Dr. Joseph Cliburn (left) speaks with Dr. Willis Lott & Dr. Rick Christmas at his retirement reception May 9.
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Longtime Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College employee Dr. Joseph Cliburn has retired after 14 years of service at Gulf Coast, and 30 years of experience as a community college instructor and administrator. Most recently, Cliburn served as the college’s interim vice president for Academic and General Instruction. Before that, he also served as associate vice president for Institutional Research and Planning and as vice president for Academic and Student Affairs. He also teaches anatomy and physiology online at Gulf Coast for the Mississippi Virtual Community College, and he is also a member of the Mississippi Chief Academic Officers and Deans Association, the Association of Chief Academic Officers of the Southern States, the Association for Institutional Research, and the National Association of Biology Teachers. In 2007, Cliburn received the prestigious Mississippi Association of Institutional Research (MAIR) Jim Nichols Service Award.
With experience as both a classroom instructor and as institutional research director at Pearl River Community College, Cliburn brought years of experience to Gulf Coast when he began working there in 1994. Since that time, he has worked closely with Gulf Coast President Dr. Willis Lott and the Executive Council to put Gulf Coast, for five consecutive years, in Community College Week’s list of the top-100 community colleges in the nation.
“Dr. Cliburn has admirably led this division for the past two and a half years,” Lott said. “He’s had the wonderful advantage of coming from an eclectic background. He’s taught, but he’s also told us, based on statistics, in what direction the college needs to go to meet the desires of our students. We’ve been proud to have Dr. Cliburn serve as a member of the leadership team at the college.”
Cliburn, who was born in Hazlehurst and raised in Hattiesburg, has a doctorate from The University of Southern Mississippi in science education. He is married to the former Hannah Mauldin of McHenry, Miss. Hannah and her parents, Bill and Dolores Mauldin, are all alumni of Gulf Coast’s Perkinston Campus. Bill is a former member of the college’s Board of Trustees, and Dolores is a longtime member of the college’s Foundation Board of Directors and was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1985.
Taking over for Cliburn is Dr. Joan Haynes, who was serving as dean of Business Services at the Perk Campus.
“I am very excited about assuming this new position at Gulf Coast,” Haynes said. “I look forward to working closely with all Gulf Coast employees as continue to meet and exceed our world-class instruction strategic initiative. Even though I have had several different roles at Gulf Coast, I began with instruction, so it will be exciting to work in an area I am so passionate about. I am really looking forward to our SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) reaffirmation process. That will be a primary focus over the next two years.”
Haynes has also served in several other roles at Gulf Coast, including coordinator/instructor for the college’s Industrial Training degree program (1997), director of Workforce Development at the college’s Community Campus (1997-98), business instructor at the Perkinston Campus (2003-2006), and as interim assistant dean of Career and Technical Instruction at Perk (2006 – 2007). She also worked at Hinds Community College (1998-2003), and with NASA (1989-96).
“We congratulate Dr. Haynes as she prepares to lead this important part of the college,” Lott said. “Her input and creativity along with her diverse background will play a huge role in our academic mission and in our preparation for SACS.”
