Jake Alspaugh takes on a new role as the director for the Center for Academic Achievement at ETSU.

With nearly 10 years of experience in helping students reach academic success, Alspaugh has joined the ETSU family as CFAA director as of this month. He served students for much of his professional life in Appalachia and the East Coast.

After several years working in the Philadelphia area, Alspaugh decided that he wanted to stay in Appalachia and moved back to the mountains and began working with Mars Hill University in North Carolina near the city of Asheville.

He spent six years with them; meanwhile he had been keeping an eye out for ETSU. “I always liked ETSU, maybe it’s because it’s a similar campus to where I graduated,” said Alspaugh.

Living between Asheville and Johnson City gave Alspaugh the ability to take a shot at the position for CFAA director when it opened. After the interview process for the position, Alspaugh stated that he “felt like he was really wanted here and that he knew that ETSU would be great for him.”

Alspaugh has exciting plans. “Since about 2020-2021 there was a large growth in the CFAA which means there are lots of opportunities,” he stated. Alspaugh is already planning on restructuring the organization by introducing new practices and procedures.

Alspaugh’s main goal for the moment is to focus on strengthening not only the students who are seeking mentorship and tutoring but also those who are providing such services. He stated that he wants to push those working in the CFAA to become better and more adept at what they are doing because it will help them and those they mentor as well.

(Contributed/CFAA Facebook)

For more information on the CFAA, visit https://www.etsu.edu/students/learning/.