The Last Whistle: Transitioning Athletes for Success Beyond Sports

Dr. Roderick T. Heath is the Assistant Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students at Fayetteville State University, focusing on building sustainable programming and a student retention-based campus. Before working with Fayetteville State University, Dr. Heath was the Director of the Men's Achievement Center and African American Male Initiative in the Division of Student Affairs at North Carolina Central University. He was responsible for assisting students with academic, social, emotional, professional, and cultural development in this capacity. 

Before joining North Carolina Central University in 2015, Dr. Heath worked as a Fatherhood Coordinator for the State of North Carolina, Gang Outreach Coordinator for the Durham Police Department, Education Supervisor for Durham Housing Authority, High School Graduation Counselor, and Dean of Students for a K-8th Charter school. Dr. Heath is a first-generation 2006 graduate of North Carolina Central University, where he majored in Mass Communications. 

Dr. Heath received his Master of Education from Wingate University in 2010 and his Doctorate of Higher Education Leadership from Fayetteville State University. Dr. Heath has a passion and dream of helping at-risk youth gain control of their future. Dr. Heath's Objective is to utilize his dedication to assisting students in developing social and emotional skills to help their educational journey. Dr. Heath strives to be an articulate communicator while effectively interacting with diverse populations of students at various academic levels. 

Outside his Fayetteville State University duties, Dr. Heath's company, The Higher Education: Black Male Collective, provides consultation services to low-income and at-risk youth. In his personal life, Dr. Heath is a father, husband, and an active member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. My experience working in diverse areas such as recruitment, retention, mental health, teaching, research, youth and community/family outreach through counseling, screening.

Richard A. Cross is the Founder of the Black Male Impact. He recently earned his doctoral degree in Higher Educational Leadership. His focus is to help change the narrative for Black men with a salient focus that includes empowering and inspiring the next generation. Dr. Cross is action and solution-oriented, purpose-driven, committed to positively impacting and mentoring the next generation to realize their full potential and to let them know that innately they have what it takes to achieve what is possible. He is an empowering and transformative leader and thinker who is focused on making a positive impact. However, before it looked this great, for many, it did not, including himself; see where he is today as a possible future. When someone is raised with poverty all around them, sometimes it is hard to see beyond it, even though they may desire more. Many different transitions happened to get to this point which he has shared in his most requested book, Going Beyond Limitations. 

Dr. Cross has over 11+ years of serving in higher education, from being a first-year experience instructor and Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice and has worked as a Retention Specialist and Director of Mentoring and Tutoring. He offers an array of skills in social and emotional intelligence, leadership, training, mentoring, and motivation.

He prides himself on being an avid writer, learner, hard worker, and transformational leader to help position schools and organizations to cultivate a positive work environment which helps with overall achievements. 

His most notable achievements include:

• Successfully published 40+ books which include, Going Beyond Limitations, Letters to Future Black Male Educators, and The Student Oracle which focuses on how students can achieve academic success; Black Men: It’s Time to Rise, which is about breaking preconceived barriers, just to name a few. He has created a workbook that focuses on mentoring and a workbook/journal that will help Black male students in middle school to develop a sense of positive identity and a strong sense of self. 
• Developed innovative, creative, and culturally relevant programs that help the most vulnerable and underserved students to achieve academic success, while at the same time, helping students to develop positive self-identity and learn ways to be self-motivated. He recently conducted research on economic mobility for Black men which will be published later this year. 
• Created a mentoring box that contains insightful information to help Black male students develop a positive self-image, and learn about change agents, innovators, and pioneers who have contributed significantly to the Black culture and humanity as a whole. 

He is currently an educator, educational and emotional intelligence consultant, empowerment speaker, writing coach, and mentor to aspiring authors who are working to complete their first book for publication where the focus is to help them complete their manuscript within 90 days. 

For more information, please contact Dr. Cross: racross13@gmail.com