AMERICUS — James E. (Jem) Morris, Area manager of Georgia Power Company in Americus, and Jimmy Davis of Macon County have completed training through the Technical College System of Georgia’s Technical College Director’s Association (TCDA) to achieve the coveted individual certified board member status.
Morris and Davis were recognized for this achievement at the TCDA – TCFA Leadership Conference in Atlanta recently.
Other South Georgia Technical College (SGTC) board of directors members attending the conference included Willie Patrick of Cordele. SGTC Foundation Trustees Randy Jones, Sharad Patel and Ben Dupree also attended the leadership conference.
Addie Shimandle, director of the Technical College Directors Association, conducted the training process for Morris and Davis to become certified board members.
Davis was appointed to the SGTC board in 2014, and Jem Morris joined the board in September 2015.
Members of the local board of directors of the 22 state-managed technical colleges are automatically members of TCDA.
Workshops are provided throughout the year and at the annual conference to assist members in becoming board certified.
In order to be certified each board member must attend required workshops on:  New Board/Governance, Community Advocacy, Elected Officials and Budgets.
To be selected to serve on the local SGTC board of directors, members must be recommended by community leaders and area legislators and then confirmed by the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia.
The board is made up of community leaders representing the SGTC service delivery area, which includes Sumter, Schley, Crisp, Macon, Marion and Webster counties.  Members are appointed for three-year terms.
In addition to Morris and Davis, the SGTC board of directors consists of Chair Willie Patrick of Crisp County, Vice Chair Janet Siders of Sumter County, Jake Everett of Webster County, Richard McCorkle of Marion County, and George Bryce of Sumter County.