Commissioner Vollmer Names Search Committee
for Next President of Valdosta Technical College

Valdosta - Georgia DTAE Commissioner Mike Vollmer today announced the creation of a 10-member search committee that will eventually select three candidates for consideration to be the next president of Valdosta Technical College. 

"Valdosta Tech has long been recognized as an outstanding college that creates both opportunity for its students and a highly skilled workforce for Georgia' business and industry," said Commissioner Vollmer.  "Our goal and the object of this search committee is to find an exceptional leader who not only possesses the right combination of knowledge, skill and ability to continue Valdosta Tech’' s record of success, but who can also elevate the college, its faculty and staff, and it students to even higher levels of achievement."

The new Valdosta Tech president will replace long-time President James Bridges, who retired June 1.  Dr. Tina Anderson has taken leave from her position as president of Moultrie Technical College to act as the interim Valdosta Tech president until a successor to Mr. Bridges is named.

"I want to thank President Bridges for his long career in education and for his tireless desire to make Valdosta Tech a great center of opportunity and one of Georgia's most outstanding technical colleges," said Commissioner Vollmer.

The entire interview and selection process for the next president is expected to take four to six months.  At the completion their local interviews, the search committee will refer the top three applicants on to personal interviews with Commissioner Vollmer at DTAE's headquarters in Atlanta.  The commissioner's final selection must be approved by the state Board of Technical and Adult Education, whose members are appointed by the Governor to oversee the operation of the agency.

The committee will be chaired by Sandy Sanders, Publisher, Valdosta Daily Times, Valdosta.  Other members of the committee include Sara Coggins, Vice President, First State Bank, Lake Park;  Deric Crosby, Health, Safety and Environmental Manager, Propex Fabrics, Nashville;  Lynn Dowdy, Accounting Program Coordinator, Valdosta Tech;  Dr. Fred Lamb, Director, Brooks County Development Authority, Quitman;  Terri Lupo, Vice President, Georgia Power Company, Valdosta;  Simmie McNeal, Jr., Manager of Human Resources, BASF Sparks, LLC, Sparks;  Dr. Leon Pate, retired school superintendent and VSU Associate Professor, Valdosta;  Franklin Patten, Chief Financial Officer, FMB Bancshares, Inc., Lakeland; and Sheral Ware, Human Resources Manager, Lowes Distribution Center, Valdosta.

Valdosta Tech serves Berrien, Brooks, Cook, Echols, Lanier and Lowndes counties. In addition to the main Valdosta campus, the college also operates the East Campus in Valdosta as well as the Cook County Workforce Development Center in Sparks.  A total of 4,461 students were enrolled in diploma, degree and certificate classes during the college’s 2005 fiscal year, and another 9,734 students enrolled that year in non-credit continuing education classes.  The college has 145 full-time faculty and staff, and 158 more part-time instructors and support personnel.

The Department of Technical and Adult Education is the state agency responsible for the governance of Georgia's 34 technical colleges.  Along with managing the technical college system, the department also administers the state's adult literacy programs and Georgia Quick Start, an economic development program dedicated to workforce training.

For a copy of this press release in Microsoft Word, click here.

Department of Technical and Adult Education
1800 Century Place, Suite 400
Atlanta, GA 30345-4304
www.dtae.org

©2006 Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education