Mid-South Community College Partnering To Form Manufacturing, Distribution Institute

Mid-South Community College in West Memphis is partnering with a Tennessee school to create the Mid-South Manufacturing/Distribution Training and Education Institute.

MSCC will join with Southwest Tennessee Community College of Memphis in the endeavor. The collaboration is aligned with The Greater Memphis Chamber’s Chairman’s Circle, a group of more than 100 business leaders who are pushing for more advanced manufacturing development.

“It is extremely important that the people in our region have access to education pathways that provide them the skills for jobs in the near term and the ability to continue along a pathway towards higher skills and better jobs as their lives unfold,” says Dr. Glen Fenter, president of Mid-South Community College.

“This just makes common sense,” says Dr. Nathan Essex, president of Southwest Community College. “By establishing regional common programs and resources that are aligned with employer requirements, we can more efficiently share expensive faculty and equipment resources and more effectively respond to the regions workforce needs.”

The Mid-South Manufacturing/Distribution Training and Education Institute will include programs that are employer-driven and advanced laboratories that provide students access to real-world workplace environments. Employers will determine program outcomes and assist in the design of advanced laboratories that will include the actual equipment and processes that institute graduates will encounter in the workplace.

The institute is also part of a broader effort to create a workforce development education pathway that includes concurrent credit high school programs and an efficient pathway to a baccalaureate degree.

The colleges will share faculty, facilities, and equipment resources. Each college will manage their students of record, including enrollment in courses; financial aid and other student services; and, each college will retain their student semester credit-hour count, and certificate/degree completion.

Programs at the Institute will consist of stacked and latticed employer-driven, one-semester credentials that provide students with the skills required for quick entry into employment. These one-semester programs of study will result in intermediate certificates and industry-recognized certifications that “stack” for award of the associate of applied science degree.