Maroon MEMO: Employee News (Mississippi State University)

The MSU Police Department conducts a bicycle patrol exercise through campus on a sunny day. One of several police units at the university, the bicycle patrol officers must attend special certified training. A high priority for the department, new MSU officers receive a minimum of 160 hours of in-service departmental training. PHOTO: Beth Wynn | Public Affairs

Coble named president-elect of international agricultural economics board
A Mississippi State university professor and expert in agricultural economics is set to lead an international organizational in his field. Keith Coble, head of MSU’s Department of Agricultural Economics, was recently named incoming president-elect for the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association’s executive board. The AAEA, founded in 1910, serves members working in agricultural and broadly-related fields of applied economics.

Newman named president-elect, senior fellow of American Association of Agricultural Education
The director of Mississippi State University’s School of Human Sciences is taking on new leadership roles within the American Association of Agricultural Education. Professor Michael Newman is serving as president-elect and will begin his term in spring 2019 as president of AAAE, a national society focused on social science scholarship in food, agriculture and natural resources. Newman also was one of two senior fellows honored recently by the AAAE’s Academy of Fellows at the organization’s annual conference in Charleston, South Carolina.

MSU pre-nursing students now eligible for early entry program to achieve UMMC professional degree
Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi Medical Center are new partners in an early entry program for MSU pre-nursing freshmen to be admitted to UMMC’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. Students in MSU’s Freshman Early Entry program earn approximately 65 credit hours at MSU during their freshman and sophomore years before transferring to the University of Mississippi School of Nursing in Jackson for their junior and senior years to complete the nursing degree.

Applications sought for SEC Visiting Faculty Travel Grant Program
The Southeastern Conference Visiting Faculty Travel Grant Program is intended to enhance faculty collaboration that stimulates scholarly initiatives between SEC universities. Mississippi State University can select a maximum of eight faculty members to receive 2018-2019 travel grants of $1,250 each. Completed applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. on June 29.

Institute for the Humanities issues call for papers
Mississippi State’s Institute for the Humanities invites faculty members to submit individual paper proposals for the 2018-2019 Interdisciplinary Forum Workshop Series to be held in the upcoming academic year. The Interdisciplinary Forum Workshop Series will consist of six gatherings anchored around the theme of “Examining Governance from an Interdisciplinary Perspective.”

Reminder: University policy addresses employee political activity
With political campaigning for Congress and other races currently underway, Mississippi State's Office of General Counsel offers the following reminder of the university’s policy on political activities. There are several guidelines that employees of the university should keep in mind when engaging in any form of political activity. The Office of General Counsel encourages each employee to review this policy in its entirety to make certain you are fully aware of your rights and responsibilities.

Summer Student Science Symposium taking abstracts from grads, undergrads
The Mississippi Academy of Sciences second-annual Summer Student Science Symposium will take place July 26 at Bost Conference Center at Mississippi State University. Undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit an abstract and register to attend this special event. The symposium is designed to bring student researchers across all branches of science divisions to present their research findings and network with their peers and others in the state's scientific community. The deadline to submit an abstract is July 2.

Faculty, staff volunteers needed for Heifer Ranch trip
Mississippi State faculty and staff volunteers/chaperones are needed for the annual trip to Heifer Ranch, Arkansas, for the Global Village educational experience Oct. 12-14, 2018. Heifer International is an Arkansas-based non-profit organization focused on community development to resolve poverty and hunger around the world. The Global Village is a hands-on educational experience where students are challenged to live in modeled developing world conditions.

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Bourgeois appointed dean of College of Architecture, Art and Design
A highly respected faculty member and administrator in Mississippi State’s Department of Art has been named the new dean of the university’s College of Architecture, Art and Design, pending formal approval by the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of Higher Learning. Effective July 1, Professor Angi Elsea Bourgeois will lead CAAD after serving nearly two years as the head of its Department of Art, home to the Magnolia State’s largest undergraduate studio art program.

Jordan to lead MSU’s international programs
Julie Jordan has been named Mississippi State University’s associate vice president for international programs and executive director of the MSU International Institute. “Dr. Jordan has provided outstanding leadership during this interim period, and we have every confidence that she will continue to provide exemplary service to the International Institute and its mission,” said MSU Provost and Executive Vice President Judy Bonner.

Smith transitions to RCU leadership position
Longtime educator Betsey Smith now leads Mississippi State University’s Research and Curriculum Unit. Smith, who joined the RCU in 2007, was promoted to director June 1 after serving as interim for several months. She will continue to guide efforts to improve educational opportunities for students, teachers and administrators. Founded in 1965, the RCU betters the lives of Mississippians through improving education.

Faculty, staff among recent Golden Triangle Leaders program graduates
Three members of the Mississippi State family have completed a leadership program focused on strengthening relationships and advancing development in the Golden Triangle region. MSU faculty and staff Golden Triangle Leaders program graduates are Ryan Akers, associate extension professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ School of Human Sciences; Austin Check, learning and development specialist with Human Resources Management; and Natalie Ray, extension agent I at the Clay County Extension Office.