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Flora Tydings› Education: Dr. Tydings received her doctorate in Occupational Studies from the University of Georgia, a master’s degree as a reading specialist from Mercer University, and a bachelor’s degree in education and behavioral science from Georgia Southern University.› Career: History teacher at Warner Robins High School, gift shop owner, psychological testing in private practice, youth apprenticeship coordinator, director of curriculum and later vice president of academic affairs at Macon Technical Institute, now Central Georgia Technical College, president of Athens Technical College.› Civic activities: Longtime Rotary member, involved in United Way, Arts Development Council of Georgia. Board of Directors of the Athens/Clarke County Chamber of Commerce.› Personal: She and her husband Mel Palmer, a professor of education who’s Piedmont College’s vice president for Athens operations, have four grown children and one grandchild.
By Tim Omarzu
Doc Eldridge says the biggest thing to happen to Athens, Georgia, during his lifetime was Caterpillar's decision to build an assembly plant. The Illinois-based earth-moving company in 2013 opened a factory to build mini hydraulic excavators and "small-track" bulldozers that now employs 1,400 people.
Athens Technical College President Flora Tydings deserves a lot of credit for Caterpillar, says Eldridge, who's the president of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce.
"Then Georgia Commissioner of Economic Development, Chris Cummiskey, said publicly on more than one occasion that were it not for Flora Tydings and Athens Technical College, Georgia would have never gotten Caterpillar," Eldridge says.
"[They] were not the sole reason, but they were obviously a critical part of that team as well as many other successes with our job training and growth in our area."
That's some of the praise that officials in Georgia's sixth-largest city, Athens, have for Tydings, who in late May was chosen to start in mid-July as president of Chattanooga State Community College.
She takes the place of Jim Catanzaro, who retired in December at age 77. Catanzaro left after heading Chattanooga State for 24 years after controversies arose over his hiring of a young woman he met while vacationing in the Barbados to serve as his de facto second in command, even though she lacked the bachelor's degree required for the job.
Catanzaro grew Chattanooga State. He oversaw the school as it secured partnerships with such companies as Volkswagen and Wacker, scored high on the state's pay-for-performance funding system, and became home to two Hamilton County public high schools.
Increased enrollment
Tydings' resume is similar.
Since she was hired in 2003, Athens Technical College's enrollment has to increased to 6,400 students up from about 3,000, and the college has had $70 million worth of new buildings and capital improvements.
With Athens-area school districts, Tydings helped create three "career academy" programs in which close to 300 high school students from three Athens-area counties take technical college classes. That way, they graduate with both a high school diploma and a two-year college degree.
Nancy Denson, mayor of Athens-Clarke County Unified Government, says that Tydings' motivation is to equip people with skills they need to be work-ready.
"One of the most important things for businesses coming in is a trained workforce," Denson says. "I don't see her as an empire building at all. I see her as a problem-solver."
Tydings downplays the praise.
Regarding the new Caterpillar plant choosing Athens, she says, "That took an entire team to make that happen."
Tydings said the Caterpillar training center on campus was set up by Quick Start, Georgia's more than 40-year-old workforce development program that provides training to qualified businesses.
The training center includes "virtual reality" welding training machines, simulated assembly lines and the promise that workers who don't come out job-ready would be retrained - free of charge.
Top priorities
Tydings says listening will be her first priority when she takes the helm at Chattanooga State.
"My first goal is to get to know that institution," she says. "I've got a lot listening to do. I want the faculty to understand that I'm not going to walk in and start making changes."
Another goal is to improve students' graduation and rates. The percentage of first-year, first-time, full-time students at Chattanooga State who graduate in two years is 8 percent, she said, while it's 33 percent at Athens Technical College.
"That's an extremely low rate [at Chattanooga State]. We've got some work to do," she said. "We've got to figure out where we're losing them and what we're going to do retain them. I'm very student-centered."
She also wants to get the word out that Chattanooga State wants to help train workers.
"I do want the businesses and industry in the area to know that we will be their service partner for workforce development," Tydings says. "Economic development is a big deal for me. I want our students to have opportunities. I want them to have jobs available to them when they graduate."
Why is she leaving Athens Technical college?
"That was not an easy decision," Tydings said during a May 6 interview in front of an audience at an auditorium at Chattanooga State. The four finalists to take Catanzaro's job each visited campus in early May and spent an hour fielding questions.
"A lot of people have asked me that. It's because I really do feel that I have one more opportunity within me - one more chance for me to grow in a leadership role. I thought that my skill sets and this opportunity were a good match. Leaving Athens is not an easy thing to do. I have a great leadership team. There are people there that are ready to take over and there are people there that can lead that college. I feel like it's good to go when they still want you to stay."
Tydings also has entrepreneurial experience, which she joked about during her interview at Chattanooga State.
"I think every female wants to own their own china, crystal and flat-wear gift shop at some point in their life. I did that," Tydings recalls. "The happiest day was when someone walked in and said, "Can we buy this from you?" And I said 'sold.'"