MELA Minutes 2024-2025

Office

College/Association

Name

President

Itawamba Community College

Tequila Sunrise

President Elect

Jones College

Jason Cooley

Secretary

Mississippi Delta Community College

Carmen Brown

A.

Preliminaries

A. Call to Order: Tequila Sunrise ICC B. Roll Call: Carmen Brown, MDCC C. Approval of January 15, 2025 Minutes,

1. Motion to approve: Buffey Mathews (MGCCC) 2. Second to approve: Chris Square (EMCC) 3. Approved by all 15 community colleges

D. Approval of February 19, 2025 Agenda

1. Motion to approve: Buffey Mathews (MGCCC) 2. Second to approve: Carmen Brown (MDCC) 3. Approved by all 15 community colleges

B.

New Business

A. MCCB Reports

1. Dr. Krista LeBrun, MCCB

1. Potential Fraudulent Enrollees a. Dr. LeBrun (MCCB) wanted to update the group about the potential fraudulent enrollees. She stated last week, Cal Smith received a call from a community college regarding suspicious applications. This triggered discussions about possible cybercrime. Cal consulted Jonathan from the attorney general's office, leading to a Zoom meeting with IT staff, registrars, and college presidents to assess the situation. They identified several factors noticed in the fraudulent applications. The fraudulent applications had all-cap text, had a Kenya or California IP address, and were linked to properties for sale on Zillow. Considering the legal implications, Jonathan will decide if this constitutes a cybercrime. She reached out to Nikki for insights on how to mitigate these fraudulent activities, as this issue impacts others in the Mississippi Community College System. Nikki was unaware of this but is contacting leadership for mitigation strategies to identify fraudulent students. Dr. LeBrun will share her response once she receives it. Please inform your teams about these developments. Overall, it looks as if the goal of the students is to attempt to obtain Pell Grant refunds fraudulently. Buffey Mathews (MGCCC) stated she began noticing a pattern after financial aid and refunds were sent out to students last fall. Even though these students had applied, been accepted, and enrolled in online classes,