Category: News

ELLISVILLE- Mississippi’s 15 Community College presidents gathered at the State Capitol with data proving the two-year college system is valuable to the state in numerous ways. They commissioned an economic impact report by NPSARC, or the National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center at Mississippi State University to analyze the more than 100-year old community college system to determine who is served by the statewide network, the outcomes in relation to the labor market and the estimated overall economic impact on the state. Community college leaders discovered the system is overwhelmingly successful. The report found community colleges have a 3.9-billion-dollar impact on the economy, serving more than 200,000 people annually in academic and workforce training. Additionally, the two-year college system is one of the largest employers with 8,100 employees.

“Community colleges generate 277 million dollars in state and local taxes,” said Dr. Mary Graham, chair of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) and President of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. “The state’s investment in your community college has an immediate and short-term payback for all the citizens of Mississippi. Imagine if we invest in Mississippi’s community colleges to the fullest extent? What a difference we can make for all of the citizens of Mississippi.”

With more than 52 thousand unfilled jobs in Mississippi, community college leaders believe they are the answer to preparing students to fill those highly skilled, high paying jobs.  In fact, Governor Tate Reeves announced his plan to invest 75 million dollars into community colleges, of the 100 million he has allocated in his plan to equip Mississippians with the necessary skills for a modern workforce and to make Mississippi a “ready to work” state.

“Every class offered at our community colleges is in and of itself, workforce development and workforce training. Jobs or university degrees-it is all opportunity in workforce development,” said Governor Reeves. “I’m committed to helping our community colleges and more importantly, the institutions and the students they serve, to achieve even more together to better our workforce training, and create good-paying jobs for every Mississippian so they can thrive at home.”

That is continued good news to community college leaders with graduation rates at community colleges at an all-time high and 75% of its graduates stay “home” in Mississippi. The Community College Economic Impact Report also revealed the value of an Associate of Applied Science degree within a few years of graduation, is very appealing to residents said MACJC Legislative Co-Chair and President of Jones College, Dr. Jesse Smith.

“The average salary for graduates with an A.A.S. degree is above $40,000 which is equivalent to most university grads with a bachelor’s degree,” said Smith. “For every person who went through workforce training, after one year, they saw their income increase by $2,300. We (community colleges) trained 100,000 people last year. Think of that economic impact in and of itself.”

Some of the benefits the Report revealed didn’t tie directly to the state economy or an individual’s financial success. Dr. Andrea Mayfield, Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board explained employers greatly benefit from workforce training at community colleges.

“There are also some benefits that you don’t hear very often, like lower reliance on public assistance, higher employee retention for companies through workforce training, higher workforce productivity, lower likelihood of being injured on the job due to safety training through workforce services and more. There is a financial impact and a return to the state. All of these things add up and have value. Community College’s truly are the economic powerhouse for the state,” said Mayfield.

Despite the data or empirical evidence discussing the return on the investment of community colleges on the state economically, the President of the Mississippi Faculty and Staff Association and East Mississippi Community College English instructor, Marilyn Ford said the data represents far more to her. She sees her students, their dreams, aspirations and hope for a better future.

“I don’t see the numbers or percentages when I enter a classroom. I see my kids, my students, who have hopes and dreams for our state and for ourselves. Our two-year colleges cannot continue to function with any degree of efficiency; we can’t help the Molly’s, the Lily’s, the C. J.’s, that I see every day, every week. We need your help to continue our mission to serve our communities and those communities are comprised of living and breathing, hopeful Mississippians,” said Ford in her appeal to the Legislature for more funding.

The 15 Community College statewide system offers more than 500 locations throughout the state, including military bases and high schools, for residents to earn college credit and non-credit training.  Providing accessible education and training is one of the many reasons the Mississippi Community College Impact Report indicates to community college leaders they are on the right track. Maximizing the state’s return on its investment in the community college system is helping the state and its residents with more pathways to financial and personal success.

ELLISVILLE – At 17, Jeremy Stevens dropped out during his sophomore year at Laurel High School. He explained, he was working as a full-time manager at McDonald’s to take care of his 15-year old wife, Tabitha Read Stevens and their newborn baby, Juliet. While their paths were filled with obstacles, ten-years later he proudly boasts he has earned his High School Equivalency and is a couple of classes short of earning an associate degree in welding at Jones College.

“We did it the hardest way possible to begin a family,” said Stevens. “I quit my job at McDonald’s before Skylar, our second child was born in 2013. I took an employability test at Hol-Mac (in Bay Springs) and they turned me down cold. I knew I had no chance because there were college students in there.”

That rejection “lit a fire” in Stevens to get his education at Jones College’s Center in Bay Springs.  While interested in the Millwright program, instructor Tracy Warden discussed other career options with Stevens, including the MIBEST program, which can help qualified students earn a High School Equivalency while taking welding classes.

“I was at the top of my class in welding; I loved welding. I also earned Millwright and Forklift Certificates at Jones while I finished my HSE,” said Stevens. “I’m grateful Mr. Warden encouraged me to pursue more options.”

While applying for a welding job at Hol-Mac, Stevens said they offered him an opportunity to become a machinist because he tested well on the math section of the employability test. He said it was an opportunity to earn more income and learn a new trade.

“When we have the pleasure to hire a person that has proven that life’s hurdles will not keep them down, they always become an asset to our work family,” said Hol-Mac Corporation’s VP of Human Resources, Maury Hull, PHR. “Jeremy Stevens embodies the work ethic and determination of the model employee that Hol-Mac Corporation looks for when we are trying to fill key skill positions in one of our six manufacturing facilities in Mississippi.”

