By Bob Arnold
In the midst of personnel changes and a reaccreditation process, Co-Lin is continuing its strong role in southwest Mississippi as the leading workforce development partner among government agencies and private organizations working to shape the area’s economy, preparing and certifying people for jobs and careers, training workers as needed for existing and new employers and connecting job-seekers and employers.
Through July 2024 and the end of the school term, the college’s Workforce Education Division, which offers non-degree programs, has 25 events on its calendar, including testing in which workers can demonstrate career readiness and training for workers to acquire skills they need to qualify for jobs. Its Career and Technical Education Division will award certificates and grant Associate Degrees to students who equip themselves for specialized jobs and career paths. In partnership with ed2go, Co-Lin also offers online open enrollment programs designed to provide skills necessary to acquire professional level positions in many in-demand occupations.
Outside its educational activities, Co-Lin manages and staffs the Mississippi Department of Employment Security WIN (Workforce Investment Network) Job Centers at Brookhaven and Natchez where employers list jobs for which they are hiring and job-seekers can search for employment and get counseling and assistance in pursuing work and required training for jobs.
As a matchmaker of employers and job-seekers, Co-Lin also conducts an annual job fair. On March 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., more than 20 employers, including organizations from the manufacturing, medical, construction and financial sectors, will be on hand at the Thames Center on the college’s Wesson campus to meet more than 100 students and persons from the wider community seeking jobs. Today, prospective employees and hiring organizations alike use Handshake, an online service on which they can complete and then engage, connecting before the event to make appointments for serious conversations. Job-seekers discover jobs and internships, receive direct messages from employers about jobs and events, connect with employees at organizations and get an inside look at employers and jobs.
“In a year of a transition, Co-Lin is continuing its important contributions to the area economy, but initiating no new programs,” Dr. Jackie Martin, Vice President of the Wesson Campus, explains. “We’re preparing for 10-year site visits of accreditation teams that will look at the quality of our existing programs and evaluate planned enhancements, such as addressing anxiety of students and stress-relief.”
Personnel changes with new program management approaches are part of the current transition as well. Dr. Sharolyn Magee of Collins has been named Dean of Career and Technical Education overseeing all the Division’s programs and faculty on all three Co-Lin campuses, as well as the Adult Education program on each campus. She will also recommend initiation or termination of Career-Tech programs for the college district, maintain partnerships between the Mississippi Community College Board and the Mississippi Department of Education and be responsible for all annual assessments and reporting. The college is also interviewing for a Dean of Workforce Education to replace Luke Laird, former director of the division.
Historically, the Career and Technical and Workforce Education divisions of Co-Lin have produced the region’s workers by training people for existing and new jobs and assuring they are equipped with the knowledge and skills for changing work requirements throughout its service area encompassing Adams, Copiah, Franklin, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lincoln and Simpson Counties. Together, through certificate, degree and non-degree programs, the respond to business needs for ongoing and special training so workers have current skills and knowledge to do their jobs safely and productively.
The college’s certificate and Associate Degree programs include construction equipment operation, cosmetology, diesel equipment technology, food production and management technology, HVAC technology, practical nursing, precision machine technology, Business and Marketing Management Technology, Business and Office Technology, Computer Networking Technology, Drafting and Design Technology/Architectural Engineering Technology, Early Childhood Education Technology, Electronics Technology, Hotel and Restaurant Management Technology, Medical Laboratory Technology, Medical Radiological Technology, Military Technology and Respiratory Care Technology.
Among events on the 2024 Workforce Education calendar are 10 assessments for Career Readiness Certification in support of the American College Testing (ACT) Work Ready Program to certify emerging, existing and transitional workforces in the seven Co-Lin district counties as “Work Ready” in attracting new employers. The calendar also includes basic Emergency Medical Technician, Certified Clinical and Medical Assistant and IV Therapy trainings, three Online Entry Level Driver trainings and eight day and night Commercial Truck Driving Classes. Other training not on the 2024 Workforce Education calendar are welding, fiber splicing and power line repair.
Professionals from varied fields of expertise design the college’s online programs, and instructors/mentors are actively involved in learning experiences of students, responding to their questions and concerns, and encouraging and motivating them. The online programs span ten subject areas: Business (89 programs), Information Technology (61 programs), Construction and Trades (53 programs), Hospitality (27 programs), Computer Science (17 programs), Legal (15 programs), Computer Applications (14 programs), Arts and Design (10 programs), Health and Fitness (7 programs), Languages (2 programs).