Dr. Craig Pouncey has served as the president of Coastal Alabama Community College since 2019. Three years earlier, three colleges, Faulkner State Community College, Alabama Southern Community College and Jefferson Davis Community College, were consolidated into one to form Coastal. The school now serves over 10,000 students across the south Alabama region.

A native of Crenshaw County, Pouncey served as superintendent of Crenshaw County Schools and of Jefferson County Schools, as well as serving in the Alabama Department of Education. In between two days of graduation ceremonies, Pouncey reflected on the consolidation, initiatives at Coastal and the future of the university.

Questions and answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.

I’m interested in getting your perspective on the consolidation – what some of the difficulties with that were, or maybe are still ongoing. But also, what are some of the upsides, what good came out of it?

First of all, I think the good that came out of it is that financially, we stabilized three colleges into one. Two of those colleges probably would have been closed if they had to stand on their own two feet. But we are continuing to grow in those areas, and to add additional programs, which, in turn, creates more opportunities for the young people. Our students that transfer do well, we’re in the top 10 transfer universities with Auburn and South Alabama for engineering. Our kids do very well when they go into that field.