Balloons, food, prizes and speeches marked the official ribbon-cutting for Jackson State University’s new, expanded Human Resources Department on Friday.
New hires at JSU might wonder about this, having been introduced to the university already through the new digs at the Mississippi e-Center @ JSU, but HR Executive Director Robin Pack has a ready explanation.
While HR has been transitioning in to the new offices since June, the university has been “knocking down walls and renovating” since then, she said. The ribbon cutting was to mark the completion of the renovation.
The finished product is a showplace. Almost the entire old office could be fit into the new space, Pack said. The space has a conference room, training lab, and private office space. This goes along with new services, such as transitioning to electronic paperless forms, taking employment applications online and more training.
“This is the first stop that most new employees see,” said Pack, so it’s important that the university put its best face forward. As the sixth-largest employer in the city of Jackson, she added, that can be a lot of people seeing these offices as the face of JSU.
The old office at the Z.T. Hubert Building near the administration tower now houses the HR student employment center. It remained on the main campus, Pack said, because that’s where the majority of students are located.
A number of dignitaries were on hand to celebrate the opening, including Marshand Crisler, deputy chief administrative officer for the city of Jackson, representing the mayor.
Crisler said he has been affiliated with JSU for 20 years, as a student and adjunct professor, and “I’m excited about the growth here.”
Michael Thomas, vice president for Business and Finance, said that the expansion was overdue and it reflects the expansion of the university. Last fall, enrollment gains pushed the number of students to 9,508 enrolled at the university, according to the Institutions of Higher Learning. If enrollment gains continue, Jackson State could soon be the third largest university in Mississippi.
“Our focus is on academics, our customers are our students,” said Thomas. The new, expanded HR facilities, new programs and new way of doing things “is an opportunity to help the university do what it is supposed to do better,” he said.
“We are very, very pleased to have the Department of Human Resources in the e-Center family,” enthused William McHenry, e-Center executive director.