Albany Technical College will hold Fall 2017 Commencement Exercises on Wednesday, December 6, 2017, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Civic Center. A reception will be held prior to the ceremony in the Meeting Room of the Civic Center.

Nearly 230 students are set to receive associate degrees, over 500 diplomas, and almost 950 technical certificates of credit. Over 50 students are slated to receive their General Education Development.

In addition, 115 students will be walking with various honors, including American Criminal Justice Association Club, Ambassadors, Engineering Club (E-Club), Honors with Distinction, National Technical Honors Society, Phi Beta Lambda, Presidential Scholar, SkillsUSA, Student Fellowship for Christians, Student Government Association, and General Education Development. These students were honored at the college’s Honor’s Day program held in late November.

Keynote speaker for the ceremony will be Dr. Cheryl Davenport Dozier, President of Savannah State University. Serving as the 13th and first permanent woman president of Savannah State, Dozier has advanced the university’s mission of developing productive members of a global society through high quality instruction, scholarship, research, service and community involvement, since taking office in 2011. Her highest priority is to move students from matriculation to graduation and ensure that they have every opportunity to be successful in their chosen academic and career pursuits.

Dr. Dozier joined the SSU administration after a 17-year career at the University of Georgia. During her tenure at UGA, she served as associate provost and chief diversity officer for the Office of Institutional Diversity, professor in the School of Social Work and assistant vice president for Academic Affairs at the Gwinnett Center. She also directed the Ghana Interdisciplinary Study Abroad Program.

Actively involved in the Savannah community, Dozier is a member of the Rotary Club of Savannah and serves on several local boards: Savannah Economic Development Authority Advisory Council, Telfair Museums Board of Trustees, Union Mission Board of Directors, Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Council, Bank South Savannah Advisory Board, and World Trade Center Savannah Board of Directors. She is also vice chair of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Committee on International Education and serves as chair of AASCU’s Millennium Leadership Initiative Executive Steering Committee. At the international level, she is honorary chair of the University Consortium for Liberia. She travels extensively to countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas, while expanding the university’s global mission. She is a member of the Gamma Sigma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and St. Philip Monumental A.M.E. Church in Savannah.

Dozier earned a bachelor’s degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University, master’s degree in social work from Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University) and doctorate in social work from Hunter College at the Graduate Center of City University of New York. She recently was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Liberia.