NATCHEZ — A well-respected and long-time member of the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Board of Trustees was given a fitting farewell during the board’s monthly meeting recently at the Natchez campus.

The board held its September meeting in Natchez and honored Mildred Maxine Williams, who has given 29 years of her life as a Copiah County educator. After serving 20 years on the Co-Lin board, Williams is retiring and relocating to Georgia. During her tenure on the board, she has served as a member of the board’s executive committee and as chair of the instructional committee.

Board Chairman Eugene Bates and Co-Lin President Dr. Howell C. Garner both praised Williams for her dedication and service on the Board.

“Mrs. Williams has been a very faithful and dedicated board member,” Garner said. “She rarely missed a meeting, and her record of service on the Co-Lin Board was outstanding.”

In other business, the board:

Authorized the Co-Lin administration to advertise for bids for a new roof on the Redd/Watkins Career-Technical Education Center on the Natchez campus and a new roof for Ellzey Hall on the Wesson campus.

Approved the appointment of Duane Burt as volunteer coach for the Women’s Softball Team on the Wesson campus.

Heard an update from Garner regarding Co-Lin’s request to the Adams County Board of Supervisors for financial assistance in the planned construction of a Health Sciences Education facility and a Fine Arts facility on the Natchez campus. The Co-Lin Administration and Adams County members of the Co-Lin Board met with the Board of Supervisors last year with a request for funding of these facilities, stating that it represented a “win-win” partnership between the college and the County. College officials met with them again this year. Garner stated, “funding of these two facilities would allow the college to enrich and expand its programs. The Health Sciences Building alone (the top priority) will allow the college to move health related programs out of unsuitable housing and locate them to a modern facility which not only will allow those programs to grow, but will provide room for additional programs, which have been called for by medical professionals in the area.”

The board voted to accept a $542,454 grant from Senior Services of America for 2007-2008 to finance the Senior Aides Program on the Wesson campus; it authorized the administration to offer classes at off-campus sites as needed; and it heard a preliminary report that the college district enrollment has increased by about 5 percent from the fall of 2006 to the fall of 2007.

The board heard an update on the renovation of Smith Hall on the Wesson campus, and a report on the new restroom facilities at Stone Stadium.