Dr. Christi Trucks is the Department Head of Career Technical Education and Professional Studies (formerly FCS). Dr. Trucks began teaching at JSU in August 2015. Now in her ninth year, she is excited to usher in the next phase of FCS as the department undergoes a name change, welcomes three new faculty members in library media and instructional technology, and has a fantastic new space in Pod 1 at the CEPS Complex. The Pod contains a new kitchen lab with five kitchen stations and a sewing lab. Both are equipped with new state-of-the-art equipment to provide students with the tools they need to be successful in their future professions. In addition to the space in Pod 1, the department also has a new merchandising lab classroom and a commercial kitchen in the former lunchroom space, complete with new equipment and space to expand current culinary offerings.
In 2022, Dr. Trucks led the initiative to relocate the Child Development Center to the new CEPS Complex. The CDC now offers year-round childcare for infants through three-year-olds. Dr. Trucks wrote and received three Alabama First Class Pre-K Classroom Grants for the CDC enabling the CDC to prepare fifty-four four-year-olds for kindergarten. If she is not in her office, most likely, she is at the CDC enjoying the children!
Dr. Trucks and her husband, Wayne, live in Birmingham. They have two boys, Jack and Gann. Gann is a freshman in college. Jack lives in DC and is getting married in April. Her two dogs, Cooper and Chewy, are getting a lot more attention now that they are the only children at home!
Dr. Trucks is excited about the future of the CTEPS department and the College of Education and Professional Studies. "Our new facilities are evidence of the support we have from the administration to continue to develop the best educators and professionals in the state. The possibilities for CTEPS are endless. I can't wait for our programs' dreams to come true!"
