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Vice President for Student Affairs Jacqueline Faulkner steps down

Jacqueline FaulknerWhen Jacqueline Faulkner says farewell after five years as Southwest’s Vice President for Student Affairs Nov. 16, it will be a bittersweet ending to an era in Southwest student affairs that has been marked by significant growth and transformation. 

Faulkner was the first vice president Southwest President Tracy D. Hall hired.  She says Faulkner has been her ‘left hand’. “I affectionately call Jacque that because I am left-handed and from the day she arrived, Jacque has been right there beside me on this journey to transform the student experience,” Hall said.  “Her support, expertise, talent and drive have been transformative and indispensable. I am losing a phenomenal administrator and brilliant leader.”

Faulkner’s brilliance was on display during her service as co-chair of Southwest’s Achieving the Dream committee that steered the College to increase enrollment by 10 percent and triple its graduation rate in just a few years, a feat rarely seen, if ever. Achievement gaps closed and social and mental health services expanded. On the enrollment front, Faulkner’s impact has been immense. Thanks to her K-12 relationship-building efforts, dual enrollment tripled from 339 students in 2016 to more than a thousand this semester. She engineered this and other impressive transformations by reorganizing the Student Affairs division, one of the college’s largest. Under her leadership, services were streamlined and processes automated. She coached existing team members and attracted passionate education administrators to join her. The result:  the division has evolved into a student-focused, success-driven community. 

Faulkner also has presided over commencement ceremonies, ensuring students enjoy a memorable celebration of their achievements. Even during the pandemic, she worked to bring star quality to the first-ever virtual commencement with well wishes from such celebrities as former NBA star Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway and Kron Moore from Tyler Perry’s The Oval. She then presided over the College’s first outdoor commencement earlier this year that enabled graduates and their families to safely celebrate in person. 

Faulkner’s accomplishments are too innumerable to list and her impact impossible to measure. “Jacque’s leadership has helped Southwest transform the student experience—from enrollment to graduation,” President Hall said.  “She will be a tough act to follow and sorely missed.” 

Faulkner will join a higher education consulting firm. However, she says she is forever a Saluqi. “My heart will always be with Southwest,” she said. “I have very much enjoyed being a part of this meaningful, transformational work with the organization, our gifted students and my talented colleagues.”

Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Shanita Brown will serve as interim vice president for Student Affairs while the College searches for Faulkner’s replacement.