2015

WEEK OF \ '--'\ \~ 2.JJ '7_Q \r:

ECCC: Nationally recognized, Special to The Star

season. • In April, the first Spring Alumni Day was held and a new Disc Golf Col!rse was dedicated • Also during the year, ECCC . kicked off the inaugural Cultural Arts Series, completed renovations on Cross Hall, installed a new synthetic turf foot– ball field, and implemented the 10- point grading system as well as new graduation requirements. • In May, ECCC graduated the largest class in its 87-year history, including a 36 percent increase in stu– dents completing all programs. • Paving, sidewalk and lighting improvements were dedicated near South Campus, thanks in part to grant funding provided through the Mississippi Department of Transportation. • Enrollment in online learning courses continued to grow. A $10,000 grant from the Mississippi Virtual Community College Innovative Learning and Design Grant Program is allowing ECCC to move eLearning Education to a larger facility with double the testing station space and provide professional development for faculty. • ECCC released its annual Community College Performance Profile, or Report Card, as required by the state of Mississippi in May and the college achieved elite status in the area of student success, particularly excelling in the areas of overall gradu– ation rates and preparing students to transfer to four-year institutions. • A summer 2015 project lo reno– vate two mole dormitories, Newsome Hall and Todd Holl, is nearing comple– tion. Thanks to support r:>ledged by the Boards of Supervisors of Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Scott, and Winston counties, plans ore being made to beo n construct•on on a new women's ----.- ~; demand • The women's softball team f layed its way into the NCJAA Notiona Championship game and finished sec– ond in the notion. The No. 2 women's doubles team won state and regional championships, and the women's soc- cer team mode postseoson ploy for first time in its bri~f history. ~CCC was the only community college in the state to

Following his selection as the eighth president of East Central Community C~lege (ECCC) in Decatur in July 2v 12, Dr. Billy Stewart established as his first goal the initiation of a strategic planning process that would result in a vision to shape and guide the future of the college. As a result of that process, 2020 Vision was adopted by the ECCC Board of Trustees in February 2013. It included a long-term desire to be nationally recognizeCI and locally preferred with a priority on meeting the educational and training needs of all residents of the college district-Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Scott, and Winston counties. H As I pause to reflect on the activi– tiP" and accomplishments of ECCC over the past 12 months, I am excited about the progress we have made in fulfillment of 2020 Vision, which guides every decision we make as a college," said Stewart. Some of those accomplishments dur– ing 2014-15 include: • The Clarion-Ledger recognized ECCC as the lop community college in the state based on academic perform– ance of transfer students and tuition costs • For the third straight year, ECCC wos included in the list of the Top-50 fastest Growing Community Colleges n he nation by Community College Wee . • ECCC was named a military Fi ;cndly school by Victory Media for the third straight year. A new admis– sions policy was adopted to offer in– state tuition lo all veterans. • The student newspaper, The Tom– Tom, was named the second best in the state in terms of overall General '.::xce ence ·n the Miss"u ipp1 Press Come ana ECCC ~ lambda chapter, the premier business educa– tion association for colleges and uni– versities, remained the largest in the state and is now the third largest in the Southern Region. • In December, the college hosted its first annual Warrior Wonderland that brought communities and the col– lege together to begin the Christmas

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