MCC Associate Dean Kimberly Rush graduates from MS Community College Policy Fellows Program
Meridian Community College’s Associate Dean of Advising, Retention, and Student Success Kimberly Rush has completed the Mississippi Community College Policy Fellows Program of 2024.
The program began in 2012 and focuses on leadership, networking, policy, and advocacy. The Mississippi Community College Board sponsors it in partnership with Washington-based AdvocacyBuild. More than 120 have graduated from this program.
Rush was excited to join the MCCFP cohort to learn about advocacy and policy-making at the local, state, and federal levels.
“This program has helped me to understand the need for elected leaders to hear the story of the college and community as we are its constituents, and if we don’t tell the story, it won’t be told,” she said.
Rush explained that this session’s program began in September 2023 and met monthly in Jackson through April 2024. The program concluded with a visit to Washington, D.C., stops at the U.S. House and Senate, and meetings with elected officials. In addition, she was able to network with other community college employees.
“The biggest takeaway I learned is that we do great work in Mississippi; community colleges are vital to Mississippi, and the workforce is only made stronger by our community college system,” she said.
Rush joined Meridian Community College in December 2020 and holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in clinical psychology. She is a doctoral student in the Higher Education Administration Program at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Visit meridiancc.edu for more information.