[11/14/04] In a year, Alcorn State University enrollment in Vicksburg has doubled, and school officials predict more growth is on the way.

About 50 students were enrolled for the fall semester in 2003 for ASU courses at the Vicksburg-Warren County branch of Hinds Community College. This fall, 100 were enrolled, said ASU president, Dr. Clinton Bristow Jr.

“We are pleased with the Vicksburg expansion,” he said. “This is an efficient utilization of resources because we don’t duplicate any course offerings.”

He said that’s because Hinds offers freshman- and sophomore-level course, and ASU is giving junior- and senior-, and master’s-level courses.

The university is offering education, health and nutrition and computer networking courses but with the recent settlement of the Ayers case, hopes are that money will be made available for a larger expansion in Vicksburg, he said.

“We’ll talk with our governing board and Legislature to get funding for additional courses,” Bristow said.

Last month the state Supreme Court brought an end to a 29-year-old legal battle filed by Jake Ayers Sr., who claimed the state had neglected historically black colleges and universities, including ASU, Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State.

The parties settled on $503 million payment, to be distributed among the colleges and universities.

Bristow said that money could come into use for additional space ASU needs in Vicksburg. Right now, the university is leasing space at Hinds on Mississippi 27.

“Hinds has been so wonderful to us with us using their space, but sooner or later we’ll be encroaching on their space,” Bristow said. “Sooner or later, we’ll become like the relatives you love who have stayed with you for too long, and it’s time for them to move out.”

Meanwhile, Hinds’ Vicksburg dean, Hilton Dyar, said the community college is using more space than normal.

“We’re excited about the possibility of expanding things here, and making a seamless transition from the community college to a four-year program,” Dyar said. “This way, students won’t have to leave home to get a baccalaureate degree.”

Alcorn’s Vicksburg expansion made headlines last year when in May, the university opened an office on Cherry Street to accommodate it’s local students.

The facility opened after talks about leasing space in the former ParkView Regional Medical Center, off Grove Street, were dropped. The space was deemed too large.

But, Bristow said, university officials are again talking with River Region Health System officials about needed nursing courses.

“We have ongoing positive collaborative relationships with nursing and the (HCC) Allied Health Department,” said Diane Gawronski, marketing director for River Region. “We actively participate in discussions involving our skill set needs and their curriculum.”

“It is always our hope that after graduation their students can be successfully employed at River Region.”

Bristow said the increasing enrollment numbers are a good sign that the Vicksburg campus can reach what has been attained in Natchez, where the university has partnered with Copiah-Lincoln Community College. The Natchez campus includes the university’s School of Nursing and MBA program.

“The Vicksburg objective is to expand year-by-year so students can complete all of their coursework in Warren County,” he said.