CHARLESTON, W.Va. — As First Lady Joanne Jaeger Tomblin prepares to leave her position as president of Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, she says her hope is that the institution is prepared for the future and changing workforce demands.
“I hope that I have built a good foundation there at the college and that the next president who comes along can be able to build on that foundation,” Tomblin said in an interview with MetroNews before her retirement on June 30.
Tomblin has worked at Southern Community and Technical College for 33 years, the last 15 as president.
Student enrollment can vary anywhere from 2,000 to 6,000 at the Logan County school, she said, which offers opportunities for training in a number of fields, including healthcare.
“We focus on places where our students can get jobs and that is in health occupations which has been one of our biggest strengths,” Tomblin said. During her career, she said the industry demands for workers have changed and, in recent years, coal miners have returned to the college to learn new skills.
As she enters retirement, with plans to serve as First Lady full-time for the remainder of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s term, Tomblin said she can’t help but admire the role the school plays in its community.
“There’s a certain culture in Southern West Virginia,” said Tomblin. “They’re very close-knit families. A lot of times, families don’t like their children to go off to a larger college. They like to keep them at home. And we are the opportunity in Southern West Virginia for people to get a higher education degree,” she plan.
For Tomblin, retirement is bittersweet.
“When you go to work every day for 33 years and the people that you work with are family to you, you see them more than you sometimes see your own family and you build great relationships with those people,” she said.
“I have been blessed in more ways than I could ever express. This has
been an opportunity of a lifetime.”