The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

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Stephanie Shanblatt hailed as Bucks’ fourth president

Bucks+President+Dr.+Stephanie+Shanblatt
Bucks President Dr. Stephanie Shanblatt

Dr. Stephanie Shanblatt, Bucks’ new president, invited the Centurion into her office in the Tyler building overlooking the Newtown campus for a one-on-one interview where she discussed accepting the presidency, her dreams for students, and her plans for the college.

Shanblatt started her five-year contract as president of Bucks, at a salary of $180,000 a year, on Oct. 1, leaving behind her 13-year career at Lansing Community College in Michigan where she served as provost and senior vice president of academic affairs. This marks the first time she’s moved states in 30 years.

“When my husband and I made this decision together to leave Michigan and start this new journey, we also made the decision to pick places we really wanted to live,” Shanblatt said. “I didn’t apply to many positions that were open because they weren’t a good fit for us or the college wasn’t the right fit for me.”

Shanblatt agreed that the move from Michigan to her new home in Doylestown was a major decision. “Your best friend isn’t your next- door neighbor anymore, she’s 615 miles away.”

But Shanblatt and her husband Michael are no strangers to the area. They’re both native Pennsylvanians, growing up and attending college in Pittsburgh. Shanblatt also spent many summers at the Jersey shore.

“I knew the area a little bit so it felt like coming back home,” she said .

This major, life-altering career move came only after serious thought from Shanblatt and her husband, but with a mix of light-hearted humor.

“It felt like we had one more adventure in us,” Shanblatt said. “We were calling this ‘Michael and Stephanie’s excellent adventure,’” she laughed. “Just to keep it light because it is hard to move. So we thought if we keep it light and have a little fun with it, it’ll make it an easier transition.”

“Even at this stage in life you can surprise yourself.”

For Shanblatt, being the college’s first female president is nothing to make a fuss over.

“In some ways it’s very humbling,” she concedes. “But I’m someone who has fought that battle for so many years that I hope we can get to the point where it’s not news anymore. Am I thrilled? Absolutely. Would my mother be proud? You bet.”

But will a female president signal a major change in Bucks’ already strong female leadership structure? “I look around and several of the vice presidents are women,” Shanblatt said. “So there are already several strong female roles here at the college.”

Shanblatt is immediately likable. She’s warm and open. During her second busy week as president, she welcomed the Centurion interview during her lunch break in the confines of her new office.

“Annette Conn, dean of academic affairs, said she met once with Shanblatt and found her immensely likable,” wrote Naila Francis for an article on phillyburbs.com.

Shanblatt has been warmly welcomed and highly regarded by many Bucks administrators, vindicating her unanimous selection by the board of trustees.

“Stephanie has an impressive record of accomplishments, both as an academician and an administrator, and she is absolutely the right person to continue the good work of Jim Linksz, who leaves a powerful legacy,” said trustee board Chairman Blake Eisenhart.

Former Bucks President James Linksz agrees, saying she is “well suited to help write the next chapters in the Bucks story.”

In fact, Shanblatt has already consulted with Linksz, noting that they met at the end of her first week at Bucks for nearly four hours. “He was extremely generous with his time,” said Shanblatt.

But Shanblatt faces the challenge of how to be visible to the student body, something Dr. Linksz had trouble with. His lack of visibility may be why there’s a certain amount of apathy among students over the newly appointed president.

To stay engaged, Shanblatt mentioned looking into how the student body is structured and seeing what opportunities she has to visit with student groups. “But I’d also like to hold informal student forums periodically,” she said. “Just so that students can tell me what’s on their mind.”

“I also believe that when we go forward with new college projects, having student focus groups can be very important. It’s a way to get student input into decisions the administration is making.”

When asked about her aspirations for Bucks, Shanblatt said, “There are two big things I have. One is obviously to manage the college well. The other thing I’d like to do is to continue to and actually build upon what we’re already doing in the area of student success. To really focus the college effort on not just saying we’re doing a good job but being able to demonstrate that we are through data. That’s our core mission.”

She went on to explain that she would like to have comprehensive proof that students were successful not just at Bucks but once they leave the institution.

She wants to know if students in developmental classes go on to college-level courses, if they’re transferring to four-year colleges, and if so whether they’re transferring at 30 or 60 credits.

Shanblatt understands business fundamentals when it comes to running Bucks, saying that “the other half of serving the student is the customer service side.” She cares whether there are long lines for students at registration, and whether, if they call the school, they’re getting the answers they need.

“If you can marry the success and the service together then I think you have a great place where students want to come and they want to stay,” she said.

In regards to Bucks’ budget, Shanblatt admitted that in her first couple of weeks, she still had to get better acquainted with the figures but that she wants “to keep any tuition increases as low as possible.”

“It’s always easier to raise tuition then it is to make difficult decisions,” she continued. “I know difficult decisions have been made and more may be made but I’m not sure yet.”

Shanblatt said some of those difficult decisions involve vacant positions within Bucks that have been left unfilled due to budget issues. She mentioned that the college must be more mindful of how it spends money.

“You do a lot of little things and it adds up to a lot of money,” she said. “It’s not necessarily one big thing that was done but a lot of little things.”

When asked about the slight decline in enrollment over the past few years, Shanblatt was unaware of the exact figures and goals but offered some ideas.

“Community college enrollment, almost across the nation, tends to mirror what the economy is doing,” she said. “When the economy is bad, community college enrollment goes up. When the economy improves, enrollment goes down.”

She says this is due to the fact that working adults tend to go back to school when the economy is bad in hopes of advancing their careers.

But Shanblatt’s main strategy for boosting enrollment is ensuring that Bucks is reaching its targeted high school students and to continue doing everything possible to prove that the college is a viable education choice.

She also wants to make sure Bucks keeps current students enrolled.

“There are two ways to look at enrollment; one is how many are coming in the door and the other is how many are staying,” she said. “It’s always easier, at least in the business world, to keep a customer than it is to go out and find a new one.”

Dr. Shanblatt faces many challenges in her transition as the new president of Bucks. Fortunately for her and students, her reputation precedes her and administrators have placed great confidence in her ability to handle the task.