Kevin Wood is the registrar at San Carlos Apache College. His duties include processing new & returning student applications, performing outreach at community events, coordinating dual enrollment with local area high schools, and most importantly, maintaining student records in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) along with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).
Kevin began working at the college in 2023 as the retention coordinator in which he reached out to at-risk students to develop success plans, tabled at the local high schools along with other events, and administered the EdReady Assessment test to new, current and potential students (he swears by EdReady based on its ability to help everyone with their math and writing skills no matter if they’re in school or not). The transition into his current role has allowed him to come up with new ideas to further improve student retention while increasing the college’s overall student enrollment. Kevin started taking classes at the old Gila Community College- San Carlos Campus (a branch of Eastern Arizona College) after high school where he completed his general studies degree.
He then spent some time dabbling around in a variety of classes at ASU before finding his passion in languages, which led him to graduate with his bachelor’s degree in linguistics with a minor in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona. Having participated in the university’s Native SOAR (Student Outreach Access & Resiliency) program during his final year of undergrad, it was then that he began to take an interest in helping others succeed. He was also an active member of the Campus Community Church (C3)/Tucson Chinese Ministry, which participates alongside other Chinese Baptist churches in yearly summer mission trips to a few Indian reservations in Arizona (including San Carlos).
Kevin continues to volunteer with whichever church that comes down to visit the rez. Kevin considers himself a small-town country guy at heart and prefers the slower pace of life. As a nature lover, there’s rarely a day when he isn’t out on a walk with his dogs or gazing up at the night sky. He’s taken a great interest in learning more about the culture, philosophy, and language of the Apache people. He has a passion for writing and also trains Brazilian jiu jitsu in his spare time.