Chris Cox to resign as president at Shelton State Community College

Jasmine Hollie, The Tuscaloosa News
·2 min read

After leading Shelton State Community College for just one year, Chris Cox plans to step down from his presidential role.

Cox has accepted a position with the Alabama Community College System as systemwide vice chancellor of instruction, research and development. Cox's resignation as Shelton State's president will go into effect in the early fall, according to a news release from the system.

More: Census: Sharp increase puts Tuscaloosa's population over 110,000

Cox, a native of Geneva, began his tenure as president at Shelton State in June 2022 after serving as interim president for roughly five months following the departure of Brad Newman.

Chris Cox plans to resign as president of Shelton State to take a job with the Alabama Community College System as systemwide vice chancellor of instruction, research and development.
Chris Cox plans to resign as president of Shelton State to take a job with the Alabama Community College System as systemwide vice chancellor of instruction, research and development.

Before his position at Shelton State, Cox served as special assistant to the chancellor at the Alabama Community College System. He has also served as an interim president at Northwest-Shoals Community College in Muscle Shoals, Bevill State Community College in Jasper, and Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in Andalusia.

According to the news release, Cox will remain as president of Shelton State through mid-September and an official presidential search will begin Tuesday.

Shelton State will be searching for its fourth president in the past three years. William J. "Bill" Ashley served from Oct. 1, 2017 through March 31, 2020, followed by Newman from April 1, 2021, until Feb. 9, 2022, and then Cox. Also during that time frame, Bryan Helms served as interim president from April 1, 2020 until March 31, 2021.

Shelton State is one of Alabama's largest community colleges with around 7,000 students at its two Tuscaloosa campuses, the Martin campus at 9500 Old Greensboro Road and the C.A. Fredd campus at 3401 Martin Luther King Blvd. The community college offers over 30 associate degrees in technical and health services programs.

According to Lightcast, a firm that focuses on labor market analytics for colleges and universities,  Shelton State had an estimated economic impact of $248.1 million in Tuscaloosa and Bibb counties in 2020-21.

Shelton State has been in Tuscaloosa for more than 70 years.

Reach Jasmine Hollie at JHollie@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Chris Cox to resign as president after one year at Shelton State