East Central Community College is working to improve the safety of its residents on campus by installing Carbon Dioxide detectors in the campus residence halls.
In a monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees Tuesday, Mickey Vance, vice president for business operations explained reports of high CO2 levels in residence halls, such as Kincannon Hall on the Mississippi University for Women on Nov. 28, which sent 34 students to the hospital, caught the attention of ECCC staff. Carbon Dioxide detectors are not required under Mississippi’s fire code, he said, but the university felt they were needed to ensure student safety.
“It’s not required, but it’s a good idea for student safety,” Vance said.
All East Central’s residence halls will be outfitted with battery operated CO2 detectors, except for three, Vance said. The women’s dormitory, he said, is already equipped with CO2 detection built into the fire system, and Newsom and Todd hall’s fire systems are not compatible with the battery- operated units.
Vance asked the board to approve a $16, 290 purchase of CO2 detectors from B&E Construction to outfit Newsom and Todd halls with compatible units. It’s a costly expense, he said, but the way the fire suppression system was built left the college with little choice.
“B&E Construction installed the fire suppression system in those halls,” he said. “They are the only ones who have access to those panels, and these are the only CO2 detectors that will work with the system.
Vance also requested permission to advertise for interior painting and flooring work in Neshoba, Scott and Winston residence halls. ECCC is working toward renovating those buildings soon and is working to line up contractors for the project.
In other business, Vice President for Instruction Teresa Houston announced East Central’s Automation and Control Technology courses would be changing slightly after a recent curriculum review by the Mississippi Community College Board.
Houston said MCCC decided to change the Automation and Control Technology curriculum code, a 3-letter code used to identify different courses, from MFT to IAT.
“About 50 years ago there was a company, Manufacturing Technology, that had the initials MFT,” she said. “That caused a lot of confusion.”
None of the Automation and Control Technology coursework would change, Houston assured the board. The change was simply to avoid people confusing the classes with Manufacturing Technology.
“Now, we just have to hope there isn’t a company with the initials IAT,” she said.
