A Half Dozen African Americans in New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Sonja A. Bennett was appointed vice president for external affairs and communications at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. She was assistant vice president of communications and marketing at Claflin University, also in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

Earlier in her career, Bennett was assistant vice president of marketing and communications at St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina and held many positions in television news.

Tracie Hunter was appointed director of financial aid at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. She was the assistant vice president of enrollment and director of financial aid at Marymount College in Ranchos Palos Verdes, California.

Hunter is a graduate of Occidental College in California and holds a master’s degree in public administration from California State University, Fullerton.

Kimberly Conway Dumpson was promoted to executive vice president at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. She was the vice president for institutional advancement. She has been an administrator at the university since 2005.

Dumpson is a graduate of Towson State University in Maryland and the College of Law at Ohio Northern University.

Floyd H. Hardin III is the new manager of outreach and inclusion in the Office of Admissions at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of Michigan State University. He was minority male initiative district coordinator for the Maricopa County Community College District in Tempe, Arizona.

Hardin is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta. He holds a master’s degrees in educational psychology from Arizona State University and is currently working on a doctorate Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

Ferlin G. McGaskey was hired as assistant director of the Tennessee Teaching and Learning Center at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He co-designed the center’s graduate teaching certificate program and has been serving as director of that program.

Dr. McGaskey holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Tennessee.

Joshua C. Woodfork was named executive director of the Office of the President at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. From 2003 to 2010 he was an assistant professor in the American studies department at Skidmore. From 2010 to the present time, he was an assistant professor of American studies at American University in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Woodfork is a graduate of Colby College in Maine, where he was president of the student body. He holds a master’s degree from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in American studies from the University of Maryland.