Kevin Wood is the Registrar for 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) of 1974 along with the Bureau of
Indian Education (BIE).
Kevin started out at the college as the retention coordinator in which he
would reach out to at-risk students, table at different events in the community,
and administer the EdReady Assessment test, which is designed to help new
students with math course placement based on their current level. 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 enrollment.
Kevin started out taking classes at the old Gila Community College- San
Carlos Campus (Eastern Arizona College) where he earned his associate’s
degree. He then spent some time dabbling in different majors before finding his
passion in linguistics, which is what he earned his bachelor’s degree in (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 semester 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 annual mission trips to
the Indian reservations in Arizona. During his three years with the group, he got
to volunteer up north in White Cone, AZ on the Navajo Nation before spending
the next two mission trips at home in San Carlos. He continues to volunteer with
whichever church that comes down to visit the reservation.
Kevin considers himself a small town, country guy at heart and enjoys the
slower pace of life. As a nature lover, there’s rarely a day when he isn’t out on a
hike with his dogs or gazing up at the stars at night. 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.