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Dr. Stuart Rayfield
President
Office of the President |
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Dr. Rayfield returned to Columbus State to begin her service as its sixth president in June 2023. Her original tenure began in 2006 as an assistant professor and grew to later include holding the Frank D. Brown Distinguished Chair in Servant Leadership and serving as interim associate provost for undergraduate education. From 2016 until her current appointment, she held a variety of leadership roles within the University System of Georgia. Those included the system’s vice chancellor for leadership and institutional development and interim presidencies at the former Bainbridge State College and Gordon State College. She holds a bachelor’s in political science from Rhodes College, a master of education in higher education administration from the University of Alabama, and a doctorate in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University.

Shannon B. Campbell, Ph.D.
Provost, Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer
Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs |
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Dr. Campbell began her Columbus State tenure in January 2025 following a higher education career that has spanned three decades and tenure-track faculty and leadership appointments at the departmental, college and university levels. Her teaching and research focus in public relations, communication and integrated marketing has benefited from her extensive corporate and consulting experience. She holds a bachelor’s in communication management from Missouri State University, a master’s in organizational communication from the University of Southern Illinois, and a doctorate in marketing communication and media studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

Lauren Brown
Chief Planning Officer for Strategic Initiatives and Interim Director of Athletics
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Lauren Brown brings more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising and community engagement to her current role. As executive director for institutional advancement at Bainbridge State College and director of development at Memorial Hospital and Manor, she amassed more than a decade of experience designing and implementing strategic plans to propel institutions to the next level. Before that work, she was a realtor and owned and operated a real estate firm in Southwest Georgia. A student-athlete at Wesleyan College, she later earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Florida State and a master of public administration degree from Valdosta State University.

Maj. Gen. (retired) Patrick J. Donahoe
Chief Operating Officer/Vice President for Business & Finance
Military-Connected Student Services |
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Maj. Gen. Donahoe joined Columbus State in 2023 to support the university’s services to its military-connected students and its outreach to the local U.S. Army Fort Benning community. He retired from the Army in 2022 as commanding general of the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning (then Fort Benning). His 30-plus-year military career included numerous company-grade and field-grade Armor and Cavalry positions in the continental U.S., Germany, Bosnia, Kuwait and the Republic of Korea and combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He holds a bachelor’s in history and English from Villanova University, and master of military science degrees in land warfare from the American Military University and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College. He also attended the Kennedy School at Harvard University, where he was a National Security Fellow.

Whitley Hall, Esq.
General Counsel & Chief Legal Affairs Officer
Office of Legal Affairs, Ethics & Compliance |
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A member of the Office of Legal Affairs, Ethics & Compliance since May 2022, Ms. Hall was appointed as the university’s general counsel in December 2023 after serving previously as assistant general counsel. Prior to her higher education career, which has included investigating Title IX and EEO complaints in addition to her legal duties, she worked as a staff attorney for Legal Services Alabama and the Alabama Supreme Court. She holds a bachelor’s in English from the University of Alabama, a master of public administration from the University of Arkansas, and a juris doctorate from the University of Arkansas School of Law.

Rocky Kettering, Ed.D., CFRE
Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director of the ´ó·¢ÌåÓý¿ª»§ Foundation Inc.
Office of University Advancement |
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Before beginning in his current role in 2016, Dr. Kettering’s philanthropic and external relations leadership has benefited both higher education and nonprofit institutions throughout the Southeast. These have included the Texas State Aquarium, St. Mary’s University, Our Lady of the Lake University, the University of Southern Mississippi, and Mount Vernon Presbyterian School in Atlanta. He holds a bachelor’s in English from Louisiana State University, a master’s in philanthropy and development from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, and a doctorate in organizational leadership from Nova Southeastern University.

John Lester, DPA
Chief Engagement Officer
Office of Strategic Communication + Marketing |
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Dr. Lester returned to Columbus State in January 2024 to continue his higher education career that has spanned three decades. He transitioned from a career as a newspaper reporter to news services as the University of Florida before spending 18 years at Columbus State, where his focus included university, government and community relations, with more than two years of that tenure as its chief of staff. He served for five years as vice president for communications and marketing at Georgia Southern University before his current appointment. In addition to the master of public administration he earned at Columbus State in 2008, he holds a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Florida and a doctor of public administration degree from Valdosta State University.

Theodore Laskaris
Chief Information Officer
University Information & Technology Services |
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Mr. Laskaris has led University Information & Technology Services since 2019. During a career that has spanned nearly four decades, he has provided professional and consulting services in higher education, educational technologies, business, investing and asset management for organizations that include Denver Investment Advisors LLC, Dwight Asset Management and Champlain College. He holds a bachelor’s in French and English from the University of Vermont and an MBA in finance and management information systems from the Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.

Kim Scranage
Chief Student Experience Officer
Enrollment Services Center |
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Kim Scranage began her tenure in February 2025, overseeing the university’s enrollment management and student affairs enterprise in this inaugural role. Her 25-plus-year higher education career includes previous leadership of admissions and enrollment management functions at the University of West Georgia, Northern Kentucky University, Kutztown University and Shepherd University. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from West Virginia State University and a master’s in strategic leadership from Mountain State University.

Gina Sheeks, Ph.D.
Vice President for Student Affairs
Division of Student Affairs |
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Dr. Sheeks has served in a variety of progressively responsible roles at Columbus State since 1993, beginning as a full-time faculty member in the Department of Communication. She was named vice president in 2007, when at the time she was serving as associate vice president for student affairs. Her other leadership responsibilities at ´ó·¢ÌåÓý¿ª»§ have included serving as interim chair of the Department of Communication and chairing the university’s Strategic Plan Committee and Quality Enhancement Plan. She holds both a bachelor’s in communication and a master’s in organizational communication from Murray State University, and a doctorate in higher education administration from Georgia State University.