Jack McDuffie, Special to the Journal

DUBLIN — Bladen Community College has two new full-time employees in key positions. They are Dora Marquia Jones and Wendy Hedgepeth. Both have extensive experience in their respective areas of expertise.

Jones, BCC’s Smart Start coordinator, is not a new face on campus. She has worked part-time in the position for several years. Her primary responsibility as the Smart Start coordinator is to recruit day care providers into programs to elevate their level of education in the field.

BCC offers two associate degree programs in early childhood education as well as certificate and continuing education offerings. In addition, a four-year degree program is available on the BCC campus through an agreement with Fayetteville State University.

Jones is a native and resident of Bladenboro. After graduating from Bladenboro High School, she attended Fayetteville State University for three years. She later returned to school at Bladen Community College where she earned her associate degree in early childhood education.

Prior to coming to BCC she worked at Woodbridge Alternative of Fayetteville, Smithfield Foods and International Jensen.

In addition to working in her field, Jones enjoys traveling, meeting new people, and cooking. She has a grown daughter, Kenya, and three grandchildren.

Hedgepeth is BCC’s new distance education technology and teaching specialist. She is a native and resident of the Fairmont area. She has an extensive background in information technology, working with some of the most well known companies in the nation.

Her capacity at BCC will be to provide technical assistance to the various aspects of the distance education program, including interactive television and online courses. She also maintains the distance and evening program Web and serves as the contact for the 24-hour help desk for distance education students. Each of these responsibilities entails a myriad of duties.

Following graduation from Orrum High School she attended the University of North Carolina-Pembroke, where she earned a bachelor of arts in sociology with a minor in computer science.

She later completed a master of business administration at Wake Forest University.

She has worked for Microsoft Corporation as a services manager and technical account manager. She also has worked for Digital Equipment Corporation as a systems integration consultant and at First Data Corporation as a systems analyst.

In her spare time she enjoys aerobics.