Calhoun Community College is pleased to announce Wesley Rakestraw as its new Vice President of Academic Affairs. He will officially begin his duties on Dec. 1, 2022.

Rakestraw recently served as the Dean of Applied Technologies at Wallace State Community College (WSCC) in Hanceville, Ala. His career in education started as an adjunct instructor in Biology at WSCC. In 1993, he became a full-time instructor and taught for over twenty-four years. During that time, he served as the Division Chair of Natural Sciences until he was promoted to Director of Wallace State’s Oneonta Campus.

The Cullman County native is dedicated to excellence in the classroom and has been an advocate for student success throughout his career. “I am extremely excited about this appointment and am so grateful to have been selected to serve the students, faculty, and staff of Calhoun,” commented Rakestraw. “I strongly believe through teaching you can have a direct impact on helping to shape and change the lives of students. Education and high-quality training are some of the strongest tools in which we can equip our students to enter into the workforce with confidence, and also give them the leverage they need to become successful in whatever career path they choose,” he added.

Rakestraw earned a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology from Auburn University. He continued at Auburn working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, and later earned a Master of Science in Zoological Science. He is also a graduate of the Master Teacher and Educator of Learning Centered Excellence programs.

Actively involved in many educational organizations, he is a member of the National Center for Case-Study Teaching in Science, a member of the Alabama Biological Society, and a faculty leader for Guided Pathways implementation.

He has also been the recipient of several distinguished awards such as the League of Innovation Award in 2010 for his work on the Gateway Initiative for First-Year Experience, and again in 2016 for his work on Guided Pathways. He received two awards in 2017 for the John and Suanne Roueche Excellence Award in Leadership, as well as the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Leadership. He was selected by WSCC Administration to serve as an Achieving the Dream Core Team member, as well as the Alabama Community College Leadership Academy.

“I am eager to see the fresh and exciting ideas Mr. Rakestraw will bring to the college, along with the wealth of educational experience he has accumulated throughout his career as a faculty member,” commented Dr. Jimmy Hodges, Calhoun President. “Academics is a vital component for every higher educational institution, and ensuring you have someone that understands those components is essential to the college’s success in educating and training every student who walks through our doors,” added Hodges.

Mr. Rakestraw has been married for thirty years to his wife Donnette who is a pharmacist in Cullman. They have two adult children: Savannah Harden who is a teacher, and Miles Rakestraw who owns his own business.