Greetings, I am Kaci Wilhite Greene. By day, I serve as the Director of Student Development Support and Engagement at Midlands Technical College.  I have worked at MTC since June 2011 in few different capacities. I have the great honor of serving as your Vice President of Member Engagement.  

I am a proud native of Augusta, GA, home of James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, and the infamous Masters Golf Tournament.  I am a graduate of John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, which only had about 550 students at the time and housed grades 5th-12th grade. I started there as a 5th grader, so, as you can imagine, a love for the fine arts was instilled in me. While we didn't burst into song during lunchtime, the halls were filled with music and lockers. I mention my time at Davidson because this is where my love for student organizations and being involved flourished.  When I was asked to summarize what I was doing career-wise at my ten-year high school reunion, I said: “I'm basically doing Student Council for life.”  My undergraduate years at Mercer University in Macon, GA were spent doing all the things, but believe it or not, I had no intentions of pursuing a career in Student Affairs. My undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Communications/Theatre Arts which may reflect that I thought I had a promising career as a lawyer ahead of me. 

Nevertheless, my internship supervisor at Goodwill Industries, the late Dr. Sandra H. Flowers, deserves the credit for helping me realize that a career in Student Affairs might be for me.  I took a position in Atlanta, GA, in residential property management, aka apartment lease management, after finishing my degree because I thought it might resemble working in Residence Life. About two years into my property management career, I received a call from Dr. Flowers asking me to interview for a Career/Transfer Counselor position in TRIO Student Support Services at Andrew College in Cuthbert, GA. She had written the grant and had decided to accept the position as the Director of the program.  I jumped at the opportunity and was ecstatic about getting the job. A year or so later, Dr. Flowers informed me that I needed a master's degree to advance in the profession. Most of my supervisors and advisors I had at Mercer had received their master's from the University of South Carolina, so I knew that's where I wanted to be.  

SACSA entered the picture my first year of graduate school at USC.  My advisor, the late Dr. E. Michael Sutton encouraged his students to get involved. I don't think it was really optional.  So, a few classmates and I jumped in a van and traveled to our first SACSA Conference being held in Louisville, KY. What I didn't know then was that I had found my professional development home. I have been nurtured and supported in this association for the last two decades. The association has been my home through positions in various functional areas, including residence life, TRIO Student Support Services, student leadership development, student conduct administration, and student activities in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina

I carry the experience of being a SACSA graduate student, a new professional, a mid-manager, and now a doctoral student.  As a doctoral candidate in the PhD Educational Administration program at the University of South Carolina, my dissertation research studies Black Women's Persistence in two-year colleges.  Two-year colleges are the unsung heroes in higher education, so I hope my commitment to the two-year college space and my research will help illuminate the jewel that is the two-year college and our students.  I attribute my desire to stay in this profession to the wonderful students that I have worked with over my career, the supervisors that have helped me grow, and my SACSA family. SACSA, you have been with me since the beginning, and I look forward to what lies ahead.  

I look forward to seeing each of you in Greenville this November!