{"id":3059,"date":"2022-06-14T10:17:22","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T16:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/?p=3059"},"modified":"2022-06-14T10:17:22","modified_gmt":"2022-06-14T16:17:22","slug":"jones-colleges-dr-ruffin-earns-cpfp-advocacy-award-fellow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/news\/jones-colleges-dr-ruffin-earns-cpfp-advocacy-award-fellow\/","title":{"rendered":"Â鶹ֱ²¥\u2019s Dr. Ruffin earns CPFP Advocacy Award Fellow"},"content":{"rendered":"

ELLISVILLE- Â鶹ֱ²¥ Executive Vice President, Chief Enrollment Management, Information Technology and Marketing Officer, Dr. Finee’ Ruffin was selected to receive the Advocacy Award Fellow after completing the Mississippi Community College Policy Fellowship Program. She was part of a 27-member team of existing community college executives (trustees, presidents, vice presidents, deans, directors), aspiring leaders (those seeking to fill open presidencies in coming years), and young campus practitioners who have been identified as the next generation of leaders.<\/p>\n

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Dr. Ed Davis, Co-Director of the Mississippi Community College Policy Fellowship Program (left), Kell Smith, Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board (left middle), Dr. Ruffin and Tyson Elbert, Founder & Executive Director, Advocacy Build, LLC (right).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis cohort was full of some of Mississippi\u2019s best and brightest and I am honored to be selected as this year\u2019s Advocacy Award Fellow. I am thankful for the opportunity and experiences this program provided to me personally,\u201d said Ruffin.<\/p>\n

The Mississippi Community College Policy Fellowship Advocacy Award recognizes the Fellow who has demonstrated exemplary efforts and results in advocating for legislative or regulatory policies in preparation for and during the program\u2019s Washington Legislative Summit, explained Tyson Elbert, Founder & Executive Director, Advocacy Build, LLC.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Ruffin received the Award for her expertise and on-the-ground perspective of the issues facing students, institutions, and communities. Her work was crucial to improving the educational opportunities and general well-being of all students. The ability to conduct research, collect data, and develop stories, anecdotes, and metaphors is critical to effective advocacy efforts,\u201d said Elbert.<\/p>\n

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Fellows with Senator Roger Wicker-Official U.S. Senate photo by John Klemmer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 2021-2022 CPFP cohort focused on two policy issues that directly impacts Mississippi community college students. The request to allow the use of short-term Pell grant, particularly focused on Career and Technical Education Programs in the Community College setting, and the re-evaluation of broadband mapping paired with an updated definition of broadband speed was researched and analyzed during the time the group met in September 2021 through May 2022.<\/p>\n

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Fellows with Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith-Official U.S. Senate photo by Rebecca Hammel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr. Ruffin\u2019s group focused on the \u201cdigital divide\u201d or the gap between those with and those without consistent, sufficient and affordable access to the Internet which widened during the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0 Her team felt confident sharing specific experiences and provided practical solutions with the Mississippi congressional delegation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team identified central issues that face each of Mississippi\u2019s 15 Community Colleges related to broadband access, assembled federal level solutions, and hit the ground running in Washington building relationships with our Mississippi congressional delegation,\u201d said Ruffin. \u201cMississippi\u2019s Community Colleges have a multitude of dedicated leaders who are passionate about moving the people of this state forward. CPFP assisted us in developing new skills to support our efforts both locally, regionally, and nationally. The time I spent working with broadband advocacy efforts will benefit my work from this point forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CPFP Model focuses on four programmatic pillars: Leadership, Policy, Networks, and Advocacy. Each pillar is designed to address needs and concerns facing colleges and similar institutions. At the conclusion of the eight-month program, the group took a work-trip to Washington, D.C., where Fellows \u201clearned by doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Washington Advocacy Summit (WAS) is the capstone experience of the CPFP program and is designed to achieve multiple purposes,\u201d explained Ruffin. \u201cWe gained experience advocating policy at the national level, and in doing so, we also gained valuable experience that can be applied at the local, regional, state levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

During congressional staff meetings, Fellows advocated the policy they have researched as a team. Time spent in local monthly meetings prepare the Fellows for real advocacy work at the federal level. Additionally, Fellows are exposed to advocacy at a high level to help them better understand policy and influence in federal policymaking, as well as large-scale communications, advocacy, and lobbying operations. Fellows also visit national media operations for insight into the role of the national media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ELLISVILLE- Â鶹ֱ²¥ Executive Vice President, Chief Enrollment Management, Information Technology and Marketing Officer, Dr. Finee’ Ruffin was selected to receive the Advocacy Award Fellow after completing the Mississippi Community College Policy Fellowship Program. She was part of a 27-member team of existing community college executives (trustees, presidents, vice presidents, deans, directors), aspiring leaders (those … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Â鶹ֱ²¥\u2019s Dr. Ruffin earns CPFP Advocacy Award Fellow”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3060,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3059"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3059"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3066,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3059\/revisions\/3066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}