Warrior Magazine December 2019

U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (bottom photo, second from left) of Mississippi was among those helping East Central Community College and its partners celebrate the college’s new Diesel Equipment Technology program and new facility during ceremonies in August at the former U.S. Motors Plant site in Philadelphia. Also participating were (from left) Dr. Billy Stewart, ECCC president; Scott Boatner, pastor of West Philadelphia Baptist Church, who gave the invocation; John Rounsaville, state director for USDA Rural Development in Mississippi; and David Vowell, president of the Community Development Partnership. The project was a joint effort between ECCC, the city of Philadelphia, Neshoba County, Community Development Partnership, and USDA Rural Development. For more information on the Diesel Equipment Technology program, which runs from August to July each year, contact Wayne Eason, director of career & technical education, at 601-635-6210 or email weason@eccc.edu. SEN. HYDE-SMITH PARTICIPATES IN DEDICATION OF NEW DIESEL EQUIPMENT TECHNOLOGY FACILITY

•

ECCC leads state in transfer GPA for 3rd straight year

East Central Community College is the best in the state for the third straight year in preparing students for success at four-year public universities in Mississippi. Students who transferred from ECCC to a public four-year institution earned the highest cumulative grade-point aver age (GPA) of all community college transfers in the state of Mississippi in 2019. According to data released by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), students who transferred from East Central to one of the state’s eight public, four-year institu tions earned a 3.32 GPA at baccalaureate graduation in 2019. Students from the community college with the second highest GPA in 2019 earned a 3.25, and the average GPA for all 15 community colleges combined was a 3.18. This marks the third year in a row, and the fifth time in the past seven years, that all students who transferred from ECCC to a public, four-year university in Mississippi earned the highest GPA at baccalaureate graduation of all the state’s community colleges. The report also again showed that community college

transfer students performed academically as well or better in university courses than students who began their educa tion at the senior institutions. The overall average GPA at graduation earned by all IHL students was a 3.16. “This is outstanding news for our college as we welcome our students to campus for the 2019-20 school year,” said ECCC President Dr. Billy Stewart. “Our goal at ECCC is to prepare students to be successful at their next step, whether that is pursuing a higher degree at a four-year university or entering the workforce. Based on the performance of our transfer students, no community college in the state does a better job than East Central Community College of preparing students to be successful at the next educational level. “I want to congratulate all members of the college family who work so diligently to prepare our students for success, not only in colleges and universities, but the workforce as well. They all make a positive impact on the lives of our students every day.”

CAMPUS NEWS

9