RODGERS NAMED AS OCTCS INTERIM CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER

Owensboro Community amp; Technical College (OCTC) has named Mike Rodgers as the interim Chief Academic Affairs Officer (CAO), Rodgers will move into the position on June 16. The CAO position became vacant when Dr. Scott Williams was named as the OCTC President and assumed that role on June 1. Rodgers came to Owensboro in 2011, he most recently served as the OCTC Southeastern Campus director, and the Associate Dean of the Skilled Trades and Personal Services division. Rodgers began his career as faculty at Piedmont Technical College in South Carolina and was later named as the program coordinator for Automotive Technology. He earned a bachelors degree in 1996 from University of South Carolina-Aiken, a masters degree in 2015 from Western Kentucky University and is currently scheduled to begin work on his doctoral degree at WKU. Under Rodgers leadership the OCTC Automotive Technology earned the 2014 OReillys School of the Year award and has obtained a grant from the National Science Foundation to expand alternative fuel offerings. OCTC is one of the few schools in the country that offers all of the alternative fuel options in one program.

Dr. Scott Williams commented, This is a critical position for our college, particularly with the upcoming SACSCOC visit and the beginning of a new strategic planning cycle. Moreover, we need an interim with a strong academic background and a dedication to continue to move OCTC forward during this transition. Mike Rodgers has those qualities, and I am confident he will do an outstanding job as the interim. The college plans to begin a national search in the fall, and have a permanent CAO hired to begin no later than January, 2016.

OCTC serves the Kentucky counties of Daviess, Ohio, Hancock and McLean, with three campuses in Owensboro, and a center located in Hancock County. For more information, visit owensboro.kctcs.edu.

For most Kentuckians, higher education begins at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. Our statewide system of 16 colleges, more than 70 campuses and more than 87,000 students is a critical component to transforming the states economy by providing citizens with the education and training needed for high growth, high wage careers. For more information, visit kctcs.edu.