Campus daylilies soak up the sunshine as the first day of summer -- June 20 -- approaches. Mississippi annually averages 216 days of sunny or partly sunny skies. PHOTO: Beth Wynn | Public Affairs
University Television Center produces nationally recognized 'Resilience to Future Flooding' video series
The University Television Center at Mississippi State is the recipient of a prestigious honor from the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals. The video series “Resilience to Future Flooding” is a silver award winner in the TV/Video Series category of ANREP’s annual awards program. The project was completed for the Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative. “Providing top-level services to our clients is always the TV Center’s highest priority, and we are delighted when the products we create receive national recognition,” said David Garraway, center director.
Poe heads statewide communication association
A Mississippi State faculty member is the new president of the Mississippi Communication Association, an organization with members representing every institution of higher learning in the state. Philip S. Poe, associate professor and coordinator for print and digital journalism in MSU’s Department of Communication, said his role as MCA president includes coordinating communication between the executive board and the membership, serving as a spokesperson and presiding at the organization’s 2021 spring convention, currently slated for early next year at Mississippi College in Jackson.
Gout working on project to better understand COVID-19 genetic mutations
A Mississippi State faculty member is part of an international team working to understand and predict coronavirus genetic mutations, which can aid in the development of potential treatments and vaccines for COVID-19. Jean-Francois Gout, an assistant professor of computational biology in MSU’s Department of Biological Sciences, is a co-principal investigator on the National Science Foundation-funded research. Using SARS-CoV-2 samples from Europe, Africa and the U.S., the research team will first study how often genetic mutations occur in the new coronavirus genome, and then examine the effects of different mutations. Gout said the idea for the project came about soon after the COVID-19 pandemic started.
PROMISE initiative earns national acclaim
A health leadership team led by the Mississippi State University Extension Service has received a national award for its work to address mental health challenges in the state’s agricultural community. Directors of the PROMISE Initiative will receive the Southern Distinguished Team award from Epsilon Sigma Phi, during the organization’s annual national conference in October. PROMISE stands for “PReventing Opioid Misuse in the SouthEast.” Led by MSU Extension state health specialist David Buys, team members are PROMISE project coordinator Mary Nelson Robertson, Extension state family life specialist Alisha Hardman, Extension state dairy specialist Amanda Stone, Extension associate professor Laura Downey, MSU Department of Communication assistant professor Holli Seitz, MSU Extension instructor Ann Sansing and MSU graduate research assistant Je’Kylynn Steen.
For MSU Equine Unit employees, foaling season offers solace during difficult times
As society copes with much disruption and hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the normalcy of springtime is comforting for employees at Mississippi State’s Equine Unit during the busiest time on the farm -- foaling season. Home to 80 horses, the MSU Equine Unit is a research facility of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and is located at MSU’s H. H. Leveck Animal Research Center, commonly known as South Farm, and used for teaching in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine. Ashley Glenn, facilities supervisor, manages the daily operations and said while life has been disrupted due to the current health crisis, she finds the ongoing farm work refreshing.
Human Resources Management launching new leadership program
The Office of Human Resources Management is launching the Leadership Development Program (LDP). The LDP is a 9-month program designed for professional staff who are committed to developing their leadership skills. The LDP empowers new supervisors and high performing employees with a heightened self-awareness, advanced knowledge, and value-added leadership in a secure, and challenging environment. For more information, please visit http://hrm.msstate.edu/development/programs/ldp or contact Darrell Easley at 662-325-2203 or deasley@hrm.msstate.edu.
Looking for a way to help? Give to the MSU Student Relief Fund
The Mississippi State University community continually exhibits a great sense of responsibility and caring for enrolled students that make the land-grant institution such a special place. The MSU Student Relief Fund, built with private gifts, helps those members of the student body affected with day-to-day crises or like now, the impact to their daily lives posed by COVID-19. The Dean of Students' Office assesses needs and administers the fund for acute crises that may impact students’ ability to succeed academically. The funds have a direct impact on students in extenuating circumstances in order to help them achieve their academic success. The MSU Foundation accepts gifts year-round for the MSU Student Relief Fund. Contributions for this effort can be made online or by contacting the Annual Giving office at (662) 325-2466.
MSU Extension Service offers professional development courses free online
The Mississippi State University Extension Service is offering 10 of its online professional development courses free of charge through June 30. The courses are Personal Finance, Individual Excellence, Managing Customer Service, Creating Web Pages, Creating WordPress Websites, Keys to Effective Communication, Marketing Your Business on the Internet, Twelve Steps to a Successful Job Search, Small Business Marketing on a Shoestring Budget, and Fundamentals of Supervision and Management. Those who enroll in any of the self-paced classes will have three months to complete all course materials from the time they start the course.
University joins COVID-19 Technology Access Framework
Mississippi State University is joining the COVID-19 Technology Access Framework alongside universities across the nation to provide fast and royalty free access to technologies that can be used to fight the pandemic. As part of this commitment, we will follow the framework set forth by the network that are outlined below. If any MSU researcher has a technology that could contribute to relief of the pandemic or has received interest from industry to license a technology for this purpose, please contact the MSU Office of Technology Management at otm@msstate.edu.
Qualtrics and Stata software now available
Over the course of this school year, the Office of Research and Economic Development worked through various channels to listen to the needs of faculty and researchers. Based on this feedback, the Office of Research and Economic Development has purchased a university-wide license for both Qualtrics and Stata. Qualtrics is a powerful online survey tool to create surveys, polls, and collect feedback using a wide variety of features and question types. Stata is a complete, integrated software package that provides data science needs -- data manipulation, visualization, statistics, and automated reporting.
SMART route changes in effect during COVID-19 pandemic to protect riders and staff
As Starkville-MSU Area Rapid Transit continues to evaluate the best ways to protect transit riders and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, service is being limited (one bus per route) to the following routes: Boardtown North, Boardtown South, Old Main, Highway 12, Sportsplex and Paratransit. Routes will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and will be limited to nine passengers per bus. Routes will stop from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for cleaning and spraying of all buses.
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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