Ross Gallabrese LOOKING TO GROW — Jen Board, the executive director of Youngstown State University Steubenville, spoke during Tuesday's meeting of the Steubenville Kiwanis Club.

STEUBENVILLE — Even though she has been on the job for just a little more than a week, Jen Board says she is looking forward to getting Youngstown State University Steubenville up and running.

“I’m excited to be here this week and rolling up my sleeves and figuring out what we need to do and where we can go,” Board said Tuesday.

While she began work as the executive director of the school on June 15, she spent last week in Youngstown attending meetings and getting to know her co-workers. Board started work in her Steubenville office on Monday.

“So, I’m on week two,” she told members of the Steubenville Kiwanis Club during their meeting at the Sycamore Youth Center. “I’m not new to YSU, so it’s kind of a full-circle moment for me. Almost 25 years to the month in September, my first job out of graduate school was at the main campus of Youngstown State.”

Board, who lives in Richmond with her husband Grant and their two children, brings extensive experience to the post. After working in advising and counselor roles at YSU and the former Eastern Gateway Community College, she spent more than 12 years at Wheeling University, including serving as vice president of enrollment since 2023.

“The opportunity came about, and now I am back at YSU 25 years later, but seven miles from home,” she said. “It’s a pretty good opportunity for me.”

One of the first challenges she is facing is getting students through the doors of the facility on Sunset Boulevard, which has been unused for nearly three years since the shutdown of Eastern Gateway Community College. Because the process needed to transfer the building and part of the land at the complex from the Jefferson County commissioners to YSU was not wrapped up until late last year, YSU fell behind in recruiting students.

“It’s going to be a slow start, but that’s OK,” Board said. “We just started in April.”

“They have been assessing the community and the school districts and seeing what we need to do first,” she added. “So, we’re focused on health care, the trades, workforce development and teacher prep. Nursing, of course, is actually the most highly enrolled program right now, which isn’t shocking.”

One of the ways of drawing interest to the school, she said, is through offerings such as Penguin Express enrollment events. Those bring enrollment, financial aid and academic services together in one location. Enrollment application fees are waived during the events, which will continue from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today at the Steubenville location. More Penguin Express sessions will be held July 21 and 23 in Steubenville.

A welcome event for new students will be held Aug. 13.

Another way of building interest, she said, is by getting out and meeting people.

“This is an opportunity to give back to this county,” Board said. “We have to build relationships again. We have to come to you. That’s going to take some time, because some businesses have moved on and some school districts have moved on because this opportunity wasn’t here. So, we’ve got to really get out, knock on doors and get YSU visible again in the community.”

Building partnerships will be important, she explained, and getting more students through the doors will spur additional growth.

“I am open-door all of the time,” Board said. “I prefer to keep my door open and let people come and go. That’s the way I’ve always worked with students, and that’s the way I prefer to work with the community. I’m open to ideas because I have to figure this out, YSU has to figure this out.”

“This is new to everybody,” she continued. “This is something they have never done before, and it’s certainly going to be a new experience and a challenge to figure out how we bring a four-year university experience to Steubenville as we grow.”

Faculty members are being hired, Board added. Computer equipment is being installed and offices are being prepared. More staff members will be needed, she said. There isn’t a lot of time to accomplish that work — classes are scheduled to begin Aug. 24.

For now, she said, area high school students will not be able to participate in the College Credit Plus program, which allows students to receive high school and college credits simultaneously through Youngstown State, but it is something YSU officials are working to establish.

Board said she was not able to provide an exact enrollment count in Steubenville, adding the majority of those who have completed the process are transfer students from other institutions.

“Now, I don’t know where they are from yet,” she said. “I asked this question yesterday in one of my meetings, and I said I was curious where they are transferring from. Are they from West Virginia Northern Community College? Are they from Franciscan University of Steubenville? Are they from Belmont College? I would suspect more would be from Belmont and Northern and not coming from a four-year institution. I could be wrong, but they are running that report for me.”

Tuition at Youngstown State ranks among the lowest among public colleges and universities in Ohio, Board said. She added the cost in Steubenville will be slightly lower than the standard rate.

Today’s high school graduates are not always sure what they want to study, she said, and may choose to take a gap term before moving on to college. That will present an opportunity for YSU to attract some of them in January.

“We’ll be in the school districts,” she said. “You can’t do that now because it’s summer, so that’s a bit of a challenge we face right now. We can have a presence and a relationship with those counselors come August, when the doors open back up, and then really assess what the needs of the high school students are. That changes every year. What programs they want, the trends and the areas they go into do not stay the same every year.”

For now, Board said, YSU is starting out slowly in terms of program offerings. That will change over time.

“Ultimately, the goal will be to offer bachelor’s degree programs here in Steubenville,” she said. “This is not a branch campus. President Bill Johnson and upper administration have been clear on that. It is not a satellite campus. This is not a branch. This is Youngstown State University in Steubenville. So, ultimately, we want to bring that four-year experience to Steubenville.”