Vance-Granville Community College President Joins NC New Schools Board of Directors

Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of Vance-Granville Community College, has been named to the board of directors of North Carolina New Schools , a professional services agency focused on developing high-performing schools and districts across the state. 

 

Williams became the sixth president of Vance-Granville Community College in 2012. She came to VGCC after several years at Central Carolina Community College in Sanford, where she began her career as an instructor and served most recently as vice president for economic and community development.

 

At VGCC, Williams is leading a transformation of the institution through a strategic plan called the “Vanguard Vision” (2014-2019), which has already supported new academic programs and new partnerships. Under her leadership, the college has received over $3 million in grant funds to support new initiatives, including a collaborative effort with the four county school systems to promote advanced manufacturing training, as well as the largest competitive grant received in the college’s history: a $1.7 million TAACCCT grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

 

Williams earned bachelor’s degrees in public policy and Spanish at Duke University and a master’s degree in project management from Western Carolina University. She completed her doctorate in adult and higher education from N.C. State University.

 

VGCC is an active partner with NC New Schools, with the school districts in all four counties served by the college hosting an early college high school: Vance County Early College , Granville Early College , Franklin County Early College and Warren Early College . NC New Schools leads the state’s strong early college high school initiative, which accounts for about a third of all the innovative hybrid-model schools nationwide. VGCC has more early college partnerships than any other community college in North Carolina.

 

Joining the North Carolina New Schools board along with Williams is John M. Kane, chairman and CEO of Raleigh-based Kane Realty Corporation. Williams and Kane are filling vacant seats on the 15-member board, which is led by Chairman Bob Greczyn, CEO Emeritus of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

 

North Carolina New Schools is a public-private partnership working to ensure that every North Carolina student graduates ready for college, careers and life. Since 2003, the organization has partnered with school districts, higher education, businesses and communities in every region of the state to ensure that all students graduate with the skills to lead productive lives.