Submitted photoScott Alsobrooks will begin his duties as East Mississippi Community College’s president early in the spring term that begins in January. Alsobrooks, the vice president of Economic and Community Development at Pearl River Community College, was named as EMCC’s new president Wednesday, Dec. 5.

While he has a few months before assuming his new duties as president of East Mississippi Community College, Scott Alsobrooks is already focused on goals he has set for the college.

“I want to get to know people and build relationships and network, but I do have a number of definite goals,” said Alsobrooks, who was announced to take over at EMCC early in the spring term in a news release Wednesday.

Continuing to expand the availability of education and develop ties with the area’s manufacturing and healthcare employers are top priorities. 

“The whole Golden Triangle area is just thriving. I know there’s a school shortage in our state, and the area has some great new jobs that have been formed, along with advance manufacturing,” Alsobrooks said. “I want to reach out and start touching those manufacturing employers, the healthcare employers and other employers in the area and make sure we’re matching up. I know East Mississippi Community College is doing a great job with that, but I want to continue to grow and expand — making sure our training and educating people on the right career path to match up with the jobs that are out there.”

Preparing students to transfer to a four-year college or university and student retention are also among Alsobrooks’ goals.

“It’s all about student success and getting them prepared for the next step,” he said. “Or, in the case of those who for one reason or another didn’t get their high school credentials or have the opportunity to further their education after high school, we want to help get them in our adult education program. And from there, equip those individuals with the right tools to set them on their career goal path or into a specific workforce.”

Alsobrooks has more than 30 years of higher education and professional experience, having worked as an engineer, grant coordinator, faculty member and college administrator, according to EMCC.

He has served as vice president at Pearl River Community College since 2011. Before that, he was the college’s director of Workforce Education and the Woodall Advanced Technology Center, according to EMCC. Alsobrooks is a former engineering coordinator and instructor for the College of Science and Technology and the Lean Enterprise Center at the University of Southern Mississippi.

He, also, has worked as an operations engineer for Rockwell International at the Stennis Space Center where he later served as a supervisor for the Fluid Component Processing Facility, Johnson Controls World Services.

EMCC Board of Trustees Chairman Jimmie Moore said Alsobrooks’ hire is the end result of a search for a new president following the June resignation of former EMCC President Thomas Huebner, now the president of Meridian Community College. Alsobrooks was one of five candidates interviewed and Moore said he considers the new president an excellent choice.

“I think he’s going to bring a wealth of experience, he has three decades of experience with half of those in the community college environment,” Moore said about Alsobrooks. “He’s a great communicator, he’s a proven innovator, very professional, very knowledgeable and I think he will help EMCC maintain it’s current high level, and even make it greater.”

Alsobrooks received an Associate of Arts degree from Pearl River Community College, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering from Mississippi State University and a master’s degree in Engineering Technology from the University of Southern Mississippi. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Human Capital Development from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Among other memberships, he is the chair of the Pearl River County Economic Development District, a board member of the National Council for Workforce Education and a Peer Review Committee team member for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, according to the news release. He is a member and past president of the Mississippi Community College Career, Technical and Workforce Deans and Directors Association.

Alsobrooks has served since 2017 on the Governor’s Ocean Task Force. He is a former Fellow for the Institute for Educational Leadership at Mississippi State University, is a 2009 graduate of the American Association of Community College’s Future Leaders Institute — Advanced, and was appointed in 2012 to the Mississippi Works Task Force where he served as the chair for the Career-Technical Pathways/Articulation Committee.

He is married to Annabelle Alsobrooks, who is a Business Management Technology instructor at Pearl River Community College. The couple has a 15-year-old son, Ayden.

“Community colleges in Mississippi are asked to do a lot and our mission is huge,” Alsobrooks said in a statement. “But it is such an important mission. If we can help people advance their skills through education and provide them with opportunities to become better wage earners, it benefits them and all of the stakeholders in the community.”

Earlier this year, Alsobrooks was one of five finalists who interviewed for the presidency of Meridian Community College. 

Randall Bradberry, the college’s athletic director, has been serving as EMCC’s interim president since September.

He replaced Rick Young, who resigned Sept. 4 after serving as interim president since May 18 when Huebner resigned to pursue the presidency of Meridian Community College. Huebner, who succeeded Young in 2015, became MCC president in July. Young worked for EMCC for more than 40 years, assuming the presidency in 2004 until he retired in 2015.