Author: Teresa McCreery

 Jones College will close at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, due to the expected severe weather threat in the region.  Jones College will make the following modifications to its standard operating schedule:

• All day and night classes (including credit and non-credit) have been canceled after 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 11. 
• The Jones College Childcare Facility will shut down at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 11. 
• The Professional Testing Center and e-Learning will close at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 11. 
• On-campus housing will remain open. Housing students who plan to stay on campus must notify campus housing by 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, September 11.  

Jones College will reopen on Thursday, September 12, under a modified schedule:

• All Jones College offices will reopen at noon on Thursday, September 12.
  • Critical staff members may be required to return early as conditions permit. 
• Classes will resume Thursday, September 12, for students starting at the 1:30 p.m. class period.
  

Jones College Operations include the following locations:

• Jones College Main Campus, Ellisville, MS
• The Ronald Whitehead Advanced Technology Center, Ellisville, MS
• Clarke County Center, Stonewall, MS
• Greene County Center, Leaksville, MS
• Jasper County Center, Bay Springs, MS
• Wayne County Center, Waynesboro, MS

We encourage everyone to use personal discretion in determining travel conditions.

Please stay safe by monitoring local weather updates and following Jones College communication channels for further campus updates. 

ELLISVILLE – Jones College’s annual Fall Blood Drive will be held Monday through Wednesday, September 16, 17 and 18, at Jones College. On Monday, the Mobile Unit will be parked outside of the Industrial Services Building from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Vitalant will have two Mobile Units collecting donations in the Allied Health Building Parking Lot across from the D.O. Thoms P.E. Gym and in the Parking Lot in front of the Student Union Center from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. The public, as well as the JC community is invited to participate by making an appointment on the Vitalant website, https://donors.vitalant.org/

“Every year Jones College’s students, faculty, and staff get to play a huge part in meeting people’s needs not only in our community, but across the state of Mississippi. Our blood drive helps provide a critical resource to sick and injured people throughout the state. Each year the need for critical blood supplies increases, and the JC students, faculty and staff step up every year and we do our best to meet the needs of our state and our community. I couldn’t be prouder of what Jones does through this one community service opportunity and we always like to say this blood drive means that the ‘blood of bobcats’ flows throughout the entire state,” said JC Blood Drive Coordinator, JCJC Emergency Technology-Paramedic Program Director and Healthcare Simulation Center Director, Benji Sessums, Ph.D. NR-P.

The overall goal for the three-days is 105 units of blood stated Sessums. To encourage donations, T-shirts will be given to all donors and Door Prizes will be available all three days for donors during random drawings.

Jones College was honored to recently host both congressional staff and State Legislators in an educational tour of its main campus in Ellisville, Mississippi. Speakers provided an overview of the college’s community impact and showcased the progress being made in its new Napier School of Design & Building Arts, its Agriculture Programs, and the ongoing expansion of the Nursing Program. Pictured seated left to right are, Christy Holifield-Jones College CFO; Flannery Egner-Senator Roger Wicker’s Special Assistant; Anna Kendall Thames-Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith’s Field Representative; Dr. Jesse Smith-Jones College President; Robin Robinson-State Senator Dist. 42; Katy Roberts-Senator Roger Wicker’s Legislative Assistant and Dr. Tessa Flowers-Jones College EVP of Instructional Affairs. Pictured standing left to right are Dr. Finèe Ruffin-Jones College EVP Governmental Affairs, Information Services & Marketing Officer; Joel Dunagin-Congressman Mike Ezell’s District Director; Chris Vignes-Senator Roger Wicker’s Southern Regional Field Representative; Charlie Ballou-Congressman Michael Guest’s Constituent Services Coordinator; Brady Stewart-Congressman Michael Guest’s District Director; Joel Cain-Jones College EVP Student & Athletic Affairs-Exec. Dir. Athletic Foundation; Griffin Wiggins-Congressman Mike Ezell’s Legislative Assistant; Matt Barnett-Congressman Mike Ezell’s District Director; Lance Taylor-Congressman Mike Ezell’s District Deputy Director; Juan Barnett-State Senator Dist. 34; Dennis Debar-State Senator Dist. 43; Chuck Blackwell-State Representative Dist. 88; Jon Ryan Fennell-Jones College Chief of Staff; Sebastian Paez-Senator Roger Wicker’s Legislative Assistant; Brian Rhodes-State Senator Dist. 36, and Sabrina Young-Jones College VP of External Funding.

