Announcing Director of Programs

KC Scholars is pleased to announce that Dr. Samantha DeVilbiss will join the team on August 16, 2021, as our Director of Programs.

Samantha is excited to join KC Scholars, and her background and experiences will benefit KC Scholars as we move to the next level.

Samantha holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Studies – Leadership and Higher Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a master’s in student development in postsecondary education from the University of Iowa, and a bachelor’s in history and anthropology from the University of Iowa.

Samantha’s experience with college access and completion programs and campus-based programs that support historically underrepresented students, and their families, will enable her to bring proven practices from other programs across the nation to KC Scholars. Previous work experiences include as the Director of Student Success at KCKCC; the Director of Trojan Academic Advising and the Assistant Dean of Student Success at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; an Academic Counselor for First Year Advising at Florida Gulf Coast University; Assistant Program Coordinator of William H. Thompson Scholars Learning Community at University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Program Coordinator of the Chancellor’s Science Scholars at the University of North Carolina; and the Coordinator of New Student Program Initiatives at the University of Minnesota Duluth. As an undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Iowa, Samantha worked in orientation, admissions, living-learning communities, and parent programs.

Samantha is active nationally in organizations focused on academic advising, orientation, and transition to and retention in college – all areas relevant to supporting KC Scholars to enroll in and complete a postsecondary credential or degree.

KC Scholars is confident that Samantha’s experience with and understanding of challenges to postsecondary enrollment and completion will be an asset. Her understanding of higher education will also be an asset with collaborations with our 17 Postsecondary Network campuses.