A woman with 15 years in the College of Applied Technology system in Tennessee will take the helm at TCAT-Jackson next month.
During its quarterly meeting Friday, the Tennessee Board of Regents appointed Dr. JacQuene Rainey as the next president of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Jackson, effective Oct.1.
Dr. Rainey, who joined the TCAT system in 2009, has been vice president of academic affairs at TCAT Northwest since 2018. At Jackson, she will succeed Heath McMillian, who was appointed president of TCAT Elizabethton in June. Dr. Jeff Sisk, executive director of TBR’s Center for Workforce Development and a former president of TCAT Jackson, has served as interim president during the search process.
She earned a Doctor of Education Leadership and Policy Analysis at East Tennessee State University, a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Leadership, both at Union University.
Dr. Rainey joined the TCAT system in 2009 as student services coordinator at the former TCAT Whiteville (now a branch of TCAT Jackson), where she served until 2017 when she was named assistant director of the TCAT Northwest’s Covington and Ripley campuses. She was promoted to vice president of Northwest the following year, helping the president lead all three campuses. In 2016-17, she also taught Administrative Office Technology courses in the systemwide online program.
She is also a graduate of the TCAT Leadership Academy, the Maxine Smith Fellows Leadership Program, and Leadership Hardeman County. Prior to her higher education career, she worked in manufacturing industries in Jackson. Her full resumé is on the search webpage at https://www.tbr.edu/hr/executivesearches/president-tcat-jackson.
The other finalist for the TCAT-Jackson president position was John Hodgson, who is currently TCAT Jackson’s vice president of workforce development and a staff member there since 2000. He earned a master of science degree in rehabilitation counseling and a bachelor of science in education, both from the University of Memphis, and is enrolled in the doctor of education in education leadership and policy analysis program at East Tennessee State University.
The Board approved the search criteria for the TCAT Jackson presidency at its June meeting. A search committee reviewed 46 applicants and selected seven for interviews on Aug. 12 before recommending the two finalists. As part of the selection process, the Board fielded public and campus community input online from Sept. 4-9.
The search committee was chaired by Regent Kyle Spurgeon and included Regents Mark George, Nisha Powers and Ross Roberts, and representatives of the TCAT faculty, staff, students, and community members.
The College System of Tennessee is the state’s largest public higher education system, with 13 community colleges, 24 colleges of applied technology and the online TN eCampus serving approximately 140,000 students. The system is governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents.