Atlanta– The state board that oversees the Department of Technical and Adult Education has approved the selection of Statesboro resident Dr. Dawn Cartee as the next president of Ogeechee Technical College, effective January 1. 

The board voted their approval today during their monthly meeting in Atlanta. 

Cartee is returning to the college where she began her technical education career in 1991 as a marketing instructor and public relations officer.  She also served as Ogeechee’s admissions director, registrar and vice president for student services. 

She left the Ogeechee Tech in 1999 when she was promoted to her current job as vice president for academic affairs at Southeastern Technical College in Vidalia.

“Dawn Cartee possesses the kind of energetic, visionary leadership that will have a lot of folks excited about Ogeechee Tech,” said DTAE Interim Commissioner Ron Jackson.   “She has roots in the Statesboro community, she knows the college well, and she’s extremely focused on doing what’s best for the students, faculty and staff.  She’ll be a dynamic addition to this great college.”

Cartee was selected after an interview process that began last July with the retirement of former Ogeechee president Gene Waters and the naming of the eight-member president search committee led by Tommy David, the chair of the Ogeechee Tech Board of Directors and president and CEO of First Southern National Bank in Statesboro.  In November, the committee referred their top candidates to interviews with DTAE Interim Commissioner Ron Jackson, who then recommended Cartee to the DTAE board.

 “We’re most thankful to Tommy David and the entire committee for their time, effort and careful attention to this selection process,” said Jackson.  “They interviewed many qualified candidates and played a critical role in helping us to select the right leader for Ogeechee.”

Cartee received her doctorate in Educational Administration from Georgia Southern University in 2005.  She also has an Education Specialist, Master’s of Education and Bachelor of Business Administration, all from Georgia Southern.

One of her first steps after becoming president, says Cartee, will be one-on-one meetings with all of the Ogeechee Tech stakeholders. “I plan on meeting with the staff and faculty, students, college board members, and others from the community.  I want to know how they each feel as a member of the Ogeechee family and what they perceive as the college’s strengths and weaknesses,” she said.  “We can chart an impressive course for the future of Ogeechee Tech by working as one, exploring opportunity, and creating success.”

Cartee is the recipient of a number of awards and recognitions, including being named one of Georgia Trend magazine’s rising young executives in their annual “40 under 40” for 2005.  She’s a graduate of the 2003 class of Leadership Bulloch, the 2004 class of Leadership Southeast Georgia and has been accepted to the 2007 class of Leadership Georgia.  She also has the distinction of being one of only 40 international participants invited to join the 2003 Oxford Round Table at St. Antony’s College, which is part of the University of Oxford in England.

Dr. Randall Peters will remain as Ogeechee’s interim president through December, and then he’ll
return to his regular role as president of Heart of Georgia Technical College in Dublin.

About Ogeechee Technical College and DTAE

Ogeechee Tech serves Bulloch, Evans and Screven counties. In addition to the Statesboro campus, the college also operates learning centers in Sylvania and Claxton and a commercial truck driving center in Hagan.  A total of 3,429 students were enrolled in certificate, diploma, and degree classes during the college’s 2006 fiscal year.