Tag Archive for: #drstelfaniewilliams

VGCC President Dr. Williams Recognized For State Award

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-Press Release, Vance-Granville Community College

Dr. Stelfanie Williams, Vance-Granville Community College’s president, was recognized on July 16 for her honor as the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges President of the Year for 2018.

Jim Rose, vice chair of the State Board, presented Dr. Williams with a plaque at a dinner held in the Civic Center on Main Campus prior to the regular bimonthly meeting of the VGCC Board of Trustees.

“I’m here to celebrate Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of the college here and the President of the Year for all 58 community colleges,” said Rose. “We had a grueling and tough interview process that you go through” to be selected as the President of the Year, he added. “Dr. Williams really took our committee by storm and it was an easy choice for us to make.”

Jim Rose, vice chair of the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges, left, presents the State Board’s President of the Year Award to Dr. Stelfanie Williams, Vance-Granville Community College’s president, at a dinner on July 16 in the Civic Center on the Main Campus. (VGCC Photo)

Appointed by the governor to the State Board, Rose chaired the special committee to select the 2018 award recipients. He is regional president for the Raleigh market at United Community Bank, serving on the finance, legislative and policy committees of the 21-member board.

“I think about Dr. Williams as a lifter of people,” he said. “I believe the administration that she has built here and the culture that she has built here is one of lifting up people.”

He cited several accomplishments of Dr. Williams during her tenure at Vance-Granville, among them unprecedented grant funding, development of career training programs in Advanced Manufacturing, the increase in the use of technology for online instruction, accelerated College Transfer opportunities, and the nationally recognized VanGuarantee need-based scholarship program.

“This is truly an honor, and I thank you, Mr. Rose, and the State Board for selecting me and recognizing the great work taking place at Vance-Granville Community College,” Dr. Williams said. “I know that you all do a lot of work leading and supporting the great 58 community college institutions. We appreciate that. I’m really glad to work at the greatest institution out of the 58.

“As I think about the Trustees (of Vance-Granville) and look around the room and see the wonderful leadership and support you provide, this truly is a great institution, a great place to learn and to work. And I’m grateful to each and every one of you for your support and your guidance over these years as we have led and served together.”

Dr. Williams was joined at the dinner by members of her family, Trustees who are currently serving on the board, former Trustees who served during her tenure, and the spouses of Trustees.

Dr. Williams has announced she is taking the position of Vice President for Durham Affairs at Duke University, effective Aug. 13. “Dr. Williams has laid a great foundation for us to continue to go forward with, and we’ll certainly miss her,” said VGCC Board of Trustees Chair Danny W. Wright, who thanked Rose and others for their attendance.

VGCC President Williams Resigns To Take VP Position At Duke

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-Press Release, Vance-Granville Community College

Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of Vance-Granville Community College, announced today that she has accepted the position of Vice President for Durham Affairs at Duke University, effective Aug. 13, 2018.

“It has been an honor and joy to lead and serve at Vance-Granville Community College,” Dr. Williams said. “I am proud of the success over these years, and I am confident that, with the fine faculty and staff and community support, the best is yet to come for the college.”

The announcement came today after the VGCC Board of Trustees voted to accept the resignation. “Dr. Williams has provided outstanding leadership for Vance-Granville Community College,” said Danny W. Wright, board chair. “Her vision and intellect, passion for student success, and commitment to community engagement will be assets to Duke University, and she will be missed dearly at VGCC and the surrounding communities we serve. Stelfanie is very deserving of this opportunity, and we are heartened to know that she will continue her great work and contributions in higher education.”

In an e-mail to VGCC trustees, faculty and staff members, noting their contributions to the college’s success, Dr. Williams wrote, “You all are an amazing group of professionals! Thank you for your commitment and great achievements over these years.”

Dr. Williams succeeded Randy Parker as the sixth president in the history of the college on Feb. 1, 2012. She came to VGCC from Central Carolina Community College where she last served as the vice president of economic and community development. A graduate of Duke University, she began her community college career at CCCC as an instructor for Basic Skills and progressed through several positions on the faculty and in administration at community colleges in North Carolina.

Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of Vance-Granville Community College, announced that she has accepted the position of Vice President for Durham Affairs at Duke University, effective Aug. 13, 2018. Photo courtesy VGCC.

In her new position at her alma mater, Dr. Williams will lead and coordinate Duke’s diverse and innovative community efforts in areas such as economic development, affordable housing, early childhood, K-12 and workforce education, student engagement, neighborhood relations and community health, according to a press release from Duke. She will also continue building connections between Duke and Durham Public Schools, Durham Technical Community College and North Carolina Central University. She succeeds Phail Wynn, former president of Durham Tech, who is leaving after 10 years in the position.

“Duke’s commitment to public service and the unique attributes of the Durham community excite me about the bright opportunities ahead for thoughtful collaboration,” Dr. Williams is quoted as saying in the Duke release.

Among local and regional boards and commissions, Dr. Williams currently serves on North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s Commission on Sound, Basic Education and the MyFutureNC commission created to get more North Carolinians better educated.

Dr. Williams was named “President of the Year” by the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges earlier this year. In 2014, she received the I.E. Ready Distinguished Leadership Award, named for the first president of the North Carolina Community College System, by North Carolina State University.

She was born in New York City, raised in Sanford and attended The Asheville School in Asheville, N.C. She attended Duke University, where she received bachelor’s degrees in Public Policy and Spanish, and Western Carolina University, where she earned a master’s degree in Project Management. In 2011, Williams completed her doctorate, an Ed.D. in Adult and Higher Education, from NCSU.

For the selection process leading to Dr. Williams being named as VGCC’s president in December 2011, the college’s Board of Trustees appointed a Presidential Search Committee and a nationwide search was conducted. The board was assisted in that process by a search consultant from the North Carolina Association of Community College Trustees.

Trustees Chair Wright added, “We will miss Dr. Williams, but we wish her the very best as she moves on to another opportunity for educational leadership at Duke University…. Over the next several weeks, she will be working with the board, college personnel, and community partners to prepare the institution for future growth.”

Rusty Pace honored for leadership at VGCC

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Rusty Pace, program head for Welding Technology at Vance-Granville Community College, was recently honored with the President’s Leadership Award from Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of the college.

Pace’s honor is one of three Glen Raven Excellence in Teaching and Leadership Awards presented to VGCC employees during each academic year. The others, the Faculty Member of the Year and Staff Member of the Year awards, are presented in the fall semester. Glen Raven, Inc., the manufacturer with a site in Norlina, is a longtime VGCC partner. The company’s support includes sponsoring the annual stipends to recognize outstanding VGCC instructors and staff members, and endowing many scholarships for students.

Dr. Williams praised Pace as an innovative faculty leader. “Under Rusty’s leadership, the Welding program, which was already well-known for excellence, has increased its retention rate while also expanding from a one-year diploma to an associate degree program,” the president said. “He has worked hand-in-hand with our Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant department staff to grow his program, meeting the needs of both our students and our local employers.”

Williams also noted that Pace has demonstrated a commitment to professional development, by traveling as far away as Ohio for welding technology training, by attending a conference related to the TAACCCT grant in Florida and by taking courses at the college in online education and computer skills.

A Louisburg resident and native of Franklinton, Pace enrolled at VGCC fresh out of Franklinton High School. He graduated from VGCC with a diploma in Welding in 1978 and quickly became certified through the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory. Pace worked as a welder for many years in Wake Forest and Franklin County, eventually opening his own business. He later completed an associate degree in Welding at Nash Community College.

Pace returned to teach Welding at VGCC on a part-time basis in 1998 and became a full-time instructor in 2004. Pace was promoted to the role of program head in 2007. At the college, he has served on the Professional Advisory Committee, the Judicial Committee and the Student Success Committee, and completed the VGCC Leadership Institute in 2006.

–VGCC–