Cerri Banks named Skidmore's dean of students
On May 18 President Philip Glotzbach announced that Cerri Annette Banks will be Skidmore’s new dean of students and vice president for student affairs, effective August 1, 2016. Banks currently serves as vice president for student affairs and dean of the college at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass.
“I am truly thrilled to welcome Cerri Banks to our community,” Glotzbach said. “She
brings an extraordinary level of experience in the increasingly complex world of student
affairs. Cerri is uniquely qualified to lead a division that oversees every facet
of our students' lives outside of the classroom.”
Banks will oversee 134 employees and five offices in Student Affairs, including athletics, campus life, career development, student diversity programs, and student academic services. She replaces Interim Dean and Vice President Gail Cummings-Danson, who held the role for the past academic year. Cummings-Danson will return to her previous role as Skidmore's athletics director in the fall.
Banks has served at Mount Holyoke since July 2011. She oversaw a staff of 70 and a $5.4 million annual budget; in addition, she served on the President's Cabinet, the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, the Academic Priorities Committee, and numerous other high-level boards.
Previously, she was dean of William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y., after serving there as a faculty member, interim dean, and director of the President's Commission on Inclusive Excellence.
Active in key higher-education organizations over the course of her career, Banks has won a wide array of honors, awards, and scholarships. A graduate of Monroe Community College before transferring to Syracuse University, she was inducted into Monroe’s Hall of Fame.
Banks received B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Syracuse University between 1997 and 2006. Having studied the cultural foundations of education, she is a scholar of multiculturalism and diversity in education. She has written two books and produced scores of articles, book chapters, and presentations on culturally relevant teaching and learning and other subjects.
