New Southwestern Michigan College President Klint Pleasant is now on the job, settling in, and getting to know the community.
Dr. Pleasant was previously the senior vice president and special assistant to the president at Rochester Christian University in Rochester Hills. He was hired by SMC late last year to replace former President Joe Odenwald, who’s moved on to a new job.
Pleasant tells us after 28 years in higher education all over the country, he liked what he saw when he came to Dowagiac.
“Really what the hook was when I made the visit to campus, I just fell in love with it,” Pleasant said. “I told my wife, I said, it feels right. I think I’m ready for a move like this. All the stars aligned and I could not be more thrilled.”
Pleasant says his time in university administration at Rochester Christian University has prepared him well for his new role, noting he’s worn many hats over the years and at multiple higher education institutions.
“[I] served on the senior leadership team, helped oversee strategic planning, the direction of the university. Actually helped move the institution from a college to a university. I just kept getting more and more responsibility. I think one thing is just the opportunity that I had to work with several different presidents, different leadership styles, my exposure to managing several departments, and so I’ve sort of seen the departments that are more external facing, and I’ve seen the departments that are more internal facing.”
Pleasant tells us key priorities at SMC will include growing enrollment, sound fiscal management, and ensuring the college is primarily known as a degree-granting academic institution. Otherwise, he says he’s giving himself some time to get to know the college and its needs before pursuing new initiatives.
“I really want to spend some time listening and learning. I have discovered that many of my new colleagues have been at SMC for a long time, and I respect that tenure. And I respect all that institutional knowledge. I want to spend time listening, learning. Sort of the phrase I’ve used is I want to make sure that I completely understand before I would seek to be understood.”
We asked Pleasant if running a private university will be similar to running a public community college.
“Yes and no. In some ways, the institutions are very similar in terms of student population and the campus, residential campus feel. And so in some ways, the similarities and the overlaps are almost eerie. And then there’s other ways that they’re very different. Obviously, you’ve got private versus public. You’ve got bachelor’s degree granting versus associate’s degree.”
Pleasant has many years of experience as a basketball coach. We asked if he’ll continue support for SMC’s recently reinstated athletics program. He says athletics has its place at the college.
“It gets people excited. It creates a sense of campus camaraderie and spirit. And those are things that I’ll absolutely want to continue to prop up and support, and I have experience growing athletic programs. So I think I’m well-suited for that. But it’s really important to me that will happen within the context of never losing sight, that at our core, we are an academic institution. And so those things need to always be seen in context of one another.”
Pleasant met with the SMC Board of Trustees this week. His immediate priorities are year-end academic activities leading to the 59th SMC Commencement on May 9, finalizing the next budgets, working with the senior leadership team, and traveling to Lansing this month for Capitol Day.
Pleasant will be the guest of former SMC President David Mathews on April 23 at the Rotary Club of Dowagiac’s “Family and Friends Night,” honoring community first responders, giving him a chance to meet more of the community.
