Dr. Church championed the need to raise educational attainment in order for residents to succeed in the knowledge and innovation economy.

• Enrollment at Lorain County Community College has grown 165% between 1987 and 2016, from 9,000 to over 15,000 today (headcount)
• 26,288 associate degrees were conferred to 22,274 individuals since 1987; In 2014 and 2015, LCCC led the state in three-year success rates (degree, transfer and persistence combined success rate.)
• He had a vision to use the community college as a host to make bachelor and master's degree affordable and accessible to residents in Lorain County and rallied the community to create the University Partnership Program (1995). Today the University Partnership Program is recognized as the best value of higher education in Ohio, delivering more than 40 bachelor and 12 master degrees from 12 colleges and universities to over 3,000 student each year. Since its inception, over 5,000 bachelor and graduate degrees have been awarded through the University Partnership Program.
• Since 2000, educational attainment in Lorain County has increased 21% in associate degrees, 29% increase in bachelor degrees and 49% increase in master degrees – outpacing other counties in our region.

Through this initiative, LCCC partnered with K-12 districts to pioneer blended college pathways for high school students.

• Established the Lorain County Early College High School, with support from the Gates Foundation. Developed in 2004, the program provides first-generation college students the opportunity to take all four-years of high school on the campus of Lorain County Community College, simultaneously earning a high school diploma and associate degree. To date, the LCECHS has enrolled 680 students, 418 completed the full program with 92% earning an Associate of Arts Degree and high school diploma.
• Created one of the most robust models for dual enrollment opportunities in the state, exceeding national and state averages for high school students graduating with college credit. (Nationally: 7.8%, Ohio: 5%; Lorain County 20%)
• In just the last five years, awarded 95,707 college credit hours to 9,489 high school students, saving families over $14,000,000 in tuition at LCCC rates, nearly $43 million at public university rates.
• Launched MyUniversity Guarantee (2014) to blend dual enrollment with University Partnership Programs to create a model for high school students to earn a bachelor's degree in 10-degree pathways by age 20 at 20% of the cost. Currently have 63 partnership agreements with 32 high schools delivering college courses at the high school site.

Dr. Church maintained a firm commitment to ensuring quality education at an affordable cost for students and their families.

• Lorain County Community College tuition ranks second lowest in the state of Ohio. In July, 2015, the U.S. Department of Education listed Lorain County Community College as having the lowest net price of any Ohio College and 38th lowest in the nation.
• Affordability is provided with high value. In May 2015, the Brookings Institute ranked Lorain County Community among the highest among all Ohio community colleges in value-added based on earnings for graduates.
• Awarded over 15,000 scholarships to students by developing a Trustee and Presidential scholarship guarantee for highest achieving high school graduates for full or partial tuition awards, a scholarship program for students of diversity, scholarships to help non-traditional students with total cost of education and scholarships to support students through the University Partnership Program.

Dr. Church clearly saw the connection between a higher education and good jobs. He ensured quality programs were developed, based on market research and job forecasts, to prepare students to succeed, whether their goal was to transfer on to a four-year institution for a bachelor's degree or complete an applied degree or certificate for direct entry into a career.

• Over 350,000 have been served in credit and non-credit job training programs leading to jobs and careers.
• Developed accelerated training programs in healthcare, business, manufacturing, information technology and more to help transitioning adults and dislocated workers retrain quickly for new jobs.

With robust educational offerings, LCCC, during Dr. Church's tenure, paid equal attention to ensure students and the community have wrap-around services to support their academic success, including:

• Early Education Lab School (1994), which provides preschool and daycare services to the college's youngest students as early as 18-months. The program also provides students in the College's early childhood education program with experiential, onsite opportunities. The Lab School developed out of the Children's Center (1982) and College for Kids Program (1986). This center and its programs serve over 500 children each year. Additionally, the Center has been recognized as Best of Lorain County—Learning Center by Pulse Magazine since 2011.
• Women/Men's Link (1988). Women's Link, serves both men and women, connecting clients with campus and community resources to address any personal problems that might prevent them from being successful in education programs., such as: financial troubles, transportation, legal issues, housing, mental health, employment, healthcare, domestic violence, child care and more. Women's Link has served over 75,000 clients since its inception in 1988.
• Bass Library/Community Resource Center in Partnership with Elyria Public Library (2008). Again the spirit of collaboration, Dr. Church led the redevelopment of the college's original library facility, transforming it from the interior of the campus to the front of the campus to serve the entire community. To ensure a broad array of services and resources for all ages and interests, Dr. Church worked collaboratively to build a partnership whereby the Elyria Public Library System opened a branch within the facility.

