Incoming NCCCS President Jeff Cox to start June 1

Dr. Jeff Cox, the incoming head of the North Carolina Community College System, will start in his new role at the System Office on June 1.

Cox, a longtime education leader and champion in North Carolina, was named the new System President in April following a national search. Cox served as President of Wilkes Community College since 2014 and formerly led Alleghany County Schools as superintendent from 2005 to 2014. He brings three decades of education experience to the position and served the last year as head of the North Carolina Community College Presidents’ Association.

“We are pleased to share that Dr. Jeff Cox has been released from his contract at Wilkes Community College and will assume leadership of the System Office on June 1, 2023. Dr. Cox received magnanimous support from his board and was presented with an honorary degree from the institution in recent days,” said State Board of Community Colleges Chair Burr Sullivan. “Our State Board is very appreciative of the leadership of Dr. Bill Carver over the past 10 months and wishes him the best as he returns to retirement in Rocky Mount.”

At Wilkes, Cox was heralded for more than doubling the completion rate at the college from 25 to 55 percent over five years and developing a strategic plan seen as a national model for other institutions. During his tenure as president, the college also raised a record $20 million in funds for strategic initiatives and launched a fully endowed Wilkes Community College Education Promise to guarantee the opportunity for a tuition-free college education for every graduating senior in the service area.