With a semester in the books, Sheri Knight is settling in as the Colby Community College
vice president of business affairs and chief financial officer.
Knight began her new post in late September after serving as the chief financial officer
at CrossWinds Counseling & Wellness in Emporia. The college searched for several months
to fill the position vacated by Justin Villmer in June 2022. He left to be the president
at Dawson Community College in Glendive, Mont.
A graduate of Emporia State University, Knight holds a bachelor's degree with an emphasis
in accounting and obtained licensure as a certified public accountant.
Higher education is not a new field to her. She was the assistant director of human
resources at Emporia State from 2007 to 2011 before serving as director of human resources
at Flint Hills Technical College between 2011 and 2016. In that role, she worked for
a few years with an operations manager named Seth Carter, who became president at
CCC in 2015.
Moving to the other side of the state was difficult for Knight because she will not
live as close to friends and relatives. Her son, as well as her brother and his family
live in Kansas City, and her mom and dad live in Lebo.
"I have three children," she said. "Andrew, Brandon and Chelsea. Andrew passed in a car accident in 2006. He would have turned 36 this year. Brandon just turned 30 and lives in the Westport area of Kansas City and does IT work for Truman Hospital."
Chelsea made the move to Colby and works for Midwest Evaluation and Research as an administrative assistant.
However, more than just two Knights came to western Kansas.
"I have two dogs, five cats, 10 chickens and a duck. I moved them all here with me."
When she has the opportunity, she can also be found outside.
"I love planting flowers in the spring and watching them grow and walking with the dogs. That is my therapy. And I love going to concerts and traveling when there is time."
For now, she is advancing through the first fiscal year in her return to education and is excited to play a part in the process again.
"We have to continue to learn in order to grow. It is a lifelong process. Knowledge truly is power, and I have always loved seeing the lightbulb moment someone learns something new."