Georgia College and State University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies welcomes Angie Woodham as its new director of the unit of Continuing and Professional Education.
“I am so excited to have Angie on board,” said Angela Criscoe, interim executive director of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. “She has years of program and curriculum development experience that will guide Continuing and Professional Education’s team in creating innovative and collaborative programs.”
While growing up in Florida, Woodham always had the goal of entering a people-related career. As a child, she aspired to be a teacher, which led her to become a first-generation college student in her family and major in sociology at the University of Florida. Later, she would go on to receive her Master of Science, Higher Education–Student Affairs from Florida State University.
“I had no experience or someone who could guide me on what college was and I had no idea what I was doing academically,” said Woodham. “It took several failed attempts at chemistry and statistics to learn that I don’t have a quantitative brain and that people are sort of where my specialty is.”
She initially worked full time in student housing at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and in the same role at the University of Florida before moving to work at the student union there. After two years with the student union, Woodham was offered an administrative position at the university’s College of Business. This began her work in student affairs that eventually would evolve into running the Doctor of Business Administration Program at the University of Florida.
“In 2004, I started doing the academic side of Student Affairs and really fell in love with it. So, for the last 18 years I worked in the College of Business at the University of Florida and the last eight, I started and ran a doctorate program for people that work full time,” said Woodham.
While Woodham loved her position at the University of Florida, her family decided it was time to move closer to family roots in Georgia. Moving to Monticello, Woodham looked for university positions that offered a reasonable drive time to her new home. The director position for the Continuing and Professional Education unit stuck out to her due to its similarities to her previous job.
“This is the first job that I saw that I was genuinely interested in because it seems like a really cool extension of what I have been doing. Plus, it’s sort of a larger market than what I did in the doctorate or business programs, that were more niche,” said Woodham. “This position allows me to sort of put my skills to use in a population that is much larger.”
The unit of Continuing and Professional Education serves approximately 12,000 members of the community annually through more than 800 noncredit course offerings and other community events such as summer camps, professional development classes and more. The unit is built around improving the community and helping people extend their knowledge over a wide range of subjects. So, for Woodham, it was a perfect fit for her skills and expertise.
“Our current initiative is to develop partnerships with employers who want to recruit, develop, and retain their employees through our affordable, accessible and accelerated workforce development programs,” said Criscoe, “We will even customize programs, and this is where Angie will thrive.”
Based on her previous jobs, Woodham has built an extensive skill set to work in people-related fields. She feels her skills of multitasking, networking, drawing connections and facilitating education will be key to directing and improving Continuing and Professional Education.
“Some personal goals I have to begin with are figuring out the nomenclature here, establishing relationships as a supervisor, and then as a team,” said Woodham. “Professional goals are to improve community involvement by continuing to work on workforce development and our community outreach. Also, the university has a lot of interest in developing online graduate certificate programs, so I will be focusing on that as well.”
Woodham expressed excitement at being a part of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, though she admits adjusting has been difficult. Georgia College & State University is smaller than her previous university and she is still learning about the campus and surrounding Milledgeville community.
“When I had the opportunity to do the interview, I was so excited, and I came to Milledgeville a day early to walk around. It just feels like home here,” said Woodham.
Woodham has been slowly exploring the campus and downtown areas of Milledgeville near Georgia College. She hopes to be able to venture farther out around the county soon to learn more about the community. Community insight will help her make decisions for Continuing and Professional Education.
“Milledgeville is a very quaint little community with lots of opportunities. So, I’m really excited to see what we can do here.” said Woodham.
According to Criscoe, Woodham has worked over the last month on daily activities of Kids’ U and Athletic summer camps. Soon, Woodham will be learning about and working toward starting the Road Scholar programs, planned for September. She also will bring many new opportunities to the community and staff are ecstatic to have her on the team, Criscoe added.
“I’m looking forward to working with Angie as we explore and develop innovative programs in Continuing and Professional Education that will serve individuals, businesses, and communities looking for professional development, workforce training, enrichment activities, and children’s programs,” said Criscoe. “I am beyond excited to have her on board.”