He was approved by the Wilkes Community College Board but needed State approval. In a recent meeting, the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges approved Dr. Jeffrey A. Cox as the next and fifth president of Wilkes Community. Dr. Cox is the superintendent of schools for Alleghany County and is scheduled to begin as President of WCC on July 1. Plans were put in motion to find a new President after Dr. Gordon Burns announced in December that he would be retiring after serving as president at WCC for 18 years.  Burns' retirement is effective June 1 and Dr. Cox doesn't get to WCC until July 1, so WCC Chief Financial Officer Morgan Francis will be the acting president during the interim period.