Maroon MEMO: Employee News (Mississippi State University)

The summer sun shines bright above Mississippi State's Industrial Education Building during a partly cloudy day on the Starkville campus. The building is home to the university's Department of Instructional Systems and Workforce Development, where faculty and staff are preparing for the fall semester. Classes begin Aug. 22. PHOTO: Colleen McInnis | Public Affairs

MSU among SEC institutions participating in Southeast Executives on Roster program
Mississippi State University is among Southeastern Conference institutions participating in the launch of the Southeast Executives on Roster (XOR) program to help match experienced entrepreneurs and university startups. MSU and its 13 fellow SEC universities have jointly created the Southeast XOR platform to broaden access to experienced entrepreneurial talent and to match that talent to university-affiliated startups in need of executive management. Jeremy Clay, director of MSU’s Office of Technology Management, said combining the entrepreneur talent networks of all participating universities gives MSU’s startup companies access to a larger talent pool in which members are vetted by other SEC schools.

Extension ‘promises’ to help communities combat opioids
Agents and specialists with the Mississippi State University Extension Service are “promising” to confront the opioid problem in Mississippi communities. “PReventing Opioid Misuse in the South East,” or PROMISE, is an Extension initiative to address this national crisis in communities across the Southeast. PROMISE is funded by a $310,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. MSU Extension health specialist David Buys said one of the main issues with the misuse of opioids is that they are more accessible than they need to be.

State, industry leaders to converge at Data Summit
Registration is now open for the third annual Data Summit, hosted by Mississippi State University’s National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center (NSPARC). Discussions and activities at the two-day event, held at The Mill Conference Center on 600 Russell St. in Starkville on September 13-14, will focus on data science and the growing emergence of “smart cities.” “Opening a dialogue on improving the smart city framework is important because it will help us understand how data science can help towns and cities modernize and compete in the growing data economy,” said NSPARC Executive Director Mimmo Parisi.

‘Godmother of Soul’ Patti LaBelle headlines 2018-19 Lyceum Series
Musical treasure Patti LaBelle will fill Lee Hall’s Bettersworth Auditorium with her legendary rhythm and blues when she headlines the upcoming season of Mississippi State’s Lyceum Series. Known as the “Godmother of Soul” and ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the “Top 100 Singers of All Time,” the Grammy Award winner will perform Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. Doors open approximately 30 minutes before the curtain rises on all shows scheduled for the 2018-19 Lyceum Series, the university’s long-running performing arts program.

ITAR, export control briefing set for September
The Office of Research Security at Mississippi State will host an ITAR and export control briefing open to all faculty and staff on Sept. 5 at 1 p.m. in Conference Room 20 at the High Performance Computing Collaboratory. Jonathan Barnes, a special agent with the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Export Enforcement, will lead the one-hour session. He will provide an introduction and overview of U.S. export control laws regulating academic and private sector R&D projects. He also will discuss how academic research may be pursued within the context of this legal environment.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

17 professionals selected for LEAP training program
Seventeen Mississippi State staff members are new participants in the university’s 2018 Leadership Excellence for Accomplished Professionals program. “We’ve seen the benefits of the LEAP program through the outstanding work that continues to be done by the program’s participants. We are excited to see how this year’s candidates accept the challenge of reaching their next level of leadership and moving MSU forward,” said Darrell Easley, learning and development manager for MSU’s human resources management department.

Perkins Smith named new university archivist
Jessica Perkins Smith is now the university archivist at Mississippi State University Libraries. She came to MSU in 2016 as a manuscripts archivist and began her new role this summer. “My job is to preserve the history of the university and also provide access to it,” she said. “It’s not enough for things to just come here and sit. We want to do outreach in terms of exhibits and programming on campus. I see it as my role to preserve the archives and also to tell the story of the university at different points in time.”

Haupt named interim head of art department
Professor Jeffrey Haupt is taking on a new leadership role as interim head of Mississippi State University’s Department of Art. “As a longtime member of the Department of Art, Jeffrey has served for many years as coordinator of the painting area and most recently gained significant experience serving as the interim associate dean in the college,” said dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Design Angi Elsea Bourgeois. “He is extremely well prepared and positioned to lead the department to greater achievements in the coming year.”

MSU, Mississippi National Guard announce Bulldog Free Tuition Program for service members
Mississippi State University and the Mississippi National Guard announced a new program last week that will ensure free tuition for Mississippi National Guard service members enrolled full-time at MSU. MSU President Mark E. Keenum and Maj. Gen. Janson D. “Durr” Boyles, Adjutant General of Mississippi, both signed a memorandum of agreement establishing the Bulldog Free Tuition program during a ceremony at MSU’s G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans at Nusz Hall. MSU is nationally recognized for its support of veterans, service members and their dependents.