By Maggie Blackwell

For the Salisbury Post

SALISBURY — Janet Spriggs, a longtime administrator at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, will become the next president of Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, effective in January.

The Forsyth Tech board of Trustees made the announcement last Wednesday.

Spriggs has been chief operating officer at RCCC. She has a total of 22 years of experience in the N.C. Community College System.

Her education includes a bachelor’s degree in computer technology from Roger Williams University; a master’s in computing technology from Nova Southeastern University; and a doctorate in education administration from Northeastern University.

“This is an amazing opportunity,” Spriggs said. “I’m very grateful the Forsyth Tech board has entrusted me with this position, and I look forward to continuing the work of the school. I’m passionate about community colleges and excited to continue this work.”

“Forsyth had an excellent process and put forth a great effort to find the best fit for right now,” Spriggs continued. “I shared with them that I’m passionate about community colleges in North Carolina, particularly passionate about equity of success.”

Outside the education environment, equity can mean many things, Spriggs said.

“We in community colleges and higher ed in general are focusing on making sure our programs and support services we offer our students are providing the support all our students need,” she said. “That includes part-time students, full-time, all ethnicities, working students, low-income, first-generation. We must make sure our systems are fair and equitable and we are advancing success for every student.”

Spriggs said her first job is to listen.

“I want to get to know internal staff and faculty and immerse myself in the community, the governmental officials and the business leaders to understand what the next partnerships are for the college,” she said. “My first step is to develop a transition plan to identify the people and partnerships I need to build on.”

Spriggs was selected as one of 40 educators to participate in the Aspen Institute Fellowship this year.

“I was thrilled to be selected among the 40 for this program, which is in its third year. It’s designed to build leadership capacity in community colleges,” she said. “There are an awful lot of community college presidents retiring in the next five years.

“The fellowship is a yearlong program designed to provide leadership development to senior leaders to be ready to advance to the presidency. It’s based on basic principles on how we advance learning and how we advance equity, so we can be sure our students graduate and earn sustainable incomes for their families.”

Spriggs replaces retiring Forsyth Tech President Gary Green, who served in that role for 17 years.