By Rachel Coleman SCCC
LIBERAL, Kan. — The Seward County Community College Foundation welcomed new executive director Teresa Randle to campus Monday, June 3. A Hugoton native and SCCC alumna, Randle is excited about the move from her career in the financial sector to higher education.
“The more I’ve discussed it with current and past board members, what they’re wanting for the Foundation really fits with my skill set. A lot of project management, and a lot of relationship building with people through those work processes,” said Randle. “At the end of the day, banking is about people, finance is about people. You do a lot of numbers, but it’s about relationships and helping people with their goals.”
SCCC President Brad Bennett shares Randle’s optimism and excitement.
“When you look at what we’re doing on campus, there’s just so much growth and change happening, and the Foundation is a key part of that,” he said. “We just celebrated the groundbreaking for our new student health center last week, and saw the Foundation raise more than $43,000 that same day. SCCC couldn’t do what we do without the Foundation.”
Randle earned double degrees from SCCC in 2007 — an Associate of Arts and an Associate of Science — before moving on to Kansas State University, where she majored in Agricultural Economics and graduated in 2009. Since then, Randle’s career has provided a wide range of managerial, fiscal and commercial experiences at American AgCredit, Equity Bank, and Bank of the Plains, where she served as Southwest Regional Manager and successfully opened a de novo branch in Liberal.
“I’m familiar with the geographic region, businesses, the farmers, lots of people in the area, but have never really been in the school side of things,” Randle said. She is passionate about her experiences as a student at SCCC, a time that “really prepared me to succeed. I have a lot of affection for SCCC,” she said. “I did livestock judging there and it was pretty big, we had two teams. Those were exciting times, opened a lot of doors and connections for me. Kudos to the college for bringing that back.”
Randle is married “to my high school sweetheart, Jeffrey Randle, and our two little ones Ethan, 4, and Daphne, 5, keep us pretty busy. We stay involved with the community in terms of making it better for our little ones. I am on Seward County United Way Board, and do a lot with our church and with our parents and in-laws in Hugoton.”
As part of the SCCC team, Randle looks forward to building relationships and community in a job that brings so many interests into one area “for a good cause,” she said. “I’m excited. It always makes work sweeter when it’s something you have a passion about.”
