As the president of Augusta Technical College, Jermaine Whirl said strong leaders need to be relentless. “Inspiring leadership and the ability to develop and cultivate teams is the sweet spot,” he said. “People have to be excited and inspired to do the unimaginable. Coupling this with effective team building is a winning strategy.”
Whirl and Batman’s saying is that “Everything’s impossible until somebody does it.” Embracing the impossible has been at the core of Whirl’s leadership style at the higher education institution.
Augusta Technical College is a public postsecondary two-year academic institution with a mission to build a skilled workforce and economically stronger communities through high-quality, innovative and affordable career-advancing credentials while chasing a vision of being a nationally recognized academic institution that transforms lives, organizations and communities through excellence, innovation and partnerships.
Since Jermaine Whirl was named a Titan 100 last year, one of the greatest accomplishments he has led was the opening of a new School of Health Sciences Campus at Summerville Hospital where 23 academic programs were relocated. Through a partnership with Piedmont August, the college is leasing the hospital for $1 a year for 15 years and the medical office building next to it, converting space into classroom and clinical learning spaces for students in the health science program.
“A once vacant hospital now has over 1,400 healthcare students in it,” said Whirl. “It’s a great feeling seeing the parking lot packed while seeing our ability to train more students in high demand areas like nursing, surgery techs, radiology techs, respiratory therapists and occupational therapist assistants.”
In addition to increasing capacity, Piedmont also raised over a million dollars for nursing scholarships in one year. “It will eliminate the expense for anybody who wants to be an RN and also have a guaranteed full-time opportunity with Piedmont,” said Whirl.
Moving forward, Whirl said he has big plans for the next year, including opening a new downtown incubator/accelerator in partnership with the Downtown Development Authority to train and fund small businesses. In addition, he will lead the renovation of the Center for Automotive Excellence.
Being a part of the Titan 100 group has brought great value to both Whirl and the institution. “I’ve made great connections with c-suite individuals in food and beverage, finance, IT, consulting and other industries I would not normally engage with,” he said. “Through the recognition, I’ve been able to connect with my fellow titans to serve as speakers at Augusta and have made other connections throughout the state.”
