Kimberly Ballard-Washington named new Savannah State University president

AP | The leaders of the University System of Georgia earlier this month, named Kimberly Ballard-Washington, who had been the interim president of Savannah State University, as the school’s permanent leader.

Ballard-Washington takes over the state’s oldest historically Black public college, but one that has struggled with falling enrollment and state funding. When applying for the job, she promised to reverse those trends by making sure fewer students drop out and by raising more private money.

“Kimberly has already made strong connections on campus and in the Savannah community, and I am confident she will maintain that momentum and advance SSU’s ultimate mission of helping more students attain their college degree,” Chancellor Steve Wrigley said in a statement.

Ballard-Washington was chosen as the sole finalist to lead the 3,500-student school from among 66 initial applicants, according to data released by the Board of Regents to The Associated Press.

The lawyer has been the interim leader of Savannah State since Cheryl Dozier retired in June 2019.

Ballard-Washington was previously the associate vice chancellor for legal affairs with the University System of Georgia, and had been interim president at Georgia’s 2 other historically Black public institutions, Fort Valley State University and Albany State University. She has worked for nearly 20 years in the system.

In a February application letter, Ballard-Washington wrote that she would continue with strategic planning, would work to broaden academic offerings and help students enter professional schools upon graduation. She also vowed to seek outside money to offset declining state funding tied to enrollment declines. She said she would restart Savannah State’s capital campaign aiming for a big boost over its initial goal of US$20 million.

“The institution’s funding can and will be stabilized by increasing the university’s endowment,” Ballard-Washington wrote.

She said her goal was to try to stabilize the university’s enrollment by focusing on retaining freshmen into their sophomore year, saying too many were dropping out.
Ballard-Washington said she would recruit new students with better grades, implement a summer program aimed at incoming students, create closer links between new students and faculty, and keep working on a way for students who fail a class to promptly retake it. She also said she would improve financial aid and other student services.

When Ballard-Washington worked for the system office, she was the point person on policy revisions after a state law was passed that banned undocumented students from Georgia’s selective universities and required them to pay out-of-state tuition at other institutions.

A native of Montezuma, Ballard-Washington earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and a law degree from Texas Southern University.