West Virginia State University (WVSU) President Anthony L. Jenkins has been appointed to a statewide team whose mission is to increase college completion rates.
Jenkins will serve as the equity lead for the Complete College America team in West Virginia. In this role he will work to close achievement gaps by race, income, age or other fragile populations.
“At West Virginia State University we have a long history of working with students from fragile populations to complete their college educations, and have witnessed firsthand the transformative power that education has brought to their lives,” said Jenkins. “I am honored by this appointment and look forward to working with the team and my fellow Presidents to ensure that more West Virginians complete their college education.”
The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC) and the West Virginia Community and Technical College System (CTCS) have worked with Complete College America to improve student success rates.
“Strengthening West Virginia’s economy is dependent on ensuring that more West Virginia students have the opportunity to go to college and succeed,” said HEPC Chancellor Dr. Paul Hill. “President Jenkins serves as a passionate advocate for that mission and is working to develop innovative solutions to help close achievement gaps among our state’s underserved populations. I am delighted that he has accepted this leadership role and is willing to share his vision, energy and expertise to support our statewide policy efforts to boost college completion rates and expand educational opportunities for all West Virginians.”
Other members of the Complete College America team in West Virginia are:
- State liaison/state lead: Matt Turner, Executive Vice Chancellor for Administration, HEPC/CTCS;
- Implementation lead, two-year sector: Dr. Casey Sacks, Vice Chancellor, CTCS;
- Implementation lead, four-year sector: Dr. Corley Dennison, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, HEPC/CTCS;
- Metrics, Evidence, Results lead: Dr. Chris Treadway, Interim Director of Research and Analysis HEPC/CTCS;
- Policy and Legislation lead: Alyssa Keedy, Policy Analyst, Office of Gov. Jim Justice;
- Communications lead: Jessica Kennedy, Senior Director of Communications, HEPC.
Established in 2009, Complete College America is a national nonprofit organization that works with states to significantly increase the number of Americans with quality career certificates or college degrees and to close attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented populations. For more information, visit www.completecollege.org.
