Maroon MEMO: Employee News (Mississippi State University)

AT&T Mississippi President Mayo Flynt (second from left) and External Affairs Director CD Smith (far left) present Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum and Student Association President Roxanne Raven with a $1,000 contribution in honor of raising awareness of distracted driving dangers. During the It Can Wait Virtual Reality Egg Bowl, over 1,200 students, faculty and fans took the pledge.

MSU, Farm Bureau announce ag leadership program
Mississippi State University and Mississippi Farm Bureau leaders gathered last week in the Capitol to announce the new Thad Cochran Agricultural Leadership Program developed by the MSU Extension Service. “MSU has long benefitted from our partnership on many fronts with the Mississippi Farm Bureau,” said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. “We commend the Farm Bureau for their efforts to promote agricultural leadership and share their recognition of just how appropriate it is to name this program in honor of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran. Sen. Cochran has been a real champion of U.S. and global agriculture for decades.”

MSU Staff Council hosts MASCO
The MSU Staff Council recently hosted the fall meeting for the Mississippi Association of Staff Council Organizations. MASCO is made up of Staff Council executive members from all eight IHL universities. Tamara Gibson, MSU Staff Council chair, also serves as the chair of MASCO, and Susan Brooks, MSU Staff Council, serves as secretary.

Registration open for SEC Academic Conference
Registration is open for the 2017 SEC Academic Conference to be hosted by Mississippi State University March 27-28. The new academic event focused on SEC university research collaboration will examine “The Future of Water: Regional Collaboration on Shared Climate, Coastlines, and Watersheds.” For complete conference details, visit www.secconference.msstate.edu.

MSU calendars, holiday cards on sale now
The 2017 Mississippi State University hanging wall calendar and holiday cards are now on sale. The MSU calendar features a sleek, modern design, with 13 beautiful campus scenes. Featuring images by the university's own award-winning photographers, it's truly a one-of-a-kind treasure. There are also two holiday card options this year debuting original artwork by Mississippi State alumni.

'Tis the season to volunteer with the MVC
The Maroon Volunteer Center at Mississippi State details a number of volunteer opportunities for the campus community on its website and in its newsletter this week, including 2016 Guide to Holiday Giving, Almost Like Home Christmas Dinner, Starkville Christmas Parade float decorating for Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army Red Kettle bell ringers, and more.

White papers sought for NASA EPSCoR funding
The Mississippi jurisdiction may submit two proposals to the 2017 NASA EPSCoR program for three years of funding for a maximum $750,000 per award, or roughly $250,000 a year. This announcement is to solicit a two-page white paper from potential proposers at Mississippi universities. Two of these papers will be selected by the Mississippi Research Consortium for development into a full proposal to this NASA EPSCoR program.

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, privacy and more.

This Week in Mississippi State Sports, 11/21/16
Men's Basketball hosts Lehigh at 7 p.m. on Friday ... Women's Basketball plays Oregon on Friday at 7 p.m. in Honolulu, Hawaii, followed by a 7 p.m. tipoff against San Jose State on Saturday and an 8:30 p.m. game with Hawaii on Sunday ... Volleyball hosts Georgia at noon on Saturday ... Football visits Oxford on Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff against Ole Miss.

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National Science Foundation survey: MSU highest-ranked research university in state
A new report from the National Science Foundation again finds Mississippi State ranked among the nation’s top 100 research institutions and the Magnolia State’s leading research university -- climbing four spots since the last reporting period. MSU research accounts for 55 percent of the total $408.2 million of expenditures reported by all Mississippi institutions, the survey found. “The current funding environment for research across all disciplines has never been more competitive, and so it’s gratifying to see our faculty competing well against our peers,” said David Shaw, vice president for research and economic development.

Bhushan named new associate director at CAVS
After serving four years as an assistant research professor at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems at Mississippi State, Shanti Bhushan has been named a new associate director. He also serves as an assistant professor with the department of mechanical engineering. "Shanti brings a wealth of experience to this position, and I look forward to his contributions to the growth of our CAVS computational fluid dynamics research,” said Roger King, director of the Institute for Computational Research, Engineering and Science, the organizational umbrella under which CAVS falls.

Greene honored with Southern Historical Association award
A 2015 book by a Mississippi State researcher examining regional relationships among early 20th century religion, politics and a struggling U.S. economy has received the Southern Historical Association’s Charles S. Sydnor Award for the best book in southern history published in 2015. Alison Collis Greene’s “No Depression in Heaven: The Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Transformation of Religion in the Delta” (Oxford University Press) describes how poverty, malnutrition and lack of basic needs long had smothered poor residents of the Mississippi and Arkansas Delta regions.