Maroon MEMO: Employee News (Mississippi State University)

MSU's E.E. Cooley Building, originally Starkville's John M. Stone Cotton Mill, lost its recognizable face last week as university journey linemen Bubba Forrester and Ken Palmer removed the fiberglass Bully statue that had adorned the front entrance since the early 1960s. The iconic figure has been moved to the Gast Building, where previous Cooley Building employees now work. The Cooley Building has been vacated recently in anticipation of renovation work for The Mill multi-use development project. PHOTO: Beth Wynn | Public Affairs

Dev and Alumni Staff Spotlight: Taylor Busby
Taylor Busby began working with Mississippi State University in August and since then has greatly enjoyed her time with the Division of Development and Alumni. Originally from Senatobia, Busby is a May 2013 graduate of Mississippi State. She eared her bachelor’s degree in communication with concentrations in public relations and broadcasting. Busby puts her degree to use as a communication specialist specifically with Shared Advancement Services.

ITAR, OPSEC training blitz continues Monday
The Office of Research Security at Mississippi State is having an ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) and OPSEC (Operations Security) training blitz during October and November. There will three presentations of "Working with ITAR" and "OPSEC - What, Who, Why, When and How." The presentations will be conducted at the High Performance Computing Collaboratory in the Cochran Research Park. The sessions continue next week.

Visiting Writers Series to feature Smith on Tuesday
Mississippi State's English department welcomes university alumnus Michael Farris Smith of Columbus as the first guest for the 2013-14 Visiting Writers Series. Smith will read selections from "Rivers" on Tuesday. The 352-page novel, published by Simon & Schuster, is set on the Mississippi Gulf Coast after a climate shift that followed 2005's massive Hurricane Katrina.

October employee assistance newsletter online
Mississippi State University's employee assistance program (EAP) includes a free monthly newsletter for faculty and staff, and the latest edition is now available. This month's feature is about reducing your holiday planning stress: dealing with stress, communicating with family members and self-care during the holidays.

CAAD to hold ‘Plagiarism in Design’ discussion
As part of this year's Academic Integrity Week events at Mississippi State, the College of Architecture, Art and Design has teamed up with the Department of Landscape Architecture to host a panel discussion that deals with the issues related to plagiarism in the visual arts. Panelists will include Michael Berk, director of the School of Architecture; Beth Miller, interim associate dean of CAAD and director of the Interior Design Program; Jeffrey Haupt, professor and painting emphasis coordinator in the Department of Art; Peter Bain, assistant professor in the Department of Art; and Sadik Artunc, head of the Department of Landscape Architecture. David C. Lewis, interim director of the Building Construction Science Program, will serve as moderator.

Make A Difference Day on Saturday
The Maroon Volunteer Center at Mississippi State details a number of volunteer opportunities for the campus community in its current newsletter, including Make A Difference Day this Saturday, Bulldogs on the Move, Boys and Girls Club Haunted House, Pumpkin Palooza, and more.

Benefits open enrollment underway
Benefits open enrollment is now available for eligible Mississippi State University employees. Open enrollment is required only if you are adding new coverage, changing existing coverage or canceling coverage. If you aren’t adding new coverage, changing existing coverage or canceling coverage, you do not need to participate in open enrollment, and your current benefits will continue into 2014.

This Week in Mississippi State Sports, 10/21/13
Football hosts Kentucky at Davis Wade Stadium on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Wear white... Soccer hosts Alabama on Friday at 7 p.m., and then South Carolina at 1 p.m. on Sunday... Volleyball is on the road to Lexington for a match against Kentucky on Friday at 6 p.m., and then will be in Athens on Sunday for a 12:30 p.m. match against Georgia.

The Office of Public Affairs provides Maroon MEMO as a general information
resource for Mississippi State University employees.

Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.

Special parking in place for Thursday game
The Special Events and Game Day Operations Committee at Mississippi State has approved specific parking recommendations for the home football game with the University of Kentucky on Thursday night. Faculty and staff will be permitted to park in their regular parking lots until noon on Thursday. After noon, these lots will convert to game day parking. Personnel who are asked to work Thursday afternoon should move their vehicles to the game worker parking area behind the IED building.

College Board approves The Mill at MSU project
The Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning late last week approved a series of interrelated agreements that finalize plans for The Mill development, according to Mississippi State University President Mark E. Keenum. The project will bring a conference center, hotel and parking garage complex centered around MSU's historic E.E. Cooley Building. MSU's Facilities Management staff is already moving out of the Cooley Building. The division will be housed in various temporary locations until a replacement facility can be built on Buckner Lane, near existing services such as landscaping and transportation.

Health services receives maximum reaccreditation
Professional accreditation of Mississippi State's Student Health Services is being extended for another three years, the longest time-period allowed. The Illinois-based Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care recently notified university officials that the campus provider continues to be in good standing. Dr. Clifton W. "Cliff" Story is executive director of University Health Services, while Robert W. Cadenhead is health center director. Both are MSU alumni.

Boyd appointed ASR deputy editor
Robert L. Boyd, a professor in the Department of Sociology at Mississippi State University, has been appointed to serve as a deputy editor of the American Sociological Review -- the flagship journal of the American Sociological Association. ASR is widely regarded by many as the most prestigious journal in the discipline of sociology.