The new vice president of Student Affairs at Spokane Falls Community College has 21 years of progressive leadership in college student services and personal experience in the life-changing power of community college.
Keith G.P. Sayles will begin his new job in Spokane July 21.
“Keith embodies the community college student experience,” said Kimberlee Messina, SFCC president. “He was a first-generation college student and he understands the challenges many of our students face.”
Sayles grew up in Mississippi and dropped out of high school to go to work. He went back and got his GED and enrolled at a community college in St. Louis. He now has an MBA and is working on a doctorate degree.
“It is indeed a pleasure to have been selected as the next vice president of Student Affairs for Spokane Falls Community College,” Sayles said. “I look forward to serving as a motivational member of the SFCC team and to providing continued growth to the greater Spokane community.”
Sayles is coming to SFCC from Camden County College in New Jersey where he is dean of the Camden City Campus and responsible for all college programs, facilities and outreach activities within the community. Prior to that position, he was the chief student affairs officer of Henderson Community College in Kentucky. He also worked as director of Enrollment Management at Central Louisiana Technical College and was in a variety of positions at St. Louis Community College where he started his career.
Sayles earned two associate degrees at St. Louis Community College and completed a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration Human Resources Management at Saint Louis University. He earned an MBA from Webster University and is working on a doctor degree in higher education leadership.
Sayles has extensive experience in diversity, equity and inclusion including serving as the director of the African-American Male Initiative, a college-retention program, at St. Louis Community College. He has a proven track record in grants, external fund raising and community partnerships. He has served as a Title IX coordinator and a student conduct officer.
He also served as an accreditation reviewer for colleges within the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools/Commission on Colleges and is now a peer reviewer for Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
Sayles succeeds Chrissy Davis Jones who has served as the interim vice president for the past three years. Davis Jones is the dean of Student Affairs at SFCC.