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For Stuart Johnsey, opening his own bakery and café would be the achievement of a dream.

The Clinton High School graduate starting taking culinary classes in high school and he’s now a freshman in the culinary arts program at ��«Ӱҵ’s Jackson Campus-Academic/Technical Center.

With a new partnership between ��«Ӱҵ and Mississippi University for Women, Johnsey, 19, will now have an opportunity to get a bachelor’s degree in the field he loves without leaving the place where he feels at home.

“When I walk in the door at ��«Ӱҵ, I feel like I’m at home, like I’m with family,” he said. The MUW partnership “has made it even better. It’ll enable me to get a four-year degree at ��«Ӱҵ and not have to move away and spend a whole lot of money.”

��«Ӱҵ and Mississippi University for Women Wednesday announced details of a new agreement that will be a boon for students like Johnsey studying culinary arts in the Jackson area.

The 2 Plus 2 agreement between ��«Ӱҵ CC and MUW allows culinary arts students to finish a Bachelor of Technology in Professional Studies degree with a concentration in Culinary Arts at Jackson Campus-Academic/Technical Center on Sunset Drive, where the ��«Ӱҵ program is based.

“Sharing resources and making higher education more accessible are the primary benefits of the Culinary Arts partnership between ��«Ӱҵ and MUW,” said ��«Ӱҵ President Dr. Clyde Muse. “We are very pleased that Dr. Jim Borsig and the MUW Culinary Arts Institute faculty recognized the value of the Associate of Applied Science degree and are giving our culinary students an opportunity for a bachelor’s degree in a setting that is convenient to their family and work obligations.”

MUW will provide an instructor to teach the ��«Ӱҵ students in face-to-face classes that will allow them to finish the last two years of their degree.

“��«Ӱҵ is a longtime partner with The W, and we look forward to this enhanced 2 Plus 2 program that will bring expanded culinary instruction to the ��«Ӱҵ campus and the Jackson metropolitan area,” said Dr. Jim Borsig, president of Mississippi University for Women. “Our faculty will be on-site, creating a seamless transition between the associate’s and bachelor’s degree programs.”

Larry Richardson, chair of ��«Ӱҵ’ Hospitality and Tourism/Culinary Arts program, said the partnership offers advantages for students.

“The 2 Plus 2 partnership between ��«Ӱҵ and MUW is a wonderful opportunity for ��«Ӱҵ culinary arts students to further their education in a familiar environment and still have immediate contact with ��«Ӱҵ instructors as well as MUW instructors,” he said. “This will also enable students who have finished their associate degree to retain their job and home status in this community while pursuing a four year degree. We are thrilled to be involved in this endeavor and look forward to the opportunity that it provides our graduates.”

For more information on the ��«Ӱҵ program, contact Larry Richardson at JLRichardson@hindscc.edu or 601. 987.8155. For information on the Mississippi University for Women program, contact Erich Ogle, director of the Culinary Arts Institute at MUW at eogle@ca.muw.edu or 662.241.7762.