About Dr. Vacik

Dr. Stephen Vacik was named the seventh president of Hinds Community College in 2020, bringing with him more than 25 years of community college experience. Dr. Vacik’s move to unite all six Hinds campuses as “one college” has been instrumental in establishing a long-term vision for the college, furthering Hinds’ mission to move people and communities forward and fueling purpose, passion and professional growth.

Hinds plays a pivotal role in Mississippi’s educational and economic landscape and Dr. Vacik continues to grow the college’s legacy of marrying its associate degree and certification programs to the current and future workforce needs of the community, region and state.

Through Dr. Vacik’s leadership, Hinds received $8.63 million in federal dollars for FY 2025 to fund five projects, including the Hinds STEM Training Academy and the Information Technology Workforce Transition Program. Hinds has been designated as a Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense and is working to strengthen the cybersecurity workforce through certifications and an associate of applied science degree program. The college also created the Workforce Innovation division, which focuses on awareness and training in the fields of Virtual and Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Industry 4.0, and Data Analytics.

Under Dr. Vacik, Hinds’ partnerships with industry are flourishing. Hinds and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are working together on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education initiatives to equip students with the skills needed for in-demand jobs as Mississippi experiences a surge in state-owned and private sector data center developments. In addition, the college has a partnership with John Deere at the Diesel Technology Academy in Richland to grow the number of John Deere equipment technicians, in huge demand across the country.

At the same time, the college is highly focused on serving the needs of both traditional and nontraditional students. Hinds was ranked the #10 online college in the U.S. by Newsweek in 2025 in an annual listing of the top 250 online undergraduate and graduate programs. The college was recognized by Intelligent.com as Best in the South for its associate degree programs and as Most Affordable in Mississippi among two-year colleges. Intelligent.com considers factors like curriculum quality, graduation rates, reputation and post-graduate employment in its ratings.

Dr. Vacik has been instrumental in improving the Hinds student experience at each campus, including bringing the first full-service, community college Chick-fil-A to the Raymond Campus, a Pizza Hut to the Utica Campus and adding Student Hub to each Campus.

The president has led multiple building projects across several campuses, including construction of a new four-story, 160,000-square-foot Health Sciences Complex slated to open in Fall 2026 on the Rankin Campus. The complex will consolidate in one location the bulk of Hinds’ health sciences programs. On the Utica campus, a new residence hall is scheduled to open in 2026 and will feature a mini-mart, 183 beds on three floors, a kitchen on the first floor, study rooms, computer lab, plus an apartment for a residence hall director. Both projects are made possible through funding from local, state and federal sources.

Dr. Vacik continues to look for ways to leverage funding, partnerships and programming to meet the needs of traditional and nontraditional students, always with an eye on offering accessible, affordable and career-focused programs that serve our students and benefit our communities and industry.