A recent announcement that Mississippi State University received a $2.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop workforce leaders in the Golden Triangle should give local taxpayers pause. While the goal of strengthening our regional workforce is undeniable, the vehicle chosen to do it raises serious questions about efficiency, fiscal responsibility, and the duplication of educational missions.

Developing a skilled workforce is, and always has been, the primary charge of our community college system—and right here in our backyard, East Mississippi Community College (EMCC) and the Communiversity are already national models for technical training.

Universities and community colleges absolutely can, and should, partner on regional economic development. But this new program does not bear the hallmarks of a true partnership. If the goal is truly to build a scalable program to share with other institutions, as stated, then why were EMCC and the Communiversity not integrated into the grant and project from day one? Leaving our frontline workforce experts on the sidelines of a massive local workforce initiative defies logic.

We frequently hear that our region’s skilled technician shortage is due to a lack of capacity or “seats” at the collegiate level. That is simply a myth. The root of the shortage doesn’t lie within our community colleges; it stems from a systemic, decades-long erosion of vocational-technical education at the K-12 level, coupled with a cultural push that mistakenly positions a four-year university degree as the only viable path to success.

Mississippi boasts one of the finest community college systems in the entire United States. They are specifically built to be agile, responsive to industry needs, and deeply rooted in their local economies. When four-year universities step into the technical workforce space, they risk muddying the waters and creating costly, redundant administrative structures.

Our leadership in Jackson needs to step up and ensure that our state universities stay in their designated lanes. In a state where educational funding must be stretched as far as possible, duplicating missions is an irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars. Instead of funding new, redundant university programs, we should adequately fund and support the powerhouse community colleges we already have.

Keith Gaskin

Columbus

Member, EMCC Board of Trustees