ELLISVILLE – The newly launched AccelerateMS High School Workforce Welding pilot program that allowed three Jones County High School Seniors to earn Workforce Welding Certificates last spring also earned the Instant Impact Award. At the AccelerateMS’s 2024 Mississippi Horizons Innovation and Strategy Symposium, Jones College’s Business Development Manager for Workforce College, Becky Collins brought home the handcrafted Instant Impact Award trophy which recognized the contributions the High School Workforce College program is having on area industry and students.

“We were surprised to learn we were nominated for this award,” explained Collins. “Last spring, two students from Northeast Jones and one from South Jones High School earned the Workforce Welding Certificate at Jones College and went on to work in the field and one is also taking classes.”

Because of their success, more high school students in the region have access to this program. The Jones County Economic Development Authority’s Career Coach, Kalyn Patterson is recruiting students and exposing them to a world of options. Patterson explained partnering with Jones College’s Workforce College program for high school students was a very exciting opportunity for her and her students.

“Career Coaches fall under the AccelerateMS program as a tool to get high school students prepared for a professional environment after they graduate from high school. We were able to partner with Jones College to connect them to opportunities like this, where they’re gaining those credentials and building those skills to be ready for their career,” explained Patterson. “A lot of our high school students leave class early and to utilize that spare time we connect them to programs like this to earn these credentials and be successful.”

Jones College’s Workforce Welding instructor, Tracy Warden said students start out learning welding as a baseline for the program. They will also leave with the Forklift Certification, OSHA 10 Certification, and the nationally recognized certification, First Aid-CPR Defibrillator.

“This is all done in an effort to make them all more employable and more visible to employers,” said Warden. “Also, it lets students know they have options if welding isn’t what they want to do for a living. They can be a material handler and now, we have more programs high school students can earn certifications in.”

Currently, the High School Workforce College program supported by AcclerateMS includes fiber optic technician training, the utility line worker program, commercial truck driving and welding. For more information about this program call 601-477-5408 or email, workforce@jcjc.edu

ELLISVILLE – As Jones College students finish their second week of classes, administrators are seeing some programs are at capacity as enrollment rises to new records for the first time in nine years. Jones College President, Dr. Jesse Smith said enrollment numbers have spiked because of a concerted effort in overcoming the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic and issues with FAFSA, the federal financial aid application process.

“We chose a different approach this fall by simplifying the process and reducing our tuition as much as possible,” explained Smith. “We may be one of the few colleges in America that has actually reduced the overall cost to attend college by offering one price for full time students and one price for part time students. There are no fees, nothing. No parking fees, registration fees, lab fees, nothing, which makes it easier for families to understand and get on board.”

According to the enrollment numbers on the fifth day of classes, 4,936 students were in class which is an increase of 8.06 percent from fall 2023. That is an increase of 368 students compared to the previous year. The number of semester credit hours has also increased by 5.74 percent with 62,006 compared to the fall of 2023 with 58,638 credit hours. The biggest increases can be found in the career and technical education (CTE) programs with an increase of 12.73 percent in the number of students taking these courses and an increase of 16.73 percent in the number of CTE semester credit hours.

“We attribute a lot of this to the fact the spotlight has been on career and technical trades nationwide and the impact of the skills gap in this country and in the state. More people are seeing value in career and technical education and are enrolling in more programs,” said VP of Instruction, Rod Tolbert.

Seventeen of the 31 CTE programs are completely full, and the biggest increase of all the CTE programs at 26 percent can be found in the Industrial Services programs at Jones College.  Especially popular are the welding, heating and air conditioning, diesel mechanics, and the utility lineman programs.

“Our goal this fall was to fill as many of these programs as we could because employers are telling us they need these employees,” Tolbert said. “We’re trying desperately to help meet these demands and we’ve made some pretty big strides with our Career Services department and connecting employers with our teachers and making sure our students begin with the end in mind when they enroll. We’re looking at employment opportunities from day one.”

Enrollment continues until Friday, August 30, at Jones College. To enroll in online courses or short-term courses contact the Jones College Enrollment Management Office at 601-477-4257 and for more information click on the website: https://www.jcjc.edu/