22 October ICC's Dr. Melissa Haab completes Community College Policy Fellows Program October 22, 2019 By Thomas, Donna S. General 0 Itawamba Community College Dean of Enrollment Services Dr. Melissa Haab of Louisville was among 14 Alabama and 13 Mississippi community college administrators who recently completed the Community College Policy Fellows Program. The 10-month professional development program sponsored by the Alabama Community College System and the Mississippi Community College Board culminated in a trip to Washington, D.C. to advocate on behalf of college students in both states. “It was an honor to be selected and to participate in the program and to represent Itawamba Community College,” Haab said. “This experience allowed me to learn more about the community college systems in Mississippi and Alabama and gave me the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues across both states. I was able to broaden my professional skillset and will hopefully will be able to use those skills to benefit ICC and our students.” Directed by Tyson Elbert of Advocacy Build, LLC, the curriculum focused on four national program pillars: policy, leadership, networking and advocacy. It also highlighted comparative elements of both state systems. During the program, the group focused on three policy issues and requests, including protection of the federal Pell Grant program and requesting Pell grant funds for short-term certificate programs; second-chance Pell for incarcerated students, specifically the passage of the Restoring Education and Learning Act of 2019 and new funding commitments for the Strengthening Community College Training Grants to build on the success of the Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants program. While in Washington, the fellows met with every member of the two states’ congressional delegations as well as the U.S. Department of Education, Association of Community College Trustees, the American Association of Community Colleges, the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for American Progress and the Vera Institute of Justice. “The particular issue our cohort focused on was the protection of the Federal Pell Grant,” Haab said. “It was exciting to take the lessons we learned about policy and advocacy and put them into action on Capitol Hill. I was proud to be able to promote the importance of the Pell grant program, not only for our students, but also for students across the state of Mississippi.” Prior to starting at ICC in 2018, Haab served as the dean of students at Alabama Southern Community College and dean of enrollment management at Coastal Alabama Community College. A native Mississippian, she earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Mississippi State University and her doctorate from the University of South Alabama. Upon graduation, she was named the Instructional Design and Development doctoral student of the year. Haab participated in the Alabama Community College Leadership Academy in 2008-09 and the Mississippi Community College Leadership Academy in 2011-12. She is a 2019 graduate of the ICC Leadership Development Institute. She and her husband, Glen, have two children, Alice Ann and Cole. Related Articles ICC's Holloway completes prestigious Mississippi Community College Policy Fellows Program Itawamba Community College’s Michael Holloway of Saltillo, director of recruiting and orientation, is among the 2023 graduates of the Mississippi Community College Policy Fellows Program. Holloway, who is a native of Amory, attended Itawamba Community College on a soccer scholarship. His educational background includes the associate’s degree from ICC and the bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Mississippi. He has worked in higher education for 15 years, all in enrollment management. Before joining the ICC staff 11 years ago, Holloway was a regional admissions counselor for the University of Mississippi for four years. He and his wife, Erin, a teacher for the Tupelo Public School district, are the parents of three children, Emma, 10; Bennett, 6, and baby John Michael. They are members of the First United Methodist Church of Saltillo. “It was an honor to be a part of this (CPFP) experience,” Holloway said. “I appreciate Itawamba Community College for providing me with the opportunity to participate and learn more about advocating at the state and national levels and to collaborate with colleagues across Mississippi for ... Itawamba Community College receives $100,000 and joins 41 other schools across the US as All Within My Hands' Metallica Scholars Initiative expands in year five Metallica’s foundation, All Within My Hands, continues its multimillion-dollar investment in critical workforce programs at community colleges nationwide. Among the schools, Itawamba Community College was selected from a competitive pool of applicants to receive $100,000 to transform the futures of students in the community. “It is a tremendous honor for Itawamba Community College to be selected as one of the recipients of the prestigious All Within My Hands grant, which will significantly impact our career education programs, providing funding for students to pursue a pathway and their best start,” said ICC President Dr. Jay Allen. “It is another indication of the success of the College and reinforcement of the mission that students and their success are our top priority.” The Metallica Scholars Initiative (MSI) was launched in 2019 by Metallica’s foundation, All Within My Hands (AWMH), in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). The workforce initiative marks its fifth year with an ambitious expansion into new curricula. MSI now directly supports 42 community colleges across 33 states, and by the end of this year, it will have helped ... ICC's McCraw, Waters complete Mississippi Community College Fellowship Program Itawamba Community College’s Dr. Brandi McCraw of Fulton, Instructional Coordinator, and TZ Waters of Tupelo, director of Workforce Education, have completed the Mississippi Community College Fellowship Program. In addition, McCraw was selected as the recipient of the Mississippi CPFP 2020-21 Cohort Outstanding Fellow Award, which recognizes those who have displayed distinctive leadership and meritorious service to their profession through participation in the CPFP program. They were selected by their peers. The CPFP program is designed to give Fellows first-hand high-level experience with the workings of the Federal government and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs, according to Tyson Elbert, founder and executive director of AdvocacyBuild, LLC and senior fellow of The Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institute, who presented the awards. It requires Fellows to dedicate time away from their professional responsibilities, but also from their families, communities and social commitments. McCraw, who has been at ICC since 2008, has also served as switchboard operator, Student Services receptionist, administrative assistant to the dean of eLearning Instruction, eLearning adviser and eLearning coordinator. Her educational background includes the associate’s ... Perfect score leads ICC's Salinas to NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars summer program Itawamba Community College sophomore Diana Salinas of Golden has been selected into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Community College Aerospace Scholars summer program. Salinas was chosen as one of the top performing students in a NASA-sponsored five-week online course, which was a prerequisite for her prestigious selection. She earned a perfect score on the program where she designed a robot to collect samples on the Moon. Salinas will receive a $550 stipend from NASA for completing the summer program, which will be virtual due to COVID. “It has been a great experience to be able to participate in this course,” Salinas said. “I learned many new skills and was able to interact with some amazing NASA speakers. If you are interested in space or NASA, I highly recommend this course to others.” The virtual NCAS will include an interactive team competition to plan a mission to the Moon or Mars; NASA mentors assigned to each team; speakers from NASA’s diverse workforce; virtual behind-the-scenes tours of multiple NASA centers; individualized résumé feedback from NASA mentors and ... ICC's Guntharp represents all 15 community colleges during significant C Spire MissiON announcement Itawamba Community College Systems Engineer Jason Guntharp of Fulton represented all 15 Mississippi public two-year institutions during a press briefing Thursday to announce their addition to a statewide science, engineering and technology research and development consortium called the Mississippi Optical Network (MissiON). Guntharp served as chair of the subcommittee, which assisted with the addition of Mississippi’s community colleges to the C Spire initiative. Additional speakers for the virtual press conference included Hu Meena, president and CEO of C Spire; Dr. Andrea Mayfield, executive director of the Mississippi Community College Board; David Sliman, CIO of the University of Southern Mississippi; and Jim Richmond, vice president of marketing for C Spire. They discussed the addition of community colleges to the network, the boost for distance learning, efforts to train and equip students for future jobs in Mississippi employers and benefits for the state’s economy through the MissiON network. “As Mississippi’s leading broadband communications provider, C Spire is proud to provide innovative, leading-edge technology and the latest fiber optic infrastructure to help expand the size of ... ICC signs preferred candidate program agreement with MHP; only community college in the state selected Itawamba Community College signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a Preferred Candidate Program with the Mississippi Highway Patrol, Jan. 26, at the Tupelo Campus. The initiative is a pilot program that will be implemented at ICC, the only community college in the state selected. “Itawamba Community College is more than excited about this partnership with the Mississippi Highway Patrol,” said ICC President Dr. Jay Allen. “According to research, having successfully completed a college degree substantially improves the knowledge and abilities of officers on a vast range of areas from the criminal justice system to conceptual and managerial skills.” The agreement will allow those who are enrolled to pursue either an A.A. or A.A.S. degree in ICC’s Criminal Justice program, meet with an MHP recruiter and apply for the MHP Preferred Candidate Program to skip weeks of the Mississippi Highway Patrol Academy. In order to graduate from the MHP Preferred Candidate Program, students must complete one or more semesters of the MHP Candidates on Rapid Entry curriculum, earn the associate’s degree from ICC, meet the C.O.R.E. Patrol School PT requirements ... 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