EMCC'S Marilyn Ford named MFACJC president
MAYHEW — East Mississippi Community College humanities instructor Marilyn Ford has been named president of the Mississippi Faculty Association of Community and Junior Colleges.
Ford, who assumed the two-year position Sept. 27, will represent faculty at community and junior colleges across the state.
“One of my main goals as president will be to promote unity among, and support for, all stakeholders in our community and junior college system,” Ford said.
The MFACJC serves as an advocacy agency for faculty and other nonadministrative employees who provide instructional support. Among other things, the MFACJC facilitates an open dialogue among legislators and other educational organizations to promote the mission of the state's community and junior colleges.
The MFACJC also coordinates Capitol Day, an annual spring event in which students, faculty and staff gather at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson to stress the role that community and junior colleges play in providing educational and economic opportunities to residents in the state.
Guest speakers during this year's Capitol Day, which took place Feb. 27, said for every $1 spent on education in Mississippi, 7 cents goes to community and junior colleges, with 18 cents dedicated to universities and 75 cents earmarked for kindergarten through 12th grades.
“With the myriad of services Mississippi's community and junior colleges offer to their students, to our communities and to our state, that amount simply is not enough,” Ford said of the funding allocated to community and junior colleges.
Ford, who has taught creative writing, literature and English at EMCC for 23 years, is a past president of MFACJC, having served in that position more than a decade ago. She is in her second year as president of the EMCC Faculty and Staff Association.
In April, she was named the 2018-19 Educator of the Year by the Columbus Lowndes Chamber of Commerce.
The MFACJC meets in Jackson at least once per semester. Ford said she is looking forward to establishing new relationships as she meets with legislators and others with a vested interested in improving the state's community and junior colleges.
She said her top priority will serving as an advocate for faculty members.
“Faculty members are the ones in direct contact with our students on a daily basis,” Ford said. “Not only do we teach, but we also advise and guide our students as they transfer to a sister university or graduate to enter the workforce. Teaching at a community or junior college is a passion. Working together with our college presidents, alumni and community leaders, faculty at our community and junior colleges make vast differences in our students' lives.”
Ford can be reached by email at mford@eastms.edu.
At $2,000 a semester for a meal plan, Mississippi State University students pay twice what they did about a decade ago for food. Ole Miss dining prices have similarly skyrocketed, up $500 in five years.
Narika Glasper, a recent Ole Miss graduate, recalled the sticker shock. Her scholarships covered housing and tuition, but not food. The price of an “unlimited” meal plan was out of the question, so she settled for a cheaper one that covered 50 meals a semester. Then she learned her unused meal “swipes” didn't roll over.
“I was mad because that's money that was wasted,” said Glasper, 22. “I had to pay upfront for that and I didn't use it, so that's money that just went to (Ole Miss food contractor, Aramark).”
Glasper isn't alone in her frustration. Rising meal plan prices at Ole Miss and Mississippi State mirror hikes at colleges around the country and contribute to the increasing cost of a college education. A big reason for the higher costs? Students are paying for more than just food.
MSU and Ole Miss deliver increasing student meal plan revenue to their dining contractor Aramark. Some students are required to pay for meal plans. In return, the schools receive millions of dollars in commissions and bonuses, which they often use to upgrade or build new facilities and add new dining options, according to dining contracts obtained by the Clarion Ledger and Mississippi Today.
“Food service on college campuses is one of the biggest revenue streams for colleges,” said Marissa Meyers, a practitioner and researcher with the Hope Center, an organization focused on college costs.
Food usually makes up the “board” part of room and board costs at colleges. Nationwide, college students now pay on average more than $4,600 a year for board costs, with Mississippi at about $3,800 for public universities, according to U.S. Department of Education data.
This means students are paying substantially more per meal than they would to cook and eat on their own, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics and the The Hechinger Report. In 2017, the education-focused news outlet reported that colleges and universities nationwide charged on average $18.75 a day for a three-meal dining contract. Eating at home ran less than $11.
How do dining contracts work?
Tom Mac Dermott, a dining consultant for colleges, said schools often lost money on their in-house food operations, so they gradually turned to one of three multinational corporations – Aramark, Sodexo and Compass Group – to run their dining halls, restaurants and catering.