July 14, 2010

Jennifer Annison is eager to begin taking business administration classes at Mississippi College’s new Flowood Center soon after the doors open in late August.

“I will take as many classes as they offer, then go to the Clinton campus,” says Annison, 28, an employee with the Mississippi Department of Human Services in Jackson. “It’s not far from where I live,” added the Rankin County resident whose home is near the Ross Barnett Reservoir.

MC leaders are stepping up their recruitment of students like Annison, and will welcome prospects for a series of information sessions July 22, August 5, and August 12. MC School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo and Sara Kimmel, executive director of the Flowood Center and MC business professor, will field questions. Open to the public, the sessions are set for 5:30 p.m. at the River Room Conference Center across the street from the center at 115 Laurel Park Cove.

The Flowood Center will house the Christian university’s Accelerated Degree Programs that cater to working adults two evenings per week. Students can earn degrees in business administration, accounting, marketing, public relations, or sociology. Classes begin August 23 at the renovated building next-door to the Flowood Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center.

There’s been a good bit of construction work in recent days and more to come at the MC facility near the Dogwood Festival Mall. “The cabinets and the walls are up,” Kimmel said Tuesday. “There will be work on the floors this week. We are far from complete, but we are ahead of schedule.” The Mississippi College sign will be put up soon.

The opportunity to take MC classes at a convenient location was something that prompted Annison to sign up for classes in Flowood. There were other good reasons, too.

A graduate of Northwest Rankin High and the Hinds Community College Rankin campus in Pearl, the state employee spoke with several MC graduates before making her decision.

Among others, Annison checked with her mother, Jan Annison, and her boss, DHS deputy executive director Mark Smith, both Mississippi College graduates who encouraged her to join the MC family. “I really like MC,” said Annison, who’s taking summer classes on the main Clinton campus. “The people are friendly and helped get me started. The instructors are wonderful.”

MC will operate the Flowood Center with eight classrooms on Monday and Thursday evenings. Kimmel says school officials anticipate as many as 120 students will enroll in late August.  Registration is set for August 19 at Self Hall on the main campus in Clinton.

Flowood enrollment numbers are expected to grow in January 2011. MC officials hope to offer other elective classes plus continuing education courses at the 8,000-square-foot center next year. “The sky is the limit,” Kimmel said. “It is a terrific opportunity. There will be tons of room to grow.”

Due to the birth of the new center in Rankin County, MC is closing its satellite locations in Brandon and Madison.

The new Flowood Center figures to be attractive, especially for Rankin County residents, but will really reach out to folks in all metro Jackson communities, Kimmel says.

MC accounting major Clifton Hinson, 30, of Flowood agrees. “It will be great for students that live over this way.”

For more information on the Flowood Center, contact MC’s Office of Enrollment Services at 601-925-3800.