Maroon MEMO: Employee News (Mississippi State University)

Mississippi State University Digital Projects Specialist Emily D. Harrison, left, works with Assistant Professor and Digital Archivist Jenifer Ishee to digitize a document for the Lantern Project. MSU Libraries is helping create the state’s first institutionally supported digital database intended to give greater access to legal records identifying victims of slavery. The Lantern Project is one of only a few in the South and is funded by a $340,424 grant from the National Historic Publications and Records Committee, a branch of the National Archives. In addition to Harrison and Ishee, who serve as co-principal investigators for the grant, MSU graduate students and faculty are helping to compile the extensive collection of 19th-century records over the next three years. PHOTO: Megan Bean | Public Affairs

DAFVM Spotlight Employee: John Johnsey
John Johnsey is from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and has been a Network Administrator for the Department of Agricultural Economics for 24 years. “I came to MSU in 1985 as a student,” he said. “While working part time, I pursued a degree in Business Information Systems and graduated in the summer of 1996. I have worked for MSU ever since.” He is responsible for maintaining equipment used in classrooms, conference rooms, and faculty offices in the Department of Agricultural Economics. He works with the Office of Information Technology Services on issues pertaining to internet security for the Lloyd Ricks Watson building. He is also the first contact and liaison for many services that the faculty and staff need from Extension.

DAFVM Spotlight Employee: Brian Sisk
Brian Sisk is a new employee at Mississippi State University who works as a cheesemaker at the Dairy Processing Plant. His day consists of making MSU’s famous cheese, bottling milk, and freezing ice cream. He chose MSU to better himself in a friendly environment and to give him a place where he can grow and advance in his career. “Being a cheesemaker is not just making cheese; it is a strenuous and time-consuming job,” he said. “It takes a lot of effort to make the cheese as it is all done by hand.” The cheesemakers make all of the ice cream, even the little individual cups. He and his team also bottle all of the milk that is sold at the MAFES Sales Store. Cheesemakers also deliver ice cream and milk on campus.

National speaker headlines Mississippi Women for Agriculture conference
Mississippi women who want to grow their farm and agribusiness skills are invited to an upcoming conference in Starkville. “Small Farm Success in a Global Market,” the 2020 conference of the Mississippi Women for Agriculture organization, will be held Friday [March 6] and Saturday [March 7] in the Bost Extension Center on the Mississippi State University campus. Mississippi Women for Agriculture is organized through the MSU Extension Service and provides information and education to help female agribusiness employees and owners build skills.

MSU, ECCC sign MOU for Bachelor of Applied Science degree program
Mississippi State University and East Central Community College in Decatur signed a memorandum of understanding last week to formalize partnership programs for students enrolled in technical education programs. “East Central is pleased to partner with our colleagues at Mississippi State to expand educational opportunities for graduates with an associate of applied science degree,” said ECCC President Billy Stewart. The agreement outlines a pathway for ECCC students to complete MSU’s new Bachelor of Applied Science program, leveraging the strengths of both institutions to provide more opportunities in technical education and meet current and future workforce demands.

MSU researchers invent significant advancement in Hopkinson bar technology
Mississippi State University researchers have patented and licensed a major advancement in split Hopkinson pressure bar technology, significantly reducing the amount of space needed for intermediate and high-strain rate testing. While conducting research on infant head trauma, researchers at MSU’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems needed a way to conduct impact testing with biological materials. While a traditional Hopkinson bar system, an apparatus commonly used for testing impact and strain on materials, would have worked, it would have taken up hundreds of feet in length -- space that was not available at the bustling research center. However, CAVS engineer Wilburn Whittington, with the support of colleagues Haitham El Kadiri and Hongjoo Rhee, was able to prototype a serpentine bar that can accomplish the same task in only 20 feet of space.

Registration underway for annual Legal Issues Conference at MSU
Mississippi State will hold its 9th annual Legal Issues Conference April 22-24 on the Starkville campus. The conference is open to all levels of university practitioners and will provide valuable educational and networking opportunities. This year’s keynote speakers include Will Creeley, senior vice president of legal and public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), W. Scott Lewis, partner at NCHERM Group, a legal and consulting firm that serves K-12 schools and university campuses, and Marisa R. Randazzo, CEO and founder of SIGMA Threat Management Associates.

Nominations sought for Jefcoat and Ammon advising awards
The Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President is seeking nominations for Mississippi State’s 2020 Irvin Atly Jefcoat Excellence in Advising Awards and Wes Ammon Outstanding New Advisor Awards. The deadline for nominations for both awards is March 23. Nominations are to be submitted in PDF form to the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President via email to nfultz@provost.msstate.edu.

Information needed for 2020 youth summer camps
The MSU summer camp page is ready to be updated with your 2020 camp information. Please login at http://ce.extension.msstate.edu/add-summer-camp to enter information about your upcoming summer camps. Only MSU employees have the ability to access the summer camp information site using their MSU NetID and Net Password. Once submitted, your camp information will be reviewed, approved and posted. If you have any questions or have any trouble entering your information, please contact Amber Shultice at 662-325-1457 or ams257@msstate.edu.

Smoke-free policy enhances healthy environment
Mississippi State University is a smoke-free campus. Official policy prohibits the use of any combustible or vapor products anywhere on campus property including university buildings, university grounds, university vehicles, parking areas and sidewalks. The smoke-free campus policy is part of the university's commitment to creating a healthy environment for all members of the campus community. Use of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pipes, hookah or other similar devices are prohibited by this policy.

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IHL recognizes Shaffer, Simpson during annual Diversity Awards program
Two Mississippi State faculty members were honored recently during the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning’s annual Diversity Awards program. Donald Shaffer, associate professor in MSU’s Department of English and director of the university’s African American Studies program, as well as LaShan Simpson, associate professor in MSU’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, were recognized for their impact in advancing diversity and encouraging understanding and respect.

Giesen, Manning to represent MSU in Jackson for annual HEADWAE program
A history faculty member and Mississippi State’s Student Association president are representing the university during the 33rd annual HEADWAE (Higher Education Appreciation Day-Working for Academic Excellence) program. James C. “Jim” Giesen, an associate professor of history, and Jacob S. “Jake” Manning, a senior biomedical engineering and software engineering double-major from Ridgeland, will travel to Jackson Monday [March 2] for the event. Administered by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees, HEADWAE annually recognizes students and faculty from public and private universities and colleges across the state for their academic achievements and contributions.

Hagenston’s creative writing talents honored with Pushcart Prize
Creative writing and fiction are two of Becky Hagenston’s favorite subjects to teach. With her selection this year for the highly coveted Pushcart Prize, the Mississippi State English professor is proving she’s got a knack for these areas. Hagenston’s short story “Hi Ho Cherry-O” was originally published in the spring 2018 issue of Witness Magazine. Editors of that publication then nominated the story for inclusion in the Pushcart Prize’s 2020 edition, featuring 72 authors from 47 presses. An MSU faculty member since 2001, Hagenston said she was “thrilled” to have her composition selected for inclusion in the Pushcart Prize anthology, one that she “admires so much as a writer and reader.”

Sansing selected for Mississippi Economic Council's 2020 Leadership Mississippi
A Mississippi State University Extension Service educator has been selected to participate in the nation’s second oldest statewide leadership training program aimed at strengthening Mississippi’s quality of life. Ann Sansing, an Extension community health coordinator, is among 48 Mississippi community and business leaders completing the Mississippi Economic Council’s 2020 Leadership Mississippi program. “It is an honor to learn among this group of Mississippi professionals,” said Sansing, who is an Extension instructor in the MSU Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion.