Dr. Susan Elkins was named as the inaugural Chancellor of the University of South Carolina Palmetto College in February 2013. The Chancellor serves as the chief administrative officer of Palmetto College, which includes the University of South Carolina’s four regional Palmetto College campuses, USC Lancaster, USC Salkehatchie, USC Sumter, and USC Union, along with USC Palmetto College Columbia, and online bachelor’s degree completion programs offered by the three comprehensive universities, USC Aiken, USC Beaufort, and USC Upstate, and the flagship research institution, USC Columbia.  Dr. Elkins also holds the rank of Professor as a member of the faculty of Palmetto College.  Her scholarly activities have focused on leadership, continuing higher education, and online/distance learning throughout her career of over three decades that has been dedicated to access to higher education and student success.

Elkins previously served as Vice President of Extended Programs and Regional Development and founding Dean of the College of lnterdisciplinary Studies at Tennessee Technological University (TTU). Susan was also a Professor in the TTU Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Education from TTU and did her doctoral work in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Higher Education Administration at Vanderbilt University.

Elkins has also been very active in professional and community organizations. She currently serves as President of the Association for Continuing Higher Education International (ACHE), Immediate Past President of the Society for Advancement of Management International (SAM), and she recently completed her term on the Executive Steering Committee for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Millennium Leadership Initiative, and she has provided service to numerous other professional and community organizations throughout her career.