Leading the Way

GSW Grads Making a Mark on Technical Education in Georgia

By Stephen Snyder

Colleges and universities are shameless in touting their famous alums and alumni “leaders.” Georgia Southwestern is no different, in every opportunity sharing that a U.S. president attended and a former first lady and U.S. attorney general earned degrees here.

While incredibly famous, these individuals are by no means the only Southwestern grads who have made a name for themselves. Case in point, prior to May 2012, five schools within the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) had presidents who graduated from Georgia Southwestern: Sparky Reeves, Gail Thaxton, Michael Moye, Kathy Love, and Tina Anderson.

Sparky Reeves (’71)

The late Dr. William B. King, GSW president from 1963-1978, had a profound impact on South Georgia Technical College President Sparky Reeves.

“I was a student when Dr. King was president,” said Reeves. “And I was always impressed with how he walked the campus and met students and talked with them. As I moved into the education arena years later, I still remember the impact that had on me.”

Reeves’ tenure at South Georgia Tech began in 1973, a few years after he graduated from Georgia Southwestern, after working in sales. Starting as an instructor in accounting, business and business psychology, Reeves worked his way up in progressively responsible roles, first as an instructor supervisor in 1978, then as vice president of Economic Development Services in 1987. Reeves was named president in 2004 and serves as the school’s leader today. He makes every effort to emulate Dr. William B. King to this day.

“The relationship that I developed with him at GSW, I incorporate here at South Georgia Tech,” said Reeves. “I try to make a connection with students and talk with them to make sure I know what’s taking place on campus and how they perceive what’s happening here. That’s an important aspect of why we are successful today. We never lose sight of our reason for being here.”

Success has not been a stranger to South Georgia Technical College with Reeves at the helm. From 2005 to 2011 South Georgia Tech had seven straight years of record enrollment, more than doubling the number of students enrolled in 2000. He attributes that success, in large part, to his outstanding faculty and staff. “We are making progress and we are sharing that progress through coordinated media efforts,” he added.

“If you don’t let people know what you are doing and who you are, they are never going to know,” he said. “As we review our strategies for the week, every senior staff member talks about what’s taking place within their division. We call them ‘media moments.’ Everywhere there is a media moment or accomplishment, we make sure to share that with the community and within our organization.”

In terms of great “moments” during his life as a student at Georgia Southwestern, Reeves said that the most important would have to be “meeting an attractive college co-ed by the name of Allene Camp from LaGrange.” She has been Allene Reeves for the last 42 years.

“There were probably hundreds of great memories, but meeting Allene was the best,” he said. “What a great time to be in college – the late ‘60s. It was the best of times.

“The diversity that was in place during that time was just amazing; kids were from all over the region, the state, the southeast and the country,” he added. “We made our own fun…good clean fun. I could not have had a better experience.”

Sparky Reeves (’71)

Gail Thaxton (’72)

You could say that Dr. Gail Thaxton is a “legacy” at GSW. “My mom and dad met at Georgia Southwestern,’ said Thaxton. Her parents were GSW students in the late ‘40s. “They met in the ‘campus store’ as students, and my brother and sister graduated from here. It’s been part of our family for a long time.”

“I was married while I was a student, so I never was involved in student life activities. I ate a lot of hamburgers at the student snack bar,” she joked remembering days at Southwestern. “I had the best instructors in statistics, in health science classes and psychology – really outstanding professors. They made things so interesting and so relevant. Sometimes I had the same instructor multiple times. I felt like part of a community.”

According to Thaxton, she has been in education her entire career but not always in the same category. “I never really used my behavioral science degree. I worked as a teacher in special education for a number of years but very soon realized that I loved the administration part of the work.”

Realizing additional degrees in administration would be necessary, Thaxton earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Georgia and specialist and doctorate degrees in education from Valdosta State University.

From 1986 to 1992, she worked for the Terrell County Board of Education, and from 1992 to 2000, she was an assistant superintendent for the Grady County school system. This is when she made a significant career move, one that would put her on track for technical college presidency.

In 2000, she was named vice president of instruction at Albany Technical College; she was hired as president of Okefenokee Technical College (OTC) in 2005, and she was named North Georgia Technical College president in 2012. Thaxton’s modus operandi as a leader has kept her grounded.

“I never forget we are in the people business,” she said. “I know that in technical education we are selling jobs, but at the end of the day, it’s about people. That’s why I enjoyed Georgia Southwestern so much. It was personal; the people made it as special as it was.”

She still keeps it personal. At OTC she developed a culture of philanthropy that hadn’t existed previously by organizing the school’s first donor recognition activities and becoming more engaged with the region. Arguably the most impressive accomplishment for the school under her leadership was its CoC (Committee on Colleges) accreditation in 2009 – a three-year process.

Gail Thaxton (’72)

Michael Moye (’75)

“Things really began at Georgia Southwestern,” said Dr. Michael Moye, retired president of Central Georgia Technical College. “When I was in my senior year, one of my marketing professors told me about a marketing education job at Americus High School, for which I applied and was subsequently chosen.”

Moye credits this job – his first one out of college – for setting the table on his successful career in technical education. When he retired as president of Central Georgia Technical College in 2012, he was the most senior president within the Technical College System of Georgia. He served as president at three different schools – Moultrie Technical College, Lanier Technical College and Central Georgia Tech –within the system from 1994 to 2012. He started his career in the TCSG in 1985 as the vice president of instructional and student services at West Georgia Technical College in Carrolton.

After earning his Bachelor of Business Administration from Georgia Southwestern, Dr. Moye went on to acquire his master’s and doctorate degree from the University of Georgia. “Everything began at Southwestern,” he reiterated, paying particular respect to his time in the University’s Greek system as a member of the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity.

