After long serving in various roles at Wilmington College, Dr. Erika Goodwin will be named Vice President of Academic Affairs at Southern State Community College as the current VP, Dr. Nicole Roades, is named President of SSCC. Dr. Goodwin’s first day will be June 1, 2022.
Dr. Erika Goodwin has been named the next Vice President of Academic Affairs at Southern State Community College. Dr. Goodwin will replace the sixth President of SSCC, Dr. Nicole Roades. Her first day will be June 1, 2022. Dr. Goodwin has 27 years of experience as a senior staff member, and as a tenured full professor of Sport Sciences and Athletic Training. She was previously at Wilmington College.
In an interview with the People’s Defender, Dr. Goodwin spoke about her excitement about her new position. “I am honored and thrilled to begin this appointment and work with Dr. Roades, the faculty, staff and students at Southern State and have some overlap with Dr. Kevin Boys as he transitions out of the Presidency to retirement. I have had the good fortune of working with both Dr. Boys and Dr. Roades over the years on mutual projects for our respective institutions and have a great deal of respect for them and the work they do in the community college sector. I have had a wonderful career at Wilmington College and will miss my colleagues and students there but this opportunity will begin the next chapter of my higher education career and I am excited to begin my work with Southern State,” said Dr. Goodwin.
Dr. Roades also weighed in on the appointment of Dr. Goodwin: “I am beyond delighted to begin working with Dr. Goodwin as a fellow team member of Southern State. I am overjoyed that she has chosen to share her extensive experience and expertise with us and our students—June 1 can’t come quickly enough.”
Dr. Goodwin spoke about her connection to Clinton County, and Southwestern Ohio as a whole: “I have often said that this is not a job to me but my calling. My roots and passion run deep for higher education and I am particularly drawn to Southern State’s mission to ‘provide accessible, affordable and high-quality education to people in southern Ohio.’ I embrace Southern State’s values of community engagement, personal connection, unity and life enrichment.”
Previously, Dr. Goodwin was the first woman to hold the role of interim President of Wilmington College in 2020. Before that, she was the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Strategic Initiatives and Dean of Faculty for Wilmington College. Also while at Wilmington, Dr. Goodwin served as accreditation liaison officer to the school’s regional accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission. She will also serve in that role at Southern State Community College. She is also a peer reviewer with the Higher Learning Commission in Chicago.
Dr. Goodwin studied at Southern State Community College herself to become an Emergency Medical Technician after receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree from Wilmington College in Athletic Training and a Master’s Degree from Wright State University. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and Athletic Training from Union Institute & University.
While at Wilmington, Dr. Goodwin worked as a co-author on over 200 student research projects in the field of athletic training. More than half of those papers have been presented across state, district, and national level conferences and/or have received publication. In 2010 she was made a member of Leadership Clinton, and in 2015 she was an Inductee in Outstanding Women of Clinton County.
Southern State Community College offers Associate degrees in the Arts and Sciences as well as certificate programs in many industries and fields of study, including the Health Sciences, Education, Truck Driving, Engineering and more. Students who wish to apply can do so on SSCC's website.