South Piedmont’s Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Travis Teague shows a collection of Civil War bullets that is on display in his office at OCH Main.
In his spare time, you’ll likely find Dr. Travis Teague scouring former Civil War battlefields, searching for bullets, cannon balls, and other wartime relics buried just beneath the surface.
In his new role as South Piedmont Community College’s Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer, he’s looking for treasures of a different kind: innovative ways to serve students.
“Everything I try to do is about helping students be successful,” said Teague, who started his role Feb. 1.
“There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing students reach their goals. South Piedmont has a 25-year legacy of innovating to better serve students. My goal is to continue building relationships, programs, services, and options to meet the needs of our students.”
A native of Asheville whose parents were both high school history teachers, Teague holds a doctorate in physical education from Middle Tennessee State University. His master’s in teaching and bachelor’s in physical education are both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Teague spent part of his career teaching motorsport management at East Tennessee State University and Winston-Salem State. He comes to South Piedmont by way of Wingate University, where he worked a total of 23 years in progressively responsible roles, first as a faculty member, a department chair, and then as dean of the School of Sport Sciences. Teague most recently served as vice provost of academic affairs.
“Somewhere around 2015 or 2016, I started interacting with community colleges, all with the idea of making the transfer experience from community colleges to Wingate better for the student,” Teague said.
“We created a transfer team, and we put some real intentionality behind it, always looking for better ways that we could serve our transfer students. Through those efforts, I built a relationship with South Piedmont, and grew to deeply appreciate its mission and role in our community.”
Teague was instrumental in developing the Gateway to Wingate scholarship. That scholarship allows students who complete their associate degree at South Piedmont to earn a bachelor’s degree at Wingate University for $2,500 or less per year.
“We found a way to make it very affordable for local students to attend Wingate. It’s been a successful program, and I’m very proud of that,” he said.
During his interactions with South Piedmont Community College, he came to appreciate its mission of providing affordable, accessible university transfer, career and technical education, and workforce and economic development programming. The College’s values of quality, service, stewardship, respect, and innovation also resonated with him.
“South Piedmont aligns with who I am as an individual,” he said.
“I cherish my time at Wingate, and I’ll always love Wingate. For me, coming to South Piedmont is really about me doing more for Anson and Union Counties. I have a passion for these two counties and the students here, for developing pathways that will help members of this community to reach their highest potential.”
In his first few weeks at South Piedmont, Teague has been acclimating to the institution and meeting the Academic Affairs team.
“The relationships I’m building today will be the foundation for the work we do here at South Piedmont,” he said.
“I care about what makes South Piedmont great, and what makes South Piedmont great is the people. It’s not the facilities or technology. At the end of the day, it’s people. I want the students, faculty, and staff to know that I’m approachable, that I’m an advocate for the work they’re doing, that I’m here to serve.”
One more thing to know about Teague: His faith and family are central to him. He and his wife, Jessica, have two adult children; Hannah just completed medical school, and Fred is studying homeland security at Campbell University.
And he does love his Civil War treasure hunts. Other items Teague has found include uniform buttons, coins, and a breast plate.
“It’s exciting what you find when you’re patient and you make the effort to look closely. That’s what I’m doing here at South Piedmont. I’m being very intentional. I’m learning, I’m building relationships. I’m identifying areas of opportunity. I can’t wait to see what I get to be part here at South Piedmont.”