Maroon MEMO: Employee News (Mississippi State University)

Runners make their way around campus during the Department of Recreational Sports' 2012 Turkey Trot race. This year's 5K/10K and canned food drive event takes place Nov. 23. Additional details are online at www.recsports.msstate.edu/turkeytrot. PHOTO: Beth Wynn | Public Affairs

Adkerson receives professional golf honor
A Mississippi State administrator is the 2013 Gulf States PGA Section's Golf Professional of the Year, the highest recognition paid to Mississippi and Louisiana members. Jeff Adkerson has led the university's professional golf management program since 2007 and was assistant director during the four previous years. He is a 1999 marketing/PGM graduate of MSU's College of Business, where he also completed an MBA in 2005.

Four awarded SEC Visiting Faculty Travel Grants
Four members of the Mississippi State University faculty will receive $2,500 grants via the SEC Visiting Faculty Travel Grant Program: Robert Crossler, assistant professor of management and information systems; Nick Fitzkee, assistant professor of chemistry; Daniel Petrolia, associate professor of agricultural economics; and Morgan Varner, assistant professor of forestry.

Applications sought for teaching excellence awards
Mississippi State University faculty who are interested in submitting applications for the 2014 Grisham Master Teacher Award, the Alumni Association Early Career Teaching Excellence Award or the Alumni Association Graduate Teaching Excellence Award have until Dec. 2 to do so. After careful review, the University Instructional Improvement Committee will select and announce the winners before the end of the spring 2014 semester.

FBI on campus for chemical security presentation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has determined that university laboratories are vulnerable to criminals and extremists wanting to steal explosive precursor chemicals, toxic industrial chemicals or chemical warfare precursors. This week, Special Agent Brandon Grant, the weapons of mass destruction coordinator in the Jackson FBI office, will discuss a number of incidents that have occurred at university laboratories over the past 10 years, and what Mississippi State can do to reduce the risk of theft of these chemicals.

University implements lighting control project
Mississippi State University is adding another component to its sustainable campus initiative. MSU has partnered with SmartWatt Energy to implement a large-scale energy efficient lighting and lighting control project, commonly referred to as SmartLighting. The entire $3.5-million phase one project is self-funded and financed by the university through costs savings achieved from the improvements.

ITAR, OPSEC training blitz continues Wednesday
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 this week.

Hunger Games Service Challenge underway
The Maroon Volunteer Center at Mississippi State details a number of volunteer opportunities for the campus community in its current newsletter, including Bulldogs on the Move, Starkville High school football boosters, food drive at Kroger, sweet potato drop, and more.

Policy reminders from University Health Services
University Health Services at Mississippi State reminds the campus community of several important policies for its patients to keep in mind when seeking treatment, parking, refilling a prescription online, and privacy.

This Week in Mississippi State Sports, 11/04/13
Women's Basketball hosts Shorter in an exhibition game on Monday at 7 p.m., and then travels to Texas to play Houston at 5 p.m. on Friday... Men's Golf opens play in the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational at Kauai, Hawaii, on Monday... Volleyball hosts Ole Miss on Wednesday at 7 p.m., and then Texas A&M at 7 p.m. on Friday... Women's Tennis opens play at the Jack Kramer Invite on Thursday in Los Angeles, and at the Lakewood Ranch Invite in Sarasota on Friday... Men's Basketball hosts Prairie View A&M on Friday at 7:30 p.m.... Football travels to College Station for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff against Texas A&M on Saturday (CBS).

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

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Ryan, Newman tapped for national program
Two Mississippi State University administrators have been accepted into a two-year leadership development program that will connect them with food systems peers and industry professionals. Peter Ryan, MSU associate provost, and Michael Newman, professor and director of the MSU School of Human Sciences, will join the national Food Systems Leadership Institute’s fall 2013 class. The FSLI is a program of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities

Giesen receiving second award for 2011 book
A Mississippi State historian and director of a university-based regional center again is being recognized for his book on agriculture in the modern American South. James C. Giesen is this year's selection for the Francis B. Simkins Award of the Southern Historical Association, the third largest organization for professional historians in the United States.

Robertson named leading criminology scholar
A Mississippi State research professor is being recognized as a prolific national female scholar in criminology by the Journal of Criminal Justice Education. Angela A. Robertson, interim director of the university's Social Science Research Center, is cited in a new article titled "The most prolific female scholars in elite criminology and criminal justice journals, 2000-2010."

Perkes co-writes report on architectural processes
The more they get together, the happier architects and their public-service clients will be, according a new report co-written by a Mississippi State University architecture professor. David Perkes, director of MSU's Gulf Coast Community Design Studio in Biloxi, is one of four authors who recently released "Wisdom from the Field: Public Interest Architecture in Practice: A Guide to Public Interest Practices in Architecture."