Maroon MEMO: Employee News (Mississippi State University)

President Mark E. Keenum, left, and best-selling author and Mississippi State alumnus John Grisham examine a typewriter used by playwright Tennessee Williams — one of nine timeless typewriters from the Soboroff Collection currently on display in the university's John Grisham Room. The Famous Types exhibit is open in Mitchell Memorial Library through Sept. 24. Grisham was on campus to deliver the keynote address at Fall Convocation for first-time freshmen and transfer students in late August. PHOTO: Logan Kirkland | Public Affairs

DAFVM Spotlight Employee: Mark Henry
Mississippi State Extension Associate Mark Henry works tirelessly with farmers to help them better understand and use irrigation tools, such as Pipe Planners, moisture sensors and surge valves. “One of my favorite aspects of this job is meeting new people and then leaving there knowing that I was able to help someone,” he said. He chose this career because he enjoys meeting and helping others and educating them about the principles of efficient farm work.

DAFVM Spotlight Employee: Kathy Johnson
Kathy Johnson works hard as Events Coordinator in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. She also works as a full-time mother and student as she pursues her degree in General Studies. “I love this position because of all the new students and people I get to meet almost every day,” she said. Her favorite aspect of her job is the Row Crops Short Course, a three-day seminar attended by several hundred agricultural producers, consultants and students.

Information Technology Services rolling out new VoIP phone system
Mississippi State University is upgrading the campus telephone system to C Spire’s hosted Voice over Internet Protocol system thanks to a new statewide contract for telecommunication services. MSU’s Information Technology Services is preparing to migrate approximately 6,000 phone lines from the current legacy phone system to the new VoIP phone system, with a targeted completion date of June 30, 2019. Steve Parrott, MSU’s chief information officer, said moving to C Spire’s new VoIP phone system will allow MSU to take advantage of new features and provide improved functionality for those using the university’s phone system.

Third annual NSPARC Data Summit shows potential of ‘smart cities’
State, education and industry leaders examined the many uses of data to create “smart cities” during the third annual Data Summit, hosted last week Mississippi State’s National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center. Sessions at the two-day summit explored how data science can lead to new innovations and processes within the “smart city” concept across various industries, including agriculture, communication and media, education, energy, infrastructure, city planning, government, health, transportation and logistics, public safety, security and data governance.

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.

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

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Record-setting enrollment tops 22,000
In its fifth consecutive year of historic growth, Mississippi State celebrates its 140-year anniversary by accelerating student enrollment well over the 22,000 mark, an attainment that’s been a top priority for MSU President Mark E. Keenum. With this fall’s arrival of 22,201 students, Mississippi’s leading research university is seeing 318 more enroll than last year’s 21,883. The exceptional growth, Keenum said, can be attributed to the university’s expansion of student opportunities and offerings, spearheaded by the “outstanding faculty and staff who truly are driven to make a difference in the lives of those who choose Mississippi State.”

University to lead new USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab on Fish
Mississippi State University will lead a new $15 million U.S. Agency for International Development initiative that continues efforts to reduce poverty and improve health outcomes for global populations dependent on aquaculture-led economies. USAID funding over five years will create the Feed the Future Innovation Lab on Fish, which MSU will lead through the university’s Global Center for Aquatic Food Security under the direction of Mark Lawrence, associate dean and professor in MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Research security professional returns as director
A longtime research security professional has returned to Mississippi State, where she started her career in the field nearly 20 years ago. Deana Card, MSU’s director of research security, began working with the university as a facility security officer in 2000 but has spent the last 12 years in Huntsville, Alabama, with several research entities in education as well as the private sector. “A robust export control and security compliance protocol has long been a part of our research culture at Mississippi State, and it is an increasingly complex and demanding factor in the overall management of our research portfolio,” said David Shaw, MSU’s vice president for research and economic development.