1996

WEEK OF East Central opens Skill/Tech One-

Becau_e o: the ncreasing need fo= acc1 :na cla .. sroom space, tM collese held ground– breaki; e ce.-emo:- ~ during the 1995 fa ternl fu- a new Allied Health C iE Care Facility. Scredu ed .for co:npletion in spn.-('0 1 me building will hot: ~ the a:.::.ociate degree nu• ..:£: a d child development ted:- ~ ;:-:ograms. A propo;ed -:.econd module is al5o '='~-:"ed at the same loca· :to:- to .:-dude the licensed practio!l ~ursmg and surgical tech- wg: programs. because of the pressing need for more classroom space, East Central purchased the old ·a·ton County High School ToOpErt) across the street from ~he coUege. This new location will be called the South Campus. In athletics, a new head • coach for the Wamor Football In basketball, the Lady War– riors won the Mississippi Asso– ciation of Commun ity and Junior Colleges South Division Tournament, finished state runners-up and advanced to Region 23 competition before ending the season with a 22 and 7 overall mark. The Diamond Wamors post– ed a record-setting campaign during the 1995 season finish– ing with 30 wins, the most vic– tories ever recorded for an ECCC baseball team. The women's softball team recorded a 28 and 24 mark and finished fourth in the state tour– nament. The golf team finished third in the State's Division Ill Competition and the men's ten– nis team placed fourth in the state tournament In women's tennis, 19Q5 marked the first vear cholar– s.."U~ vo re awarded to mcm- Team came to Decatur in 1995. Willie Coats, who previously 1ed successful programs on the college and high school levels, came to East Central with an overall record of 158 wins and nis Team. 85 losses.

East Central Community Col– lege has enjoyed another year of progress and development, and enrollment at the colle-ze has soared to record le""els. In 1985, there were approxi– mately 240 students from ~ew­ ton County enrolled at ECCC. A decade later, that number has increased to more than 400 Newton County student~ attending classes at the Decatur campus. ECCC opened the doors to a new Skill/Tech One-S top Career Center in 1995, a Jadlity which was established ~o pro– vide technical students with on– the-job experience along \\ith classroom instruction. The Center's mission i to provide business and indwrry the education, training, plare– ment, assessment and consulta– tion to improve the quality oi the workforce in the East Cc:-.tr– al district. Companies in Newton Coun– ty that have received or are cur– r ently rece1ving services through the Center include La– Z-Boy South, Peavey Electron– ics, ESCO Corporation, Tri-C Wood Products Inc., Union Chamber of Commerce, Clima– tic Control Engineers, Latrd Hospital, Newton County Bank, J.B. Sportswear, Harcrest Int., Killens Chevrolet, Citizens Bank, Union Planters Bank, Apache Products Co., Croft Metals, Brook Manufacturing, Chahta Enterprises, the Bank of Decatur, the Decatur Chamber of Commerce, Newton Cham– ber of Commerce, East Central Planning and Development District, and Wood Plus Inc. The college also opened the new Tech Prep Career Center. Serving as the Center's director is Lanette Hanna, a resident of Union who also serves as a col– lege recruiter. The Center is equipped with interest tests, QOOks, manuals and 'mpu~er-aided programs to 1n detemlirung ~=---~ .......... =. u~;:;~. .......,.........,. f •

In the spring of 1995, the Ovid S. Vickers Fine Arts C Vickers, and English instructor at ECCC, retired Ja t

As the college moves into the 21st century, it is taking a path on the infprmation superhigh– way. In 1995, the legislature passed a $29 million bond bill to provide technology develop– ment in Mississippi community and junior colleges.

East Central is planning to upgrade academic computer labs, install a state-of-the-art campus telephone ystem "";th vo1ce mail and automated attendant ..,ervices, purchase computer~ for ·nstructors, implement an on-line electronic circulation and cataloging sy... tern for the library, give tu– dents acccsc; to E-mail account$ - - and the Internet, and cstab ' c;h. ·------– home page on the Internet. In the spring of 1995, the )L R: • .:\L____ Ovid S. Vickers Fine Art!> Cen- t~r was dedicated cunng con- ---–

vocat-ion CCiemonics on the Decatur campus. Vick~, and En{!lish instructor at ECCr