Makena Stewart Joining College of Education as Assistant Professor of the Practice of Community College Leadership

Makena Stewart will join NC State’s College of Education as an assistant professor of the practice of community college leadership, beginning August 16, 2024. Currently, Stewart serves as the vice president of strategic excellence at South Piedmont Community College. 

“I am passionate about community colleges and the role they play in improving social mobility for all. It is an honor to join the Community College Leadership program and serve the current and future leaders of these great institutions,” she said.  

Over the last two decades Stewart has served in various administrative and community college leadership roles in student services, academic affairs, and research and planning. Stewart’s previous administrative appointments include serving as the dean of student development, associate vice president of student success and interim chief academic officer and vice president of student services. 

She has extensive experience in student success and institutional effectiveness, having served on multiple accreditation committees, leading in the development of Quality Enhancement Plans, and serving as the institutional lead for NC Guided Pathways. 

During her time at South Piedmont, Stewart was recognized as the Administrator of the Year (2012) and Staff of the Year (2021).  In 2021, she was selected for a Fulbright Scholar International Education Administrator award and collaborated to win Best in Show for various student success initiatives at the Bellwether College Consortium in both 2022 and 2023.

Her interests include institutional effectiveness, organizational culture, program evaluation and holistic wraparound services for credit and non-credit pathways. Her work has been published in the North Carolina Community College Journal of Teaching Innovation. 

Stewart earned her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and her Master of Science in Education in Counseling from Old Dominion University. Stewart has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Virginia.