Southwest Tennessee Community College hires new Associate Vice President of Strategic Marketing and Communications

For more information, contact: Diana Fedinec, Director of Public Relations and Media at (901) 333-4247 or dfedinec@southwest.tn.edu

Jeremy Shirley, Associate Vice President of Strategic
Marketing and Communications

(Memphis, Tenn.) - Southwest Tennessee Community College has hired Jeremy Shirley as the college’s new Associate Vice President of Strategic Marketing and Communications effective April 17, 2023. In his new role, Shirley will lead the department of marketing and communications and oversee its functions to include brand management, marketing, public relations, communications and social media.

“I am excited to have Jeremy join the Southwest family in spearheading our marketing efforts to promote the college,” Southwest president Tracy D. Hall said. “Jeremy’s expertise, experience and track record of success set him apart among other applicants in a competitive search to fill his position.”

Shirley first developed a passion for television as a camera operator for his hometown church in North Little Rock, Arkansas and later as camera operator for KATV (ABC Affiliate) in Little Rock. He honed his broadcasting and communication skills while a student at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas where he worked full-time at KAIT (ABC Affiliate) in Jonesboro, Arkansas, eventually becoming a newscast director for the 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. newscasts. After graduating with a degree from ASU in Radio and Television, Shirley returned to Little Rock to work for KTHV (CBS Affiliate) as an operations technician, followed by stints as a video editor at Marketing Solutions, project manager & interactive developer at Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods advertising agency and editor at Arcom Productions. In 2004, Shirley returned to KAIT as the director of marketing.

As a member of the leadership team at KAIT, Shirley managed a team of commercial producers to create television ads for clients and promotional ads for the station. His focus on team training and development increased the station’s production revenue by 49% and his commercial producer training system became the corporation’s standard model to use for training in marketing.

After ten years at KAIT, winning multiple state-wide and national awards along the way, Shirley began his career in higher education in 2014 at Arkansas State University-Newport, a community college in the Arkansas State University System. He was hired as the college’s first director of marketing and subsequently became the executive director of marketing and communications. While at ASU-Newport, Shirley created the college’s first marketing department and implemented changes that increased specific program enrollment by 300% and overall institutional enrollment by 5% in his first two years. He won the institution's first national gold Paragon award in his first year and acquired several Medallion awards in his eight years at the institution.

“It’s truly an honor to join the team at Southwest! This community college is here to help students while making a difference in the communities we serve, and I’m excited to share the amazing stories of success from the institution. The faculty and staff at Southwest are a talented group of professionals, and I look forward to working with them to showcase the great things happening at Southwest,” Shirley said.