Despite their backgrounds, working “dead-end” jobs, having their house and truck hit by a tornado, dealing with unreliable vehicles and other challenges, the young Stringer residents said they wanted more for their kids, which drives them to do more.  Being self-determined to earn an education and learn new trades has allowed Jeremy to offer a better and different future for his family. Now, his wife Tabitha is excited to begin working towards her career and further enhance their family’s future. While exploring her options at Jones College, she was surprised she scored a 26 on the ACT with only an eighth-grade education. With that confidence-boosting score, Tabitha enrolled in spring classes with aspirations of becoming a marriage and family counselor.

“I want to help young couples, like us who didn’t know much,” said Tabitha, who is grateful for the family who helped them raise their three kids. For seven years, Tabitha worked toward earning her HSE degree while working as a personal care attendant for Ability Works.

“I wanted to show the kids I could do this. We (she and her husband Jeremy) made a deal that we would get our education so our kids couldn’t use it for an excuse, not to go to school. Getting a full-tuition scholarship takes a lot of the financial stress off!”

Earning an education was probably the most difficult thing Jeremy said he has ever done, but it has opened so many more doors than he imagined. He also earned a full-tuition scholarship to Jones as the highest overall HSE scorer in Jasper County in 2016.

“I’m not done by a long shot! After Tabitha gets done with school, depending on how things go at Hol-Mac, eventually, I want to get a degree in engineering and be an engineer at Hol-Mac,” said Jeremy.

Inspired by his journey, Jeremy said his younger brother is earning his HSE and is working at Hol-Mac. He’s hoping his wife will enjoy the same amount of success he is currently enjoying at Hol-Mac and offers advice for anyone thinking about getting their education.

“No matter what the situation is, there is always an opportunity to better yourself and all it takes is starting the HSE. It opens so many doors, you won’t believe it! Take it one class at a time, one hour at a time if you have to, but keep going,” said Jeremy Stevens.

For more information about classes at Jones College’s Jasper County Center call 601-477-5473 or check the webpage at http://www.jcjc.edu/workforcecollege/jasper_county.php. For more information about enrolling at any of Jones College’s Centers or the main campus in Ellisville click on the link: https://www.jcjc.edu/new2jones.php

ELLISVILLE –The “tech-savvy” probably know that “coding” is one of the top jobs in demand. In fact, computer technology skills are in demand in every career field. In an effort to fill those demands, C-Spire and Mississippi State University’s Center for Cyber Education have launched a pilot program which includes Laurel High School and Jones College. The statewide initiative created a software development pathway program for high school juniors in an effort to alleviate the more than 1,300 vacant computing jobs in the state. However, finding a teacher for the dual-credit program, when the demand and salary for skilled individuals can easily lure them away from the classroom, required some help and creativity, said Laurel High School’s Career and Technical Center Director, Jeannine Agee.

“Individuals with this type of knowledge and experience can make more money working as software developers, compared to a high school teacher’s salary. We had to look at a way to form a partnership where our students would have access to high-quality instruction from someone with profound experience and knowledge in the area of software development. Through a partnership with Jones College, we are able to offer a hybrid program,” said Agee.

Eleven Laurel High School students signed up for the class in coding last fall with aspirations of joining the computer science field. The skills these students are learning prepares them for the possibility of creating their own software development business and work with clients all over the world. Jones College computer science instructor, Julious Jefferson teaches the high school students’ college-level HTML coding every Monday and Friday, with students receiving class instruction via live streaming or online, the other days.

“Considering none of the students had experience in coding before the class, they did great. Having a college-level class and getting that experience has caused them to be more responsible and mature a lot faster. It has also prepared them for future college courses,” said Jefferson.

Students selected for the pilot program can take four courses, one each semester in the last two years of high school. Six more courses will be required at the community college level for them to earn a Career Certificate with the opportunity to earn up to 27 college credit hours and several industry certifications with proper scheduling in high school. Students could then enter the workforce as a junior-level software developer at companies like C-Spire and FedEx.

“This new Software Development program offers students the ability to obtain an associate degree and enter the workforce in one year after high school,” Agee said. “Our students need these skills to be informed, productive citizens as well as competent employees.”

With potential starting salaries of $50,000, students are taking a closer look at the possibilities of working in computer science-related fields, like LHS junior, Bryce Harper.

“I’ve always been interested in computers, especially programming. I think it’s amazing that we have self-piloting planes and driverless cars because of technology. I want to be involved in a job that involves this changing technology.”

With the technology demands changing, Jones College Dean of Career and Technical Education, Rod Tolbert said the college’s Information Systems Technology program is expanding. Virtual Reality, Coding and Cybersecurity have been added to the computer programming and computer networking programs. The pilot program with Laurel High School and the changes to the IST program at Jones are expected to help meet the growing global demands for skilled computer science and technology workers.

“Coding jobs are projected to grow twice as fast as other job markets,” said Tolbert. “According to the MSU Center for Cyber Education, nationally, there are 500,000 coding job openings in the United States in every industry and in every state. Jones hopes to be able to be a part of the solution with the pilot program and the additional components we’ve included in our computer science programs.”

Agee said the Laurel High School Career and Technical Center’s goal is to target students who will be successful in the software development pathway by collaborating with Laurel Middle School. By identifying students through interest inventories and academic performance, students will be invited to be a part of the school’s Coding Club and on track for the Software Development Pathway. Educators and C-Spire are hopeful more students will pursue computer science-related careers with the implementation of the pilot program.