Kinchens named VP Student Affairs; Wall becomes assistant VP Student Affairs

Published 9:54 pm Friday, September 13, 2019

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AMERICUS — South Georgia Technical College (SGTC) Registrar Eulish Kinchens of Americus has been named vice president of Student Affairs, and Academic Dean Vanessa Wall of Ellaville will now serve as the assistant vice President of student Affairs in charge of campus security, student activities, and on-campus housing. The new assignments are due to a reorganization of administrative responsibilities among SGTC senior staff and Presidential cabinet members, announced SGTC President John Watford, Ed.D. The changes are effective July 1.

As part of the reorganization of duties, Karen Werling has been named vice president of Operations to include special projects, physical facility planning, and maintenance operations for the Americus and Crisp County Center campuses. She will also assume the administrative oversight for the South Georgia Tech Adult Education department to include the Dean of Adult Education Lillie Ann Winn of Montezuma and her staff, as well as the WIOA department with Sandhya Muljibhai and her staff.

Vice President of Academic Affairs David Kuipers will assume the Institutional Effectiveness duties for maintaining the accreditation for the college as well as overseeing the strategic planning process to include Perkins Grant funding. As vice president of Academic Affairs, Kuipers will continue to supervise and oversee the faculty and insure that students are provided with an exceptional academic experience.

Lea Coe, vice president of Administrative Services, will be accepting supervision for the technology support services at SGTC in addition to planning, organizing, and directing the overall administration of the college’s financial and student financial operations. Dianne Trueblood of Cordele, the college’s director of Information Technology, and her staff will now report to Coe.

Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of the SGTC Foundation Su Ann Bird has been assigned additional duties over the SGTC website operations. She will continue to oversee the resource development and marketing operations for the college as well as continue in her role as executive director for the SGTC Foundation.

“This reorganization of administrative responsibilities is designed to provide a greater impact on the overall student success at South Georgia Technical College,” said President Watford. “Student success is of upmost importance to everyone at South Georgia Tech. These changes should result in greater efficiency and overall effectiveness. Please join me in congratulating each of these individuals on their new and expanded assignments.”

Eulish Kinchens began her career at SGTC as a registrar assistant shortly before she earned a business office technology diploma at SGTC in 2000. She continued her education and earned an associate degree of business administrative technology SGTC and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from DeVry University.

In addition to serving as registrar assistant for 14 years at SGTC, Kinchens was the Resource Development/Marketing Department assistant for over two years and was named Registrar in 2016. She has served the college faithfully for 19 years.

As Registrar, Kinchens provided guidance over the academic curriculum, certified veterans, supported transfer students, and managed the transfer credit process, maintained student’s official academic records, and provided degree and enrollment verification support for students. She also managed the banner (student system) processes and oversaw registration, grade processing, and graduation, as well as other admissions and registration duties.

As the new vice president of Student Affairs, Kinchens will be responsible for providing leadership, organization, and coordination for the student affairs division. She will also have the primary responsibility for the planning, development, administration, and assessment of the full range of student programs and services including counseling, admissions, orientation, testing, special populations’ assistance, and graduation events.

“Eulish Kinchens has been an integral part of South Georgia Technical College from a student to an administrator. She has excelled in every aspect of her educational and professional career here. I have confidence that she will succeed in this new position and provide outstanding service to students.  I look forward to working with her in this new capacity,” said Watford.

Vanessa Wall came to South Georgia Tech in 2002, to implement a criminal justice program. She was the initial instructor and chair of the program. She also helped start the POST certified law enforcement program. She has served as the Academic dean at the college since June 2012. Her major duties included overseeing the criminal justice, Law Enforcement Academy, fire science, EMT, practical nursing, medical assisting, cosmetology, and barbering programs and their instructors. Her academic dean responsibilities will be shared by the current deans.

Wall has an associate of criminal justice from Middle Georgia College, a bachelor of science in criminal justice and a masters of public administration from Columbus State University. She is also POST certified and a POST-certified instructor. She has worked for the Warner Robins Police Department and also was the chief  for the Middle Georgia College Police Department. She also served with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

As the assistant vice president of Student Affairs, Wall will be utilizing her law enforcement background to oversee the Campus Safety and on-campus housing operations. She will also be over student activities including clubs and organizations. She will report to Vice President of Student Affairs Eulish Kinchens. Director of Campus Safety Sammy Stone and his staff will report to Wall.

“Vanessa Wall has been very instrumental in the success of both our criminal justice and Law Enforcement Academy at South Georgia Technical College,” said Watford. “This is a well-deserved advancement. She is a proven public safety official with outstanding experience in municipal and college law enforcement and emergency management. She is a very valuable member of our team and I look forward to seeing the passion, dedication, enthusiasm, and leadership that she will provide for the college and the students in this new role.”