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Northwest's Senatobia campus names Evening School Director
by Nancy Patterson
4/12/04
Dana French of Olive Branch will head up the Evening School program for Northwest Mississippi Community College's Senatobia campus, announced Dr. Marilyn Bateman, dean of Academic Education, and Jerry Nichols, dean of Career and Technical Education on the Senatobia campus.
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French comes to Northwest with a diverse background that ranges from finance and Web design to distance education, telemedicine, broadcast production and adult education. She began her new duties April 1.
"I am genuinely excited to have someone of her caliber to direct our Evening School program," said Bateman. "I have great expectations that she can expand our program to meet the needs of the community."
Most recently French served as a loan officer for First Alliance Mortgage in Houston, Texas. She was founder and regional director of the Cisco Networking Academy program, a technical program targeted for students K-12, which was housed on the campus of Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis.
Prior to moving to the Memphis area, French served as director of Distance Education for both the University of Arkansas at Monticello and Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia.
She obtained her experience in distance education and telemedicine while serving as assistant director of the Department of TeleMedical Communications for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. She was a member of a TeleMedical advisory board, specializing in teleRadiology and breast cancer research for the Clinton Administration.
On a state level, she was a member of the Governor's Task Force for Distance Education under Governors Clinton, Tucker and Huckabie of Arkansas. French has been included as a member of numerous advisory boards for colleges and universities throughout the country. She served on a technical advisory board of the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock.
She received her B.S. degree in radio and television communications from Arkansas State University and completed an M.Ed. in adult education at the University of Arkansas. She recently started a Ph.D. program in human resources development and Texas A&M.
French already has a vision for the Evening School program. "I hope to see more distance learning classes," she said. "We live in such a hectic time, distance learning would increase enrollment and provide courses for those professionals who are under time restraints."
Career-Technical classes are also part of the college's Evening School offerings. "I believe that some of the brightest future still lies ahead for Career and Technical Education if it is offered and packaged in such a way that adult learners can take advantage of the classes," said Nichols. "Ms. French comes to Northwest with the abilities and vision to help us accomplish this goal. I am pleased to have her join our family."
The addition of French to the Northwest staff is just one more step in the college's commitment to serve the needs of students in North Mississippi through the Evening School program. Last July the college began focusing on the needs of students in that program. Counselors were scheduled to be available during evening hours and a central hub for Evening School was established in the Tunica Building.
Since French's arrival, that hub has relocated to the Yalobusha Building. Counselors can be found there Monday through Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. French will be available Monday through Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m. She can be reached at (662) 560-1104.
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