Newberry Selects Travis Ballenger as Director of First-Year Programs

Newberry College has named Dr. Travis Ballenger to serve as Director of First-Year Programs, a newly created position designed to support the academic, psychological and social integration of students who are just beginning their academic journeys. His appointment is effective May 8, 2017.

Ballenger will be responsible for developing programming specifically aimed at guiding students and their families into the college experience and supporting their transition to the Newberry College campus community.

“Dr. Ballenger brings proven experience in mentoring students to acquire the skills and motivation needed to be academically successful and fully engaged in campus life,” said Dr. Sandra Rouse, Dean of Students. “He brings a wealth of fresh ideas to Newberry that we are eager to implement.”

Prior to joining Newberry, Ballenger served as Coordinator of Academic Tutoring for Student Support Services and academic advisor at Lander University (2008-2017) in Greenwood, S.C. He worked with first-generation, low-income and disabled students to define academic issues and develop realistic educational action plans to ensure they persisted to graduation,

Prior to that, Ballenger was Director of Career Services and New Student Orientation at Newberry College (2005-2008) where managed all aspects of career services from strategy to day-to-day operations. He developed a variety of career planning programming and coordinated hiring opportunities with employment recruiters.

Before turning his interests to higher education, Ballenger was a career counselor with the County of Greenville, S.C. (2003-2005), where he provided intensive career counseling and guidance to an average caseload of more than 70 clients.

Ballenger’s teaching experience includes serving as a Human Services adjunct instructor at Southern Wesleyan University (2014-Present), course facilitator/instructor at University of Phoenix online (2007-2016), and adjunct instructor at Newberry College (2005-2008).

Ballenger is a regular presenter at industry conferences and was a member of the South Carolina Council of Education Opportunity Personnel Programs (SC TRiO Association), having served as treasurer and Student Leadership Conference chair for the association. Ballenger also is an active member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., currently serving as Gulf Coast Regional Chief of Staff and Alpha Chi Omega Alumni Chapter President. 

Ballenger earned his Ed.D. with a concentration in Higher and Post-Secondary Education (2016) from Argosy University in Atlanta, Ga. His dissertation topic was “African-American Faculty Members’ Lived Experiences in Higher Education.” Ballenger received his M.A. in Counseling with a Mental Health concentration (2005) from Webster University in Greenville, S.C., and received a B.A. in Sociology (2002) from the University of South Carolina-Spartanburg.

“I look forward to returning to Newberry College, assisting students and their families as they transition to our campus community and enhancing the first-year experience for our incoming students,” Ballenger said.

Originally from Spartanburg, Ballenger currently lives in Simpsonville, S.C.