Dr. Patricia Sims’ story begins in a smaller town just a little over 20 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi.

Canton is its name, although some of the locals in the area call it “Nissan City,” a name that pays homage to the Nissan Manufacturing plant there and the economic development that followed its opening decades ago.

A life growing up in a smaller Mississippi town instilled within her strong characteristics, such as a hard work ethic and a focus on community support, that according to Dr. Sims still affects her professional goals to this day at Drake State.

During our interview, Dr. Sims reflected fondly on warm Saturday mornings where she would wake up with her siblings and various people around her neighborhood in Canton, MS.

“Every weekend, we would get up early and mom would take me and my siblings in the back of our dad’s pick-up truck, and we would go around and help the elderly in our community. In Canton at the time, before Nissan got there, a lot of the older folks did not have people to care for them, so my Mom stepped up to help. This sense of duty, respect, and love is what still resonates with me today,” recalled Dr. Sims.

IMG 6822PS pp 1 Of course, many things changed when Nissan opened up a production facility. Jobs grew and the community flourished, but that same sense of community support echoed throughout the small town roads Dr. Sims played on as a child.

“Times were tough. Before Canton became known as ‘Nissan City’ we did not have much. And what was funny was that I really did not understand that we were poor. But, that did not matter. We had each other, and we had a community beyond our family. We had the faith to back up our community, and to me it felt like we had everything we always needed,” said Dr. Sims.

Dr. Pat Sims moved to Huntsville, Alabama after she finished her undergraduate degree in Biology at West Alabama in 1990. That same summer, while preparing for graduate school at Alabama A&M University, she started looking for a job that would fit with her busy academic schedule.

That’s when she landed with the Huntsville Times. Dr. Sims’ first job in North Alabama saw her working as a copy carrier for the Times. During the week, she would get to work every day at 4:30 AM and would work until just after lunch.

Dr. Sims recalled how the balance between work and school was difficult, but it was made a little easier with Huntsville’s very unique community focus.

“The fact that I was able to get this position and start to meet people in Huntsville was really important. What I did not understand was that these things come full circle. It was a great example for me on how this community comes together to work. I still see so many people that I first met when I moved to Huntsville impacting their communities today.

“At the time, I did not understand this, but a lot of the characteristics instilled in me from back home in Canton, such as my hard work ethic and my focus on community support, really worked well at the Huntsville Times. That’s what we were about; we worked hard and we worked to show people how amazing the community in Huntsville was. It was this early experience, and the connections that I made, that really set me on the path that helped me become president at Drake State,” said Dr. Sims.

It was from this foundational experience, combined with her upbringing around her family and faith, that would set the tone for her eventual role as President of Drake State. Her tenure began on December 01, 2018 and has since marked a path of success and positive impact for hundreds of families in North Alabama.

Dr. Sims sat down to talk about the Drake State story and to answer a few important questions about her past experiences and future plans on campus.

What has been the biggest challenge to success? Has this challenge made your career choice worth it?

Challenges change, which is hard in itself, but for me it is finding a balance. Sometimes I wish that I had a clone so I could do as much as possible. But maybe that it: my biggest challenge is finding balance. This is a bigger city and it is a growing city, and leading a growing institution in a growing city is super hard. You can easily get caught up in all the events, plans, and meetings. I like to say that it always feels like you are in a “full court press” each and every day.

There is also the challenge of being the only female president in this space. Sometimes, because it takes so much, it is hard to stay motivated. It would be easier, maybe, if there was someone else in a similar position that I could look towards. But when you think about it, that is the reward of this challenge. I can help be that example and that motivator for someone in another field or in the future.

What are your current goals? How do these affect future plans at Drake State?

At Drake State, our goal is to train and educate students so that they can better participate in the workforce needs of North Alabama. I also really want to get underrepresented students involved as well. Right now, our biggest goal is to meet the facility needs here on campus. We need to renovate and add to our campus, not necessarily to attract students to campus either, but because we are simply doing so well with recruitment and retention.

Right now, we are renovating the Library and the Nursing facility on campus, which are slated to be finished by late 2024. We also just had our groundbreaking on a new Advanced Manufacturing Center, which cost around $30M. So, our goal is to continue to try to improve the campus in order to train our students.

How has your time as President of Drake State differed from the legacy of those who came before you? What has changed over time?

I think that we have re-evaluated our goals that combine student success with that economic development of our community. When I started, we really redefined the value proposition here at Drake State. We increased our standard of training for our students, which are the future workers in the community that are helping fill the needs of our local economy. That’s our credibility directly on the line if that standard is not high.

That’s not to say that my predecessors did not have these goals in mind. We are just bringing these goals much more clearly to the front and making our intentions known well to our community.

What is Drake State’s key strategy for student retention?

Renovations to the campus are key. Everywhere you look in Huntsville, different institutions are opening up new facilities and are doing a spectacular job at attracting students using new amenities, and we are certainly a part of that. Just take a walk on campus and see for yourself.

Another huge part is, again, the value proposition that we have here. We have an extremely high employment rate after graduation, and all of our programs are geared towards helping students get real work experience during the first year here on campus. We have helped fast track the time it takes a student to get their degree. Around 98% of incoming students are placed into a prospective career and immediately start training. We are actively tearing down barriers between students and future careers, and we are specifically focusing on building careers that are popular in terms of hiring.

We are meeting people where they are and asking what they need to succeed. This applies both to the community and to our students.

What are some of the more impactful programs that started under your tenure at Drake State?

Back in 2021, Drake State became the first and only Historically Black Community College (HBCU) in the nation to host the Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP). The Cooperative Agreement Notice between Drake State and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center established a multi-year grant with the goal of increasing the number of racial and ethnic minorities and women in STEM-based careers.

We also recently launched a partnership with Huntsville Hospital to establish the Nursing LPN Launch program at the College. The brand new program, which saw its first 19 students graduate on August 08, offers aspiring individuals the chance to become Licensed Practical Nurses and provides a potential transition to an immediate career with the Huntsville Hospital Health System.

What is the best part of the job?

The students and their stories. It is creating those success stories for their students. For example, on July 2oth we had students present their research at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center for Mood Day. They did such a great job, and to see that and to hear our students’ proudly present their research gave me such a sense of pride. Nobody tells the story of Drake State better than our students, truly.

What is the key take-away of the Drake State story under your leadership?

We trust the process here at Drake State because the process is helping everyone involved. We help the students find a career that is both successful and necessary for our community. In turn, this means that Drake State has a direct hand in the economic and workforce development of North Alabama.

It’s also important to note that we are seriously focused on helping increase the participation rate in Alabama. While our unemployment rate remains relatively low, our participation rate in the economy is low and this number often has a direct correlation with underrepresented populations. Many people believe that it is a lack of talent, but at Drake State we disagree. It is a lack of access to education that helps train and nurture that talent. If there is one thing that every student at Drake State can tell you, it is that we nurture talent that is already there.

Photo credits: Steve Babin