Shalonda Sanders Named Vice President of Human Resources and Operations at Wiregrass

Staff Report From Georgia CEO

Friday, August 2nd, 2024

Wiregrass President DeAnnia Clements announces the promotion of Shalonda Sanders to Vice President of Human Resources and Operations at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College. She began her career at Valdosta Technical College (now Wiregrass Georgia Technical College) in 1999.  Sanders has held the following positions at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College: New Connections to Work Workshop Facilitator, Retention Coordinator/GED Chief Examiner, Georgia Fatherhood Assistant Coordinator, Georgia Fatherhood Coordinator/Student Activities Coordinator, Director for Human Resources, Executive Director for Human Resources, and Associate Vice President for Human Resources.

Sanders received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Valdosta State University (VSU) and graduated from the VSU Honors Program. She later completed the Valdosta State University Teacher Education Program with an emphasis in Secondary Social Sciences and earned her Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in Public Personnel Management from Valdosta State University. Organizations she has participated with include Leadership Lowndes, South Georgia Employer Committee, and various peer groups.

Sanders has two adult children Taylor and Jay.  Both are products of a Wiregrass education.  Taylor received an Early Childhood Care and Education Certificate and is now working as a Headstart Teacher and Jay is working in Aircraft Maintenance in Florida.

In her role as Vice President of Human Resources, she will oversee all Human Resources, Career and Employer Services, as well as Campus Operations, and Employee Engagement and Development training. Her goals while in this position include continuing to work with all departments to seek and implement solutions to recruitment and retention barriers, continue to provide career information and support services to students and maintain the college’s stellar placement rates, and continue to lead the technological solutions implementations for the Human Resources and Career Services departments to better serve our students and employees.

She shared why she enjoys working at Wiregrass, “I enjoy working with faculty, staff, students, supervisors, and my peers in a field that I thoroughly enjoy. HR is always a challenge and I thrive on that energy. I grew up wanting to be an attorney. I landed in HR which is probably the closest field to that area, and I haven’t looked back. I matured at this place. I raised my family at this place. I found some of my best, lifelong friends at this place. I found my career’s purpose at this place. I love what I do and where I work!”

Wiregrass has four campus locations: Fitzgerald, Douglas, Valdosta, and Sparks. A satellite office is also located at Moody AFB. To learn more about the opportunities on how you can join the Wiregrass team and view job openings, visit Wiregrass.edu.