 Dr.
Jerome Ratchford is Vice President for Student Success at
Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. Prior to
this position, Dr. Ratchford was Interim Dean of Student
Success and Director of Student Development. Dr. Ratchford
has also held academic and administrative positions
at Talladega College, Emory University and Lincoln
University (Missouri). Academically, Dr. Ratchford taught
graduate-level educational leadership and curriculum
development courses to aspiring principals and career
teachers, and a graduate level course on how to work
effectively with students who are culturally different to
college student personnel professionals. Dr. Ratchford has
had administrative oversight or provided leadership to a
number of units to include: Graduate Educational Programs,
Department of Education, Lincoln University; Equal
Opportunity Program, Emory University; Grants and Contracts,
Title III Program, Talladega College; Career Counseling and
Placement Services, Student Activities and the Thirteen
College Curriculum Program at Talladega College; and
Counseling Supervision at Atterbury Job Corps Center. He is
an accomplished grants writer having written and received a
grant for over $900,000 from the U.S. Department of
Education for the Title III Program at Talladega College,
Talladega Alabama. Dr. Ratchford received a B.A. in
Education from the University of Kentucky in History and
Political Science, a M.S. in Counseling and Guidance from
Indiana University and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership in
Higher Education from Bowling Green State University (OH).
Dr. Ratchford has served
on innumerable academic and task-oriented committees while
at Kennesaw State University. Some notable involvements
include: Study Team Member, AASCU Hispanic Student Success
Study; Task Force on the Foundations of Excellence in the
First Year of College; Task Force for a Masters in Public
Administration (MPA) Concentration in Student Services;
Coordinating Committee, SACS Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP);
Chancellor’s Task Force on Pre-College Programs for Youth in
At-Risk Situations (PREP); and a member of the Steering
Committee for the NCAA Division I Self-Study Certification.
Dr. Ratchford has
frequently been asked to serve as a presenter, keynote
speaker, panelist, workshop facilitator and researcher. More
recently, under former president Betty L. Siegel’s “Dialogue
on Diversity Series,” Dr. Ratchford developed a report on
the status and goal of diversity at Kennesaw State
University as discerned by diverse, homogenous groups of
students. Additionally, he was a co-presenter at the
national People of Color Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska;
keynote speaker, African American Student Alliance (AASA)
10th Year Anniversary; graduation speaker, Marietta High
School Summer Graduation; and keynote speaker, WINGS
Ceremony, Adult Learner Programs. Dr. Ratchford’s
credentials are listed in the National Directory of
Secondary School Administrators 14th Edition and his
dissertation “A Study of Differences in Role Expectations
for Minority Administrators at Predominately White
Institutions (1979)” is listed in Abstracts of Thesis and
Dissertations, 24, 39.
The Dr. Jerome Ratchford
Award of Excellence was established by the Executive Board
of the African American Student Alliance (AASA) and its
membership approximately thirteen years ago. Dr. Ratchford,
the founder of AASA, was recognized for his leadership and
service in promoting pluralism and an Afrocentric presence
on Kennesaw State University’s campus.
Among his many
accomplishments, Dr. Ratchford was instrumental in bringing
Greek-letter and other premier organizations on campus;
obtaining line-item status (a budget) and office space for
AASA; diversifying the student representation on the
university’s student activities fee allocation committee (SABAC);
fostering the Black Alumni Society and the Human Relations
Council; founding the Cultural Awareness and Resource Center
(CARC); obtaining stipends for AASA executives; removing
obstacles that generally stymied the qualify of life for
Black faculty, staff and students on KSU’s campus; and, in
helping expand the growth in Black enrollment from 231
students in 1987 to 1,772 in 2002 (667% growth), etc. The
Dr. Jerome Ratchford Award of Excellence is bestowed on a
faculty, staff or student honoree who has exhibited
behaviors at KSU that equate with the legacy briefly
described above.
Dr Ratchford received
Kennesaw State University’s Administrative Service Award in
recognition of administrators who go “above and beyond the
call of duty, providing invaluable service to the campus
community; ” the prestigious Betty L. Siegel Award, named in
honor of the nationally recognized former President, Betty
L. Siegel. This award “seeks to recognize an individual who
exemplifies outstanding qualities of scholarship, leadership
and service to the Kennesaw State University community.” He
has also received a number of other awards which include but
are not limited to the following: Administrator of the Year,
CEEP/Cobb NAACP; Education Award, Cobb NAACP Freedom Fund
Banquet; Certificate of Honor for Meritorious Service,
Golden Key International Honour Society’s Regional
Conference; Ford Fellowship for Black Administrative
Officers; and, Graduate Fellowship, Department of
Educational Administration and Supervision, Bowling Green
State University.
Dr. Ratchford holds the
following lifetime certificates as issued by the Missouri
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Teaching
(Social Studies, 7-12); School Psychological Examiner
(K-12); Secondary Principal; and Superintendent. His
memberships include Georgia College Personnel Association,
American College Personnel Association, International
Mentoring Association, National Association of School
Personnel Administrators, and the NAACP. |
