Augusta Technical College President Dr. Jermaine Whirl has been appointed to serve on the American Association of Community Colleges’ (AACC) Board of Directors. The AACC is the primary advocacy organization for the nation’s community colleges, representing more than 1,000 two-year, associate degree-granting institutions and nearly 10.3 million credit and non-credit students.

Headquartered in the National Center for Higher Education in Washington, D.C., AACC is the primary advocacy organization for community colleges at the national level and works closely with directors of state offices to inform and affect state policy. In addition, AACC collaborates with a wide range of entities within the higher education community to monitor and influence federal policy and to collaborate on common interest. AACC works with key federal departments and agencies including the U.S. departments of Labor, Education, Energy, Homeland Security, and Commerce, and the National Science Foundation.

Elected by the current AACC Board of Directors, Dr. Whirl will serve a three-year term starting July 1.

“I am deeply humbled to be selected on this prestigious board representing the voices of two-year college students and advocates nationwide,” says Dr. Whirl. “I am honored to serve alongside the nation’s top community college leaders, while representing the great State of Georgia, as we identify solutions and advocate for the resources our sector needs to better support its students and the American economy.”

An Aspen Fellow, Dr. Whirl's appointment follows several recent recognitions. In the last year alone he’s been awarded the Paragon Award for new presidents from Phi Theta Kappa, Man of the Year award from the Success Team Non-Profit Organization, Soul Awakening Award of Excellence from Perry Broadcasting of Augusta, been inducted in the second annual GA Titan 100 class, and was an inaugural member of the Georgia Trend 500 most influential leaders in Georgia.

In his two and a half years as president he’s completed a full rebrand of the institution, implemented a new five-year strategic plan, established 6 new academic schools, established a new School of Health Sciences Campus at Summerville in partnership with Piedmont Augusta (the first and only two-year healthcare school operating in a hospital), became the first institution of higher education in Augusta to be selected an Amazon Choice Partner, established the Augusta Advantage Transfer Program with Augusta University, established an automotive training facility (65,000 square feet - the largest automotive training facility in Georgia), secured $45.5m in state funding to build a new 81,000 square feet advanced manufacturing & engineering technology training center in the region, established a $2.3 million incubator/microenterprise center in partnership with the Downtown Development Authority of Augusta, obtained the college’s first ever million dollar gift, helped to recruit the largest freshmen class in the past three years, and most recently partnered with Augusta National Golf Course (Master’s Tournament) and First Tee of Augusta to revitalize the Augusta Municipal Golf Course to establish the nation’s first corridor of golf education in partnership with the City of Augusta.

He’s a graduate of the Executive Leadership Augusta Forum, Leadership Columbia County, Furman University’s Diversity Leadership Institute (DLI), the SC Economic Development Institute, Leadership Greenville Class 44, and Leadership Gwinnett Class of 2016. Dr. Whirl serves on regional and national boards, taskforces, and councils for organizations such as TD Bank, HERDI, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Queensborough National Bank, the Warrior Alliance, and the American Association of Community Colleges. Within the CSRA he serves on the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce Board, United Way of the CSRA Board, CSRA Regional Commission, and the CSRA Alliance for Fort Gordon. He also holds an honorary board membership with the Morris Museum of Art and is a member of the Rotary Club of Augusta.