Published

Kim Oaks

During the Southwestern Community College (SWCC) all-staff in-service, held on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, Kim Oaks of Murray, SWCC director of continuing education and business training, was honored for achieving 40 years of service to the college.

Oaks, a SWCC graduate, began her professional career at the college in 1984. During her time in the business and community development department (formerly adult and continuing education), she has been responsible for establishing training classes for employers and the general public, coordinating state mandated and state recognized programs, and overseeing non-credit registration and the data management system, among many other duties.

Recently Oaks received recognition as an outstanding community college employee from Community Colleges for Iowa. The award application stated, Oaks “has become the go-to-person both locally and statewide for business and industry training programs, as well as reporting.”

During the last year at SWCC, Oaks has worked diligently with college administrators to prepare and launch a CDL training program, from playing a lead role in preparing the CDL grant application, to hiring instructors, preparing curriculum, and securing equipment, while performing the other duties of her position.

In addition to her office occupations secretarial certificate from SWCC, Oaks has a bachelor’s degree in business leadership and management from Bellevue University.

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