The Division of Student Affairs is saying goodbye to several colleagues and friends.

Rome Lester, LMFT, a long time senior staff member at the Counseling Center, will be retiring at the end of the fall 2013 semester. Rome joined the staff at the Counseling Center in 1994 and contributed greatly to the Center’s mission in serving Tech students and the Institute community. In her role as the Group Program Coordinator, Rome served to initiate, promote, and facilitate the Counseling Center’s group counseling program which has been highly successful in engaging students in the group therapy process. Rome’s expertise in group counseling was also extended to her outreach to the spouses and partners of international students at Tech in the establishment of the International Spouse and Partner Group. Her service within the Division of Student Affairs and campus-wide has been significant through her work with the Student Affairs Strategic Planning Committee, as advisory board member to the Women’s Resource Center, and membership on the Sexual Violence Task Force. In addition, for many years, Rome has served as a keynote speaker at “Take Back The Night,” an event that reaches a multitude of students each year. For her service and contribution to students and the Tech community, Rome was awarded Division of Student Affairs Award of Excellence in 2006 and was also the recipient of the Women of Distinction Award at the 2010 Women’s Leadership Conference.

Kimber Shelton, PhD, will be leaving the Counseling Center at the beginning of the spring 2014 semester. Kimber joined the Counseling Center senior staff in 2010 and served as the Center’s coordinator for Diversity Programs and Services. In her role, Kimber has been successful in advancing the Center’s mission to provide culturally competent services to students and the Tech community by initiating a series of “Diversity Dialogue” programs for the campus to provide education and to promote thoughtful dialogue on various issues of diversity and multiculturalism. In addition, Kimber spearheaded programs for the professional development of the Center’s staff and trainees through case conference programming and the “Invited Dialogue” series for senior staff.  In addition, Kimber also took the lead on facilitating programming for the Center’s winter Diversity Retreat and also in helping to craft the Center’s Diversity Mission Statement. Kimber’s involvement at the national level garnered her with a book contract on integrating multicultural competence in college and university counseling centers.  In addition, as an early career psychologist, Kimber was also selected as an inaugural member of the 2012 Leadership Academy sponsored by the Society of Counseling Psychology of the American Psychological Association.

Kim Sterritt, Director of the Georgia Tech Parents Program, will also be leaving Tech at the beginning of the spring semester for a family move to Alabama. For more than five years, Kim has been instrumental in developing and advancing the mission of the Parents Program through her tireless dedication to programs including FASET Orientation, New Student Convocation, Commencement and of course everybody’s favorite, Family Weekend. During her time, the Parents Program has enabled parents to feel more connected to the Institute, and we are grateful for her vision and service. Her perspective and extraordinary ability to calm anxious parents will be missed by all.

As one Georgia Tech parent recently wrote:

I want to belatedly thank you for the patience, kindness and willingness to listen. Our son struggled with changing his major and utilizing the ADAPTS program and other support services at GT. You helped me work through the changes and I thank you so very much!

And as most of you know, or have suspected by now, Kim and her husband recently added to their family son #2 on Tuesday, November 26. And while she left on maternity leave with no name for the baby, the hospital had different plans… “Samuel Davis Sterritt” is pictured top right.  

Congratulations to these very special colleagues. We wish you good luck and good fortune in the future!