Glenn DuBois, the chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges, announced that Dr. Shannon L. Kennedy, currently of Shelby, N.C., has been hired to become the next president of Rappahannock Community College.
The announcement caps off a national search that attracted 70 applicants.
“Shannon has more than two decades of higher education experience with a heavy emphasis in academic affairs and workforce development training,” said DuBois. “She also offers years of experience as a college’s chief financial officer, finding ways to ensure the college operates efficiently and prioritizes resources toward serving students. We are grateful to add Shannon, and her family, to RCC and the VCCS.”
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Shannon Kennedy to Rappahannock Community College and the communities and families that it serves,” said Ellen Matthews Davis, chair of the Rappahannock Community College local board. “Her wide-ranging experience and deep background in community colleges will serve us well. We look forward to many years of growth and success with Dr. Kennedy.”
Kennedy has nearly 25 years of higher education experience and is a former television journalist.
She began her career at Gardner-Webb University, in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, in 1996 as a public relations assistant. She later worked at the college as an adjunct English professor and director of Foundation and Corporate Relations.
In 2000, Kennedy moved to Cleveland Community College, in Shelby, North Carolina to become the director of public relations and grants development. There, Kennedy has been promoted several times to positions including associate dean, dean, executive vice president of Instruction and Student Development, and to executive vice president – the position in which she currently works.
Further, she has served as an on-site reaffirmation committee member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC) for eight institutions over the past seven years. Kennedy earned a bachelor’s degree from Millersville University in Pennsylvania; a master’s degree from Appalachian State University; and a doctorate from North Carolina State University.
“I’m very honored and excited to work with the great faculty and staff at Rappahannock Community College,” said Kennedy. “RCC is respected throughout the service area and provides incredible opportunities for Virginians in the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck. The area is absolutely beautiful and my family and I are looking forward to relocating.”
Kennedy will succeed Dr. Sissy Crowther, the college’s third president, who announced last fall that she is retiring at the end of June 2019, after serving in that role for more than 15 years. Kennedy will assume RCC’s presidency at the beginning of July.
Rappahannock Community College has six distinct centers of learning, including two campuses, to serve the students in its service area, which includes the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck regions of Virginia. For more information, please visithttps://www.rappahannock.edu.
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