Growth and graduation are two main themes that characterized Dr. Cheryl Davenport Dozier’s eight-year tenure as president of Savannah State University.
From academics and co-curriculars to finances and capital improvements, every enhancement at the historically Black university (HBCU) ultimately was about helping more students attend and complete college.
“Students are first in everything I have accomplished in my years in higher education,” says Dozier, whose final day is June 30. “Helping students enter and leave with a degree has really been the highlight of my career at Savannah State.”
The vision of “matriculation to graduation” had buy-in from every constituency in the campus community, says Dozier, which fueled its success in achieving record enrollment and increasing graduation rates.
Before arriving at SSU, Dozier worked for 17 years at the University of Georgia, where her roles included associate provost and chief diversity officer, social work professor and assistant vice president for academic affairs at the Gwinnett University Center. The noted researcher and professor also directed the Ghana Interdisciplinary Study Abroad Program for more than a decade as an African Studies faculty member.
When Dozier arrived at SSU in 2011, the university’s endowment was below $4 million, which wasn’t unusual for an HBCU. She led the institution into its first major capital initiative, the “Transformation and Growth” campaign, which was launched during the school’s 125th anniversary and has raised upwards of $8 million.
Appreciating the importance of finances to student success, she established a Closing the Gap Fund her first year that has helped more than 150 students pay for their final semester. Later, she created a board of visitors that awards four-year scholarships primarily to students from the vicinity.
