Office of the Vice President

Dr. Shay Little
Vice President for Student Affairs

slittle@georgiasouthern.edu
Office: (912) 478-2796

Shay Little, Ph.D. currently serves as the Vice President for Student Affairs at Georgia Southern University. She leads a talented team that oversees a wide range of departments whose mission is to advance students’ holistic development through intentional learning and transformative engagement in co-curricular programs and services.  

Dr. Little has more than 28 years of experience in student affairs programs. She worked at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, University of Georgia, and Kent State University, before joining the Georgia Southern team.  

She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Baylor University, a Master of Science in counseling and student personnel services from Oklahoma State University, and a doctorate in counseling and student personnel services from the University of Georgia. She attended the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, taught counseling and higher education classes, and has more than 20 publications or professional presentations to her credit.

Dr. Ken Gassiot
Associate Vice President for Student Development

kgassiot@georgiasouthern.edu
Office: (912) 478-3398

Dr. Ken Gassiot serves as the Associate Vice President for Student Development and oversees the departments of Student Activities, Leadership & Community Engagement, and Student Media.  Ken also provides primary leadership for Eagle Engage, Eagle Experience, the Graduate Assistant Placement Program, and the Armstrong Collaboration Team.  Dr. Gassiot has dedicated the last 23 years to public and private higher education in Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia.

He has worked directly in the functional areas of Housing and Residence Life, Student Conduct, Parent & Family Relations, Dean of Students Office as well as a previous Senior Student Affairs Officer.  Ken has served as a guest lecturer, instructor, and adjunct faculty in first year student courses as well as graduate programs in higher education at Texas Tech, Clemson, and Georgia Southern. 

Dr. Gassiot stays active on campus to support student involvement by attending campus programs/events, advocating for student needs and inclusion, and saying yes to any request that involves a dunking booth or pop up pillow fight.  Stay connected with Dr. Gassiot on Twitter (@kengassiot).

Dr. Aileen C. Dowell
Associate Vice President & Dean of Students

adowell@georgiasouthern.edu
Office: (912) 478-3326

Dr. Aileen C. Dowell is the Associate Vice President & Dean of Students at Georgia Southern University. As Dean, she is the primary student advocate for over 26k students at all three campuses. Her passion lies with crisis and problem solving and ensuring students are successful in navigating their collegiate experience. 

Dr. Dowell is a proud graduate of Auburn University for her doctoral and masters degrees and her undergraduate degree at Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga. She enjoys spending time with her spouse, Marco and young son, Caleb.

Dr. Melanie Miller
Associate Vice President for Student Success

mlmiller@georgiasouthern.edu
Office: (912) 478-3326

Dr. Melanie Miller holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare, a Master of Arts in Community Counseling, and her Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Alabama. Prior to beginning her work in higher education, her experience included work with in the mental health field and work with community based, non-profit agencies.

Dr. Miller’s tenure in higher education spans more than two decades. She most recently served as Associate Vice President of Student Success at Florida State College at Jacksonville where she had oversight for several areas including the Dean of Students, Academic Success and Coaching, Career Development, Athletics, Student Engagement, and Student Onboarding. 

In her role as Associate Vice President for Student Success at Georgia Southern, she has various units in the division reporting to her that include the Counseling Center, the Student Accessibility Resource Center, and Student Union Facility and Event Services. She serves as the liaison for Student Affairs building renovation projects and coordinates assessment efforts for the division.

Alison Gould
Executive Assistant

agould@georgiasouthern.edu
Office: (912) 478-2795

Alison received her Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Merchandising and Apparel Design from Georgia Southern in 2016. She serves as the Executive Assistant III to the Vice President for Student Affairs, and manages the day-to day administrative operations of the VPSA Office, supports student workers and serves as a liaison between executive offices.

LaShai Campbell
Business Manager

ljoshua@georgiasouthern.edu
Office: (912) 478-6052

LaShai Campbell is the Business Manager for the Division of Student Affairs. She has been employed by Georgia Southern University for 8 years in various accounting roles. LaShai was born and raised in Los Angeles and is a proud triple Eagle (’12, ’15, ’16) with degrees in accounting and business administration. Outside of the office, LaShai enjoys reading and volunteering. She is the proud wife of Philip and the dog mom of Boogie.