New Hires, Promotions & Retirements
Gayle Alston retires from RCI
Gayle Alston (pictured at right) began her relationship with the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving (RCI) as a Governor’s Intern when she returned to college as a non-traditional student in 1989. Upon receiving her undergraduate and then graduate degrees, her professional pursuits took her away from Georgia for a few years. When she decided to move back home to be near her mother, she declared, “I’m going home to help out my mama and to get a job with the Rosalynn Carter Institute.” And that is what she did when she was hired as the Director of Community Initiatives in 2007. In 2008, Gayle lead the project to translate and disseminate the RCI REACH program, which now serves caregivers across the nation. Gayle eventually became the Director of the RCI Training Center for Excellence in 2013. Her final accomplishment has been developing and disseminating the Dealing with Dementia Program across the nation serving thousands of dementia caregivers. Retirement unfolds before Gayle as an opportunity for new and intriguing adventures. She plans to focus more on her ministry as a Lay preacher for the Parrott United Methodist Church and the Mt. Olive United Methodist Church. To continue to meet her need to make a positive difference in the lives of others, she is actively considering options for repurposing the old Parrott Motel to address the challenges of senior isolation in rural southwest Georgia. One thing Gayle knows for sure, whichever path she follows… the best is yet to come.
Leann Miller joins Student Financial Aid
Leann Miller, former Manager of the GSW Bookstore, has transitioned to a position in the Office of Student Financial Aid. Financial Aid Counselor
Leann worked in the Bookstore for 17 years. She began as Textbook Manager 2002 (taught school in Terrell County in 2006/2007) and left the Bookstore on January 31, 2020 as GSW’s Bookstore Manager when I knew we would be outsourced. Leann also worked in 3 different departments on campus during her undergraduate time at GSW and graduated in 2001.
She has been married 18 years to her husband Matt (also a GSW grad) and has 2 children: Maddox, 12, and Kayden, 7.
Leann is also a 4th generation Hurricane. Her great-grandfather Ralph Bernard Heath graduated from GSW in 1912, back when the school was known as the Third District Agricultural and Mechanical School.
“I’m very proud to continue to call GSW my home,” said Leann. “I’m excited about this new chapter in my life in Financial Aid, where I still get to help students, just in a different capacity.
Sonia Slomba joins Student Financial Aid
Sonia Slomba, Interim Director of Financial Aid, began in early February and will be with GSW Mondays through Thursdays for 8 weeks while the search for the permanent Director is underway.
