NATCHEZ &8212; Teresa Harrison has been named dean of the Natchez campus of Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

The appointment was announced at the Thursday meeting of the Co-Lin Board of Trustees in Wesson.

A Mississippi native, she will come to Natchez from Moultrie, Ga., where she has been vice president for student services at Moultrie Technical College since 2004.

College President Howell Garner said the board and all who have met Harrison are pleased about the appointment and excited to have her at Co-Lin.

&8220;I interviewed her at Wesson,&8221; Garner said. &8220;I am impressed with her background and her ability to communicate. She has experience in so many areas important to this position.&8221;

Harrison said she is excited by the challenge. &8220;I am honored and grateful for this opportunity, as well as being excited about the new challenges,&8221; she said in a statement issued by Co-Lin. &8220;This is a dream come true for me.&8221;

Natchez campus Director of Admissions and Records Gwen McCalip has been serving in the dean position at Natchez for about two years, following the promotion of Ronnie Nettles to executive vice president of the college.

Nettles, chairman of the search committee, said Harrison brings experience that will benefit the college.

&8220;She brings to Co-Lin a tremendous amount of professional experience in higher education administration,&8221; Nettles said. &8220;That experience will benefit us in providing services to our students, community relations and instructional program development.&8221;

Harrison is a graduate of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, where she received an associate degree. She earned both B.A. and M.A. degrees in history at Mississippi State University.

As a teacher in Starkville from 1995 to 1997, she was chosen Star Teacher for two years for her work with seventh-grade history and civics classes and eighth-grade early American history students.

For several years before moving to Georgia, she worked at Mississippi State in the Department of Human Resources Management.

From 1999 to 2001, she was undergraduate program coordinator at the Warnell School of Forest Resources at the University of Georgia in Athens, where she increased student enrollment, including a record high enrollment during her work there.

Garner said Harrison&8217;s leadership qualities were evident in the interview process. &8220;I&8217;m impressed with her style of leadership,&8221; he said.

Asked about strengths she brings to the job, Harrison described her &8220;passion for higher education, a genuine heart for students as well as a high expectation for academic success and a strong commitment to community involvement.&8221;