SKYCTC welcomes new president, Dr. Michelle Trawick, with reception

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – It’s a new era for SKYCTC, as they welcome a new president and CEO, Dr. Michelle Trawick, to the college.

“She brings a wealth of experience in higher education and we felt like she was the best out of several qualified candidates… so we’re tickled to death that she accepted the position,” SKYCTC board member Tim Edelen says.

She’s already got a plan for SKYCTC’s future, and is excited for the opportunity to take charge.

“I see it as a great opportunity for someone in higher ed to really work for workforce solutions in the community and create programming and training that helps people get up, get a leg up in life, where are they going next?,” Dr. Trawick says.

She hopes to help learners get opportunities out in the workforce, while helping the team developing them as well as the economic impact in the region.

“It is something I’ve always been passionate about, and what better place to do it than at an institution with such history for creating opportunities? So it’s just a perfectly aligned slot for me,” Dr. Trawick says.

She later added that impact is not just working with individual students who may be recent high school graduates, but working with those who have experience already.

“It’s also working with those individuals who’ve maybe been in a career for 10, 15 years… they’re just not feeling it anymore, or their job has changed because of AI or robotics. Well, how can we hep to retrain them and give them a capacity for growth? The higher ed institution of the future has to focus beyond the traditional learner, beyond the 18 year old. You have to include them, but you’ve got to focus beyond,” Dr. Trawick says.

The board of SKYCTC is excited to have her on as a local who can provide that growth.

“She knows the area, she’s from the area… she struck us as somebody that is very student oriented, and so we’re excited to have her and for her to hit the ground running,” Edelen says.