Maroon MEMO: Employee News (Mississippi State University)

Mississippi gardeners who work to nurture nature in their landscape can learn from some of the top leaders in this field in an Oct. 19 event at Mississippi State University. The 67th Edward C. Martin Landscape Symposium will be hosted by the MSU Extension Service on campus at the Bost Center Auditorium. Annually, this landscape symposium brings renowned speakers to Starkville to discuss a variety of smart landscape concepts. This year, three speakers will discuss incorporating native plants into the landscape, gardening as a homegrown national park and the values-driven landscape. PHOTO: Bob Brzuszek | MSU Extension Service

Phi Kappa Phi honors Hopper with a named dissertation fellowship
A Mississippi State University faculty member has been honored with a named dissertation fellowship for her years of service, devotion and commitment to Phi Kappa Phi, one of the nation’s oldest and most selective multidisciplinary collegiate honor society. Missy Hopper, a professor in MSU’s Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education, recently was honored with The Missy Hopper Dissertation Fellowship by Phi Kappa Phi. Hopper is currently on the society’s board of directors, having previously completed terms serving as president-elect, president and past president.

PROMISE initiative receives another national award
A Mississippi State University Extension Service mental health campaign continues to receive national recognition, this time from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The PROMISE Initiative was awarded the National Innovative Programs and Projects Partnership Award from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Launched in 2017, the campaign addresses drug abuse in the state’s agricultural community and combats mental health issues producers face. Led by MSU Extension state health specialist David Buys, the PROMISE team earned Mental Health First Aid certification before teaching the curriculum to more than 600 people. More than $3 million in awarded competitive grant funding supported the education campaign.

UPM director: ‘We publish to, for and about the people of Mississippi’
University Press of Mississippi Director Craig W. Gill guided Mississippi State faculty and staff through his organization’s publication process that supplies books “to, for and about the people of Mississippi and the Gulf South” last week at Mitchell Memorial Library’s Charles H. Templeton Sr. Music Museum. Founded in 1970, UPM is supported by the state’s eight public universities and is housed with the Institutions of Higher Learning in Jackson. It publishes approximately 100 books each year. MSU is represented on the UPM board of directors by Don Zant, MSU chief financial officer and vice president for finance and administration, and Sid Salter, chief communications officer and director of the Office of Public Affairs.

DAFVM Spotlight Employee: Alena Anderson
Most people have a favorite memory on the job, but it likely doesn’t compare to Alena Anderson’s experience of the first time she tagged and released a shark. Yes, a shark. “While working with sharks and reef fish is commonplace for me now, I never take these experiences for granted,” said Anderson. “It's gratifying to see this work feed into our understanding of the abundance and distribution, life history (age and growth, maturity), movements and migrations, and feeding ecology of a wide range of important Gulf species.” As part of the Marine Fisheries Ecology Program, Anderson’s work is focused on providing science-based solutions to common issues affecting commercial and recreational fishermen in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

DAFVM Spotlight Employee: Mike Ely
Farming is ingrained in Mike Ely’s DNA, and his experience in agriculture dates to his childhood when he helped his grandfather and uncle grow vegetables, including greenhouse tomatoes. “In my case, since I was a late teenager, I’ve been able to work fairly independently making decisions about farming and pursue areas in which I had an interest,” said Ely. Ely has taken his love for agriculture and turned it into a 30-year career as a research associate at the Coastal Research and Extension Center in the Beaumont Horticulture Unit. Sitting on 20 acres, research here focuses on variety trials, cultural practices, production techniques, and demonstrations of various vegetables, small fruits, and landscape and gardening ideas.

Deadline nears for Excellence in Community Engagement Award nominations
The Mississippi State Center for Community-Engaged Learning encourages your department faculty, staff and students to apply for a 2022 MSU Excellence in Community Engagement Award. Any MSU faculty, staff, or student can apply on behalf of a project in the following categories: Community-Engaged Service, Community-Engaged Research, Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning, and Scholarship of Engagement. A $3,000 award will be given in each of those areas to recognize outstanding work and support its continuation. Projects that achieve honorable mention in each category will receive $750. The submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 17.

Campus Climate Survey: Let your voice be heard
Mississippi State students, faculty and staff are invited and encouraged to complete the 2022 Campus Climate Survey that will help us build a more inclusive campus environment. The survey opened on Sept. 20 and will close on Oct. 21. Please visit www.msstate.edu/campusclimate for more information or to complete the survey. Those in need of access to technology to complete the survey can visit the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, located on the second floor of the Colvard Student Union, or the Computer Commons, located on the second floor of the Mitchell Memorial Library. Please contact the MSU Division of Access, Diversity and Inclusion at 662-325-2859 if you prefer a paper copy.

Open enrollment for benefits underway this month
Mississippi State faculty and staff are reminded to review their existing coverage in preparation for benefits open enrollment during October. You may review your current coverage and deductions in your MyState account. The HRM website provides an overview of benefits. Visit www.hrm.msstate.edu/benefits for more information. Open enrollment is for the election of new coverage and changