Dr. Daniel Jones, chancellor of The University of Mississippi, was the keynote speaker at MGCCC’s Student Leadership Conference held October 21 at the college’s Hospitality and Resort Management Center.
Eighty-eight students from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College attended the 2014 Student Leadership Conference on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the Hospitality and Resort Management Center on the Jefferson Davis Campus. The conference, which is held annually, includes student leaders from the college’s Student Government Association, Reflections Team and club officers.
Dr. Daniel Jones, chancellor of The University of Mississippi (UM), was the keynote speaker. During his speech, Jones talked about the attributes and responsibilities of a leader. He encouraged students to not only set goals for themselves but to have a plan of action to reach those goals. He also said that communicating and listening were important and that effective leaders use them in lieu of making assumptions about people or situations.
Jones, a medical doctor, is the 16th chancellor at UM. He is responsible for the operation and management of a four-campus university that includes nine schools at Oxford, five at University Medical Center (UMMC) in Jackson, the Advanced Education Center in Tupelo and Desoto County Center in Southaven, with a total student body of 21,500. A native Mississippian, Jones served as the 2007-2008 national president of the American Heart Association. His career has included private practice of medicine, including several years spent at a mission hospital in South Korea; serving as a faculty member at The University of Mississippi School of Medicine and the Herbert G. Langford Professor of Medicine at UMMC; and vice chancellor for Health Affairs, dean of the School of Medicine, and chief executive officer at UMMC.
The all-day event also included sessions on resume writing and interview skills, professional etiquette, ethics and personal responsibility, prevention and intervention in sexual misconduct situations, and personal finances. Session leaders included Jason McCormick, UM Community College Admissions counselor, Whitman Smith, UM director of Admissions; Jody Lowe, associate director of Admissions at UM; Ty Allushuski, assistant director of Admissions for Communications at UM; Dr. Jason Beverly, dean of Student Services at MGCCC’s Jefferson Davis Campus; and Jonathan August, financial advisor, BancorpSouth.