MGCCC finalist in national Bellwether Award

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College is a finalist in the 2009 Bellwether Awards, a prestigious national award sponsored by the Community College Futures Assembly. Receiving the award at the Community College Futures Assembly in Orlando, Fla., are, from left, Dr. Billy Stewart, vice president for Administration and Finance; Moreno Jones, chair of the MGCCC Board of Trustees; Stacy Carmichael, dean of Business Services at the Jefferson Davis Campus; and Dr. Joan Haynes, vice president for Instruction and Student Services.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College was a finalist in the 2009 Bellwether Awards, a prestigious national award sponsored by the Community College Futures Assembly, a national independent policy think tank that convenes annually to articulate the critical issues facing American community colleges and to recognize innovative programs.

The focus for the 2009 Community College Futures Assembly is change, with particular focus from the presenters and keynote speaker on the theme “Leading Change.” Gulf Coast’s entry in the Planning, Governance and Finance Category is entitled "Leadership Development – An Essential Piece of Leading Change."

“We are thrilled with this award because it affirms that Gulf Coast has created a leadership development program that can become a model for other community colleges around the country,” said Dr. Joan Haynes, vice president of instruction and student services at the college.

The Bellwether Awards annually recognize outstanding and innovative programs and practices that are successfully leading community colleges into the future. Applications for the 2009 awards were competitively reviewed and finalists were selected based on how well the programs address the conference theme, an identified critical issue and the published criteria.