special to The Star

People who work for East Mississippi Community College spend a fair amount of time running up and down Highway 45.

The EMCC district takes in six counties and is more than 100 miles long – from the southernmost branch at Naval Air Station Meridian and the residential campus in Scooba, to northerly branches in West Point and Columbus Air Force Base and, finally, the commuter campus in Golden Triangle with its 3,000-plus students.

EMCC forestry graduate Taylor Dean is putting in some miles on Highway 45 these days, too.

As a student, he lived in Meridian and commuted to the Scooba campus. Now he lives in Columbus, where he works for the Mississippi Forestry Commission, but he drives down to Meridian often to visit his parents.

Taylor Dean was one of about 250 graduates honored Saturday morning during commencement ceremonies at EMCC’s Scooba campus. But he wasn’t actually there. Dean graduated in December, and like many winter graduates, he couldn’t attend because of his work schedule.

Dean is a graduate of EMCC’s forestry technology program, an associate’s degree program that operates under the direction of instructor Bob Walker.

“Taylor was an excellent student. I liked the fact that he was not satisfied with making a B. He strived to make straight A’s and he did,” Walker said.

“We’ve talked several times about his job and his move from Meridian to Columbus, and we e-mail back and forth. One day, he stopped by the EMCC Forestry Department on his way back from a meeting in Philadelphia. He spoke to some of the students about his new career. Having former students stop by to tell me about their job or family makes me feel honored.”

In fact, one of the adjunct forestry instructors at EMCC, Orlando Ellerby, was Walker’s student in 2001. Ellerby will be earning his master’s degree at Mississippi State soon. Rounding out the forestry staff at EMCC is adjunct instructor Dusty Snow.

About 50 percent of EMCC’s forestry graduates transfer to four-year universities. The other 50 percent, like Taylor Dean, take jobs in private industry or with state and federal agencies. But, Walker said, 100 percent receive job offers in their field.

How he landed the job

Taylor Dean didn’t start out as a forestry student. With an affinity for computers, he started out studying business information systems, but it didn’t sit well with the outdoorsman in him. A friend at EMCC, Brandon Blackledge, told him about the forestry program.

“I transferred to EMCC because I wanted to be outdoors more, but I was shocked by how much I really, really liked forestry,” Dean said. “I’d never made straight A’s before, but I made straight A’s in forestry.”

Dean worked hard at his classes, won the annual forestry award and started looking for a job. In December, he read on the Internet about an opening at the Mississippi Forestry Commission in Columbus. He sent in his resume and made the cut for an interview.

“I actually did the interview before I took my final exam. I went up to Columbus and talked with Todd Matthews, who is my boss now. I thought it had gone pretty well, and I was headed back to Meridian on Highway 45. But I was surprised when he called me on my cell phone and offered me the job before I even got home,” Dean said.

“After that, things got a little crazy. I had one week to get up to Columbus, find an apartment and get my stuff moved in. My first day on the job was December 15.”

Dean likes his new home, but misses his old one: “I always used to say I wanted to get out of Meridian, but now I miss it. I miss the people, so I come visit as often as I can.”

As an EMCC student, Dean juggled his class schedule with a part-time job at his mother’s restaurant. His mother, Karen Dean, owns The Landing in north Meridian. His father, Johnny Dean, is the director of information systems at Southern Pipe.

Job-preparedness

Dean said his forestry studies at EMCC held up well as he began his new job.

“I do a lot of work with private landowners, and advise them anyway I can. We also offer prescribed burning, and the Mississippi Forestry Commission is on-call for wildland fires,” Dean said.

“Of course, you’re always learning, but I had the background I needed to function as a forestry technician. There are some things that are different. When Mr. Walker teaches pine thinning, he uses forestry industry methods, and the forestry commission does things a little differently. But it wasn’t hard to make the transition.”

EMCC forestry students can also be found at places like McFarland Cascade near Scooba, Timber Craft in DeKalb, Midsouth Lumber Co. and Timber Resources in Meridian and Shuqualak Lumber Co. in Noxubee County.

For more about graduation at EMCC or the forestry program, visit www.eastms.edu.

EMCC GRADUATION

• East Mississippi Community College’s Scooba campus held graduation May 9 at Keyes Currie Coliseum. Both December 2008 and May 2009 graduates took part in the ceremony.

• About 250 graduates were listed in the program. Of these, about 200 earned associate’s degrees in academic or career-technical fields, including forestry technology, funeral services technology, medical office technology, office systems technology and ophthalmic technology. The remainder earned vocational certificates in the electrical lineworker, health care assistant and welding programs.

• More than 30 students were recognized in the program as honors graduates. Seven students maintained grade point averages of 3.90 or above and graduated with highest honors.

• Among the graduates were eight who attended EMCC’s branch at Naval Air Station Meridian – including U.S. Navy Senior Chief Chris Fitzgerald, who graduated with highest honors.