Finish In Four and Auxiliary Services Recognized

The Community College Futures Assembly has nominated Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College for the 2015 Bellwether Award for both its Finish in Four campaign and Innovative Auxiliary Services model. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding and innovative programs and practices that are successfully leading community colleges. Nominees are invited to submit entries and finalists will be competitively selected and invited to present during the national conference.

Gulf Coast’s Finish in Four campaign was implemented this year. It provides a pathway for the college to aggressively target student completion of an associate degree in four semesters. Student completion strategies include the integration of multiple instructional strategies supported by an expanded employee development plan, aggressive student orientation and better communication, comprehensive enrollment management planning, broader student support services, strong university partnerships, expanded community education offerings, increased technology infrastructure and the deployment of campus medical clinics.

In the past several years, MGCCC has implemented innovative methods of revenue generation utilizing new initiatives combined with industry partnerships, resulting in an auxiliary services model that is centered around student success. The results of this successful model allows the college to depend on revenue generation from outside sources to keep student tuition low. MGCCC’s Textbook Rental Service, a service that is unique to MGCCC and one that provides students with a low-cost method of obtaining books for their classes, is a successful example within this auxiliary service model. Through the rental service, students save 83 percent of what it would cost them to purchase their textbooks.  Early results of the implementation of the Auxiliary Services and Innovation model have led to several new centers at MGCCC, including the Hospitality & Resort Management Center, the Healthcare Simulation Center and MGCCC Corporate College.

“We have implemented several very strong programs at Gulf Coast, programs that have garnered national attention,” said MGCCC president Dr. Mary S. Graham. “We are pleased to be included in the Bellwether Award competition and look forward to being included in the list of finalists invited to present at the national conference.”

The Bellwether Awards are presented annually at the Community College Futures Assembly. This year’s assembly, Pathways Unbound, will be held January 24-27, 2015 at the Hilton Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.