Contact: Sammy McDavid
As the 11th annual Mid-South Community College Fellowship Program conference is about to begin, the statewide leadership development preparatory is receiving a grant to expand its outreach in south Mississippi.
MCCFP is a cooperative creation of Mississippi State and Alcorn State universities. Now including the support of participating institutions, it is the state's first and only university-based curriculum to prepare future community college leaders.
Ned Lovell, former head of MSU's educational leadership department, led in developing the fellows program. Though now retired, he continues to coordinate activities through his position as special project coordinator at MSU's John C. Stennis Institute of Government, which serves as the partnership's fiscal agent.
Lovell said the Picayune-based Lower Pearl River Valley Foundation recently provided an $18,450 grant to create a total of seven scholarships specifically for community college fellows from Southwest Mississippi selected for the dual-level courses of study.
"Our partnership supports two well-established leadership programs," Lovell said. "The Education Policy Fellowship Program based in Washington, D.C., involves a nine-month curriculum focusing on state and national issues. Here in Mississippi, the Mid-South Community College Fellowship is designed to provide training in state and regional issues."
The MCCFP's 2004 meeting takes place Sunday-Friday [July 18-23] at Lake Tiak O'Khata Conference Center near Louisville.
Lovell said the foundation grant is a welcomed boost to the fellows program. Since being created in the mid-1990s with assistance of the Phil Hardin Foundation of Meridian, the "hands-on leadership training and professional development network" has graduated nearly 300 community college faculty members and administrators from eight states, he added.
"We are most appreciative of this support by Dr. Ted Alexander (president and chief executive officer) and other members of the Lower Pearl River Valley Foundation board of directors," Lovell said. "In addition to providing financial support that enables local educators to benefit from the training, the grant will help enhance efforts already in existence."
Lovell said this year's gathering includes a presentation by Michael McCall. "We are honored to have Dr. McCall, who is both president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College and president-elect of the American Association of Community College Board of Directors," Lovell added.
Sen. Gray Tollison of Oxford will be the conference's keynote speaker. Chairman of the Senate Judiciary "B" Committee and a member, among others, of the legislative body's Education and Universities and Colleges committees, Tollison's appearance is made possible by the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service in Starkville.
For more information on the fellowship program, contact Lovell at (662) 325-3442.
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For a complete schedule of speakers and programs at this year's conference, contact Molly Clark at 325-9480 or Molly Clark.