Early in Dr. Church's tenure as President of LCCC, the community was facing a dual challenge: 1) the county had the lowest percentage of high school graduates going to college than any other county in the region and 2) those electing to go to college were increasingly choosing to go away, creating a brain drain of talent in our community. Meanwhile, area employers were requiring candidates to hold credentials beyond high school. To address this challenge, Dr. Church led an initiative to establish a blanket scholarship program for any Lorain County high school graduate who achieved a 3.4 GPA or above either full or partial tuition scholarship at LCCC. Working collaboratively with the college's Foundation, a community fundraising effort was launched to establish an endowment fund to help support this program in perpetuity. Today, over 65% of Lorain County high school graduates go to college and of that group 50% choose to start at LCCC. Lorain County's college-going population now mirrors the national average. Simultaneously, a similar scholarship initiative was developed focused on increasing participation in college of minority populations entitled: Diversity Incentive Award. The program provides full last-dollar tuition support to any Lorain County high school graduate of a minority population with a 2.5 or above grade point average. This program has helped to ensure the college's student population reflects the community's diversity composition.

As the region was experiencing an economic transformation ignited by the development of digital technologies, Dr. Church turned to the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce to co-lead a community engagement and strategy session entitled the Digital Economy Taskforce (1999). Following an intensive engagement, exploration and design process, this diverse group of leaders of over 100 committed leaders identified LCCC as the ideal entity to lead a strategy to spur economic growth through entrepreneurship and innovation. The lack of access to coaching, teaching, mentoring for entrepreneurs was identified as the primary gap in our local and regional ecosystem to take new technologies to market.

Charged by the community with a dual mission of growing talent and building jobs, Dr. Church turned to county partners to develop the first technology incubator on a college campus in the state of Ohio, known as GLIDE. GLIDE formed in 2001 through a partnership between Lorain County Chamber of Commerce and the Lorain County Commissioners. In fact, the Lorain County Commissioners stepped forward with a commitment of $2.5 million in operational support to hire serial entrepreneurs to launch GLIDE; more than a decade later, their collaboration continues.

Initially, GLIDE was housed in 4,000 square feet of incubating space in the Patsie C. Campana, Sr. Engineering and Development Center. By 2006, GLIDE's performance metrics outpaced more established incubators. These outcomes prompted the State of Ohio to designate GLIDE for funding as an Edison Technology Incubator, the only one on a college campus in the state.

Today, GLIDE manages as 20,000 plus square foot incubator in the Desich Business and Entrepreneurship Center, which houses 22 start-up companies. Since inception, GLIDE has served over 3,200 entrepreneurs, incubated over 220 companies of which 150 are still growing and created over 800 new jobs.

With GLIDE established to provide coaching, teaching and mentoring to entrepreneurs, access to capital became the next gap in the portfolio of services to accelerate growth of new technology businesses. Dr. Church, serving also as President of the LCCC Foundation, engaged this 55-member board to create Ohio's first and earliest philanthropically-supported pre-seed fund entitled the Innovation Fund. The Innovation Fund was designed to fill the gap between funding from family and friends and angel or other equity-based investment funds.

The Innovation Fund is open to any start-up in the 21-county northeast Ohio region with a technology-based innovation. Recipients may apply and compete to receive a $25,000 proof-of-concept grant or $100,000 proof-of-market award, which attaches a fund replenishment right to help sustain the fund if the company is successful. Committed to ensuring an educational outcome in all its initiatives, recipients of Innovation Fund funding are required to support an internship for student(s) in entrepreneurship as part of their award. The fund launched in 2007 with three partners (LCCC, the LCCC Foundation and GLIDE) and $750,000 in assets. Once again in the spirit of collaboration and partnership, Dr. Church turned his counterparts of regional universities and colleges to join as partners in the Innovation Fund to expand its footprint and impact.

Today, five colleges and universities are vested partners in the fund providing financial support and involved in the due diligence and enhanced services process. The fund has received over 1,200 applications from entrepreneurs, made 186 awards to 153 companies totaling nearly $10.5 million. In turn, this portfolio of 153 companies have leveraged over $200 million in follow-on investments, grown sales revenue to over $100 million annually, created over 520 new jobs and sponsored nearly 200 internships. The fund has attracted nearly $20 million in philanthropic donations, partner contributions and state awards.

Because of its success, the Kauffman Foundation (Kansas City, KS) provided a grant to expand the concept through a new 501c3 organization entitled: Innovation Fund America. This effort has now launched Innovation Funds in Long Beach, California, Hickory, North Carolina and Detroit, Michigan.

Under Dr. Church's committed to entrepreneurship and innovation, LCCC developed the first FAB LAB outside of MIT, modeled after the concepts of Dr. Neil Gershenfeld, director of the Center for Bits and Atoms at MIT. This asset is open to the community and to students to inspire creativity, product development and entrepreneurship. LCCC's Fab Lab is a leader in the Maker Movement and has guided the development of several more Fab Labs across the state and country.

The Desich SMART Commercialization Center for Microsystems is a transformational opportunity that is driving significant economic growth in the area of sensors for biomedical, energy, advanced manufacturing and other sectors. The SMART Center, a $20 million initiative funded through state, federal and philanthropic resources, is a unique asset that positions LCCC in a segment of the commercialization process that is missing in the Midwest and in the country. The SMART Center bridges the gap between university research and industry to accelerate sensor-based products to get to market. The SMART Center is carving out a niche area for community colleges to be a key component of the nation's manufacturing reshoring. The facility also serves as a training ground for technicians with clean-room certification and processing.