“The Greek life during my time at Georgia Southwestern was a very positive influence on me from the aspect of social development,” he said. “People think of fraternities and sororities as a place to go for parties. They don’t really look at the other benefits that a fraternity (or sorority) offers, like social and leadership development and the ability and opportunity to get involved with service projects. I met a lot of great people, too.” One of Moye’s fraternity brothers was Sparky Reeves, president at South Georgia Technical College.

As a leader, Moye operated on the “golden rule” philosophy. “That’s basically been my philosophy throughout my career,” he said. “Always keep students number one and treat people the way that I would want them to treat me. I provided every employee at Central Georgia Tech with a three-page document that outlined my operating philosophy. It included the things that I expected and the things that they could look for in me.”

While Moye was president at Lanier Tech (2002-2010), enrollment climbed by 66 percent, the college added three campuses, and they added a Motorsports Vehicle Technology program for NASCAR and Formula One Racing. It was named an outstanding training program in the nation 2007.

He served as president of Central Georgia Technical College from 2010 to 2012.

Michael Moye (’75)

Kathy Love (’85)

“I was in my mid-20s when I started my college education,” said Dr. Kathy Love, Savannah Technical College president. “I was a stay-at-home mom and lived in Americus.”

Love took a road not often traveled while attending Georgia Southwestern. She was enrolled in the newly developed computer science program in the early 80s.

“It took me more than four years, and I was involved in the first co-op that IBM in Boca Raton, Florida had with Georgia Southwestern. For six months, I loaded up the kids, took my oldest out of kindergarten and went south to Florida. I think maybe eight or nine of us were in that group, and I was the only non-traditional student.”

Moving her family, as Kathy did, for only months at the time was a difficult task, but she took it in stride.

“I loaded a U-Haul trailer and drove my kids to Florida,” she said. “I had a wonderful experience there. What I did there allowed me to transition over to a job at South Georgia Tech where we developed the microcomputer specialist degree.”

Love continued her education in GSW’s MBA program while teaching at South Georgia Tech, and she was eventually promoted to vice president of Administrative Services.

“My ultimate goal was to be a technical college president,” she said. “And there is not a clear path to that position from the business office. In 1994, I had the opportunity to go to Middle Georgia Technical College in Warner Robins as the vice president of Instruction (now known as Academic Affairs).”

Just before taking the job at Middle Georgia Tech, Love finished her specialist degree in education from Columbus State University (1994). She worked at Middle Georgia Tech until 2001, when she took a job as vice president of Flint River Technical College in Thomaston (now Southern Crescent Technical College). Kathy was appointed to interim vice president after a short time there and was named permanent president in 2002.

“Thomaston Mills had just closed their doors when I arrived at Flint River Tech, and half of the people in the community lost their jobs from one day to the next,” Love said. “Fourteen hundred textile workers were unemployed, and the technical college system commissioner at that time and I tried to help put something in place to retrain those workers – to get the community back on its feet.”

Love was named president of Savannah Technical College in 2009 after serving Flint River Tech for seven years. She has accomplished her career goals by understanding leadership and how to support her staff.

“I have done a little bit of everything, which sometimes comes in handy,” she added. “In fact, we are all wearing more and more hats, especially over the last three years changing from quarters to semesters. My principal philosophy involves getting my people what they need and to help them when I can and not ask anyone to do anything I’m not willing to do myself. I think this builds a good team.”

Kathy Love (’85)

Tina Anderson (’87)

Dr. Tina Anderson is a first generation college graduate. A native of Ellaville, Georgia Southwestern was the logical choice for her, only 15 minutes south of the quiet Southwest Georgia town.

“I was the first person in my family to attend college,” she said. “I knew very early on the importance of higher education, and Georgia Southwestern was almost in my back yard.”

She credits her time in the classroom and the influence of professors for leaving an indelible mark on where she is today. “I remember the faculty, without a doubt,” she added. “Dr. Liz Wilson…she was tough, but I have never forgotten what she taught me. To this day, I can call her and ask for her advice. Dr. Jerry Rowland and Dr. John Bates were also great teachers.”

Dr. Anderson is giving advice of her own these days at Georgia Southwestern. She presently serves on the Business Advisory Council for GSW’s School of Business Administration. Made up of volunteers, this group’s mission is to guide, promote, advise and support the School of Business Administration in its efforts to serve its students, state, region, and nation.

Anderson began her career as president of Moultrie Technical College in August 2003 after serving as the vice president of Academic Affairs and vice president of Student Affairs at Middle Georgia Technical College in Warner Robins. Prior to that, she served in leadership positions at Middle Georgia College in Cochran and here at GSW in the Admissions Office. Having earned a BBA and MBA from Georgia Southwestern, Anderson attended Georgia Southern University for her doctorate in education. In 2004, she was named to Georgia Trend Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list for the “Best and Brightest Young Georgians.”

As a leader, Anderson never loses sight of the details and understands that treating employees with respect is paramount.

“People might forget what you say, but they will not forget how you made them feel about what you said. A question I often ask myself is ‘What would I want people to say about working with me?’ Hopefully, their response would be ‘I’m really glad that I had the opportunity to work with Tina Anderson.’”

More and more people are saying that very thing these days, as Moultrie Tech’s faculty and staff have grown to 250 full and part-time employees on its four campuses. Anderson’s academic team is excelling. In particular, Moultrie Tech’s surgical technology program was recently named a “Top 5” in the nation.

Tina Anderson (’87)

*During the production of this magazine, Anderson was named president of Wiregrass Georgia Technical College.