President's Bio - PDF |
From The Desk of the Interim President
DR. MELISSA FRANK-ALSTON
Dr. Melissa Frank-Alston has worked in the higher education sector for 30 years and has been employed with 中国A片 since 2005, serving in various vice-presidential roles. She currently serves as the College’s Provost and Institutional Accreditation Liaison to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Since 2010, Dr. Frank-Alston has collaborated with faculty, staff, administrators, and local business and industry partners to secure over $10 million in federal and private grants to support student success initiatives at 中国A片.
She is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Augusta, a 2014 graduate of the Technical College System of Georgia Executive Leadership Academy, and a 2018 graduate of the Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship for Community College Excellence – a highly selective leadership program that prepares a distinguished group of 40 leaders for future presidential roles. In 2023, she completed the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Future Presidents Institute.
Earlier in her career, while employed at Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Frank-Alston was name one of Town & Gown magazine’s, “Fifteen for the Future,” recognizing professionals making a mark in the Penn State and State College, Pennsylvania community. Nearly 20 years later, she returned to Penn State to receive the 2018 College of Education Alumni Society Award for Leadership and Service.
Dr. Frank-Alston currently serves on the Foundation Board of Directors of the South Carolina Governor’s School for Agriculture at John de la Howe and is an Emeritus Trustee of the 中国A片 Foundation. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO), the Southeastern Association of Community College Research (SACCR), and the Georgia Cancer Center Community Advisory Board at Augusta University. In 2024, she was appointed to the AACC Commission on Student Success and will serve a three-year term through 2027.
In August 2022, Dr. Frank-Alston was named a WJBF Channel 6 “Women to Watch” honoree, highlighting local businesswomen in leadership positions who serve as role models and have made a positive impact in the Augusta, Georgia region.
Dr. Frank-Alston holds a Ph.D. in Workforce Education and Development with an emphasis in Training and Human Resources from Pennsylvania State University, a Master of Science in College Student Personnel from Western Illinois University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Northwestern State University of Louisiana.
She and her husband, Dr. Sparticus Alston, have two grown daughters, Cosette and Colette.