Last Updated on January 15, 2020 by Ivy Tech Community College
KOKOMO, Ind. — The Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo Campus Board of Trustees has two new members – Vicki Byrd of Logansport and Tanya Foutch of Kokomo.
Byrd, vice president of planning and development at Logansport Memorial Hospital, and Tanya Foutch, resident engineering supervisor at FCA US in Kokomo, were appointed to three-year terms by Ivy Tech’s State Board of Trustees. Foutch was appointed to represent manufacturing and Byrd was appointed as an at-large member on the seven-member board of the Kokomo service area, which includes Cass, Fulton, Howard, Miami, and Tipton counties.
“With their expertise and community connections, Vicki and Tanya can offer valuable input to the Kokomo Campus Board of Trustees,” said Dean McCurdy, chancellor of Ivy Tech Kokomo. “We welcome their ideas and feedback as we continue our efforts to better serve our students and meet the needs of the businesses and industries in the Kokomo service area.”
Members of Ivy Tech’s 18 campus boards have four essential responsibilities. These include analyzing educational needs and opportunities in the region, approving regional programming and recommending to the state board a plan to provide education and workforce development programs for the region, approving the region’s budget, and recommending methods for acquiring facilities and equipment needed to deliver regional programs.
Byrd has a long history of service in the Peru and Logansport communities. After graduating from Logansport High School, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from DePauw University and a Master of Science in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. Previously, she had served as vice president of operations for the North Central Indiana Private Industry Council and president/CEO of Workforce Development Strategies. In her current position since 2006, she has led marketing and development activities for Logansport Memorial Hospital.
She and her husband, William, live in Logansport. She is a past president of the Logansport Rotary Club and the United Way of Cass County and serves as a board member of the Area Health Education Center, secretary of Better Health of Cass County, and a member of the Cass County Chamber of Commerce. She also serves as secretary for the Logansport Parks & Recreation Foundation and as a member of the Complete Streets Committee and Logansport Re-Imagined.
Foutch earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from Anderson University before joining Chrysler 23 years ago. She was named resident engineering supervisor at FCA US transmission plants in Kokomo and Tipton in 2016. In this role, she leads a team focused on identifying quality issues for the Company’s current and future portfolio of products.
In 2017, through the FCA Women’s Group, she led a partnership to develop a summer STEM camp for middle school girls that has been presented in 2018 and 2019 at Ivy Tech Kokomo. The program expanded to a STEM camp for middle school boys and Foutch is now working on plans for a STEM camp for high school girls. The camps are part of her commitment to partner with community resources to create life-changing pathways for young people.
In 2019, Foutch received the 2019 Black Engineer of the Year (BEYA) Gerald Johnson Legacy Award recognizing “high merit, impact on people and value to the community and society.”
Foutch and her three children live in Kokomo where she is also active in her church’s outreach ministry.
SOURCE: News release from Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo Region