The new director at EKU's Danville Center is a familiar face.

Cindy Peck, who joined the Center staff in 1996 as an assistant to the director and served as the Center's interim director the past nine months, was named recently to the post.

"Eastern is very fortunate to have Cindy as the new director of the Center," said Dr. Kenneth Nelson, dean of continuing education and outreach for EKU. "She has the experience, skill and knowledge to run the Center and, beyond that, she cares deeply for the students and their needs.

"EKU-Danville has a bright future," Nelson added, "and Cindy has the leadership skills and vision to take the Center to a higher level."

Peck, of Stanford, has developed, coordinated and conducted many of the new student services at the Danville Center, including the tutoring center, bookstore, tours of the Richmond campus, skill-builder seminars and New Student Day. She also has visited every area high school and guidance counselor in the Center's immediate service region and has promoted the Center and EKU at local factories, hospitals, career fairs and conferences.

Enrollment at EKU's Danville Center has doubled in the past eight years. This past fall, 731 students were enrolled in more than 120 classes. The student body is split evenly between traditional and non-traditional students.

Peck cited three goals she will pursue as director:

** continue to improve student services, including more opportunities in the federal Work Study Program.

** work toward a larger and more permanent home for the Center.

** work closely with department chairs to offer significantly larger portions of selected degree programs at the Center. "We already have commitments from Corrections and Juvenile Justice Studies, Criminal Justice and Police Studies, Early Childhood Development, Paralegal Studies and Computer Science for graduate study," Peck said. "We are currently working to expand our offerings in Business, Education, Nursing and Health Information Technology."

The new director pledged continued emphasis on student support services such as one-on-one academic advising for new and undeclared students and personal attention to non-traditional students, "especially those who have been recently laid off and need extra help getting started in college. Student success is our top priority at EKU."

Peck earned a bachelor's degree in English from EKU in 1977 and a master's degree in English literature from The Ohio State University in 1981. From 1979 to 1985, she served as associate editor, editor and publishing services manager with Merrill Publishing Company. She was executive editor for Learning Design Associates from 1985 to 1990 and assistant managing editor for Macmillan Publishing Co. from 1990 to 1992. From 1992 to 2000, she worked as a freelance editor/writer. She has been an English instructor for EKU since 1992.
From 1997 to 2001, Peck served on the Board of Directors of the Lincoln County Educational Fund.

The next summer session at EKU's Danville Center begins June 10. For more information, call 859-236-6866.