was very pleased by what we did here at Central State University...which should be a model for other institutions...in terms of testing the students. In terms of education...we have students who are faceto-face, but they are practicing safety. We have students online...about 50% face-toface and 50% online. We know that we will have to continue that kind of thing if the virus situation doesn’t get any better than what it is right now... but at the same time we feel that we provide a very safe environment...and that it is still providing the same kind of quality and world class education that we have been known to provide. The pandemic has had a tremendous affect on the way we operate, but we are pleased that we are still able to provide a quality education. Gary: Are there any final thoughts that you would like to share with the readership? Dr. Thomas: I am very pleased to serve at the helm at Central State University...I have served as president elsewhere, however, I am glad to be here at Central State University during this time. We invite students and parents to visit us on our website, as well as when we have the virtual Open House...and when we come to your city and state. Please feel free to reach out to us. We are excited about the future of Central State University. We are still educating individuals, and we are an institution that encourages our students to think big...to dream big...and to achieve their goals. If their minds can conceive it...then certainly they can achieve it. So...we are excited...we are open and ready to provide a quality and world-class education right here at Central State University. Celeste and Gary: Thank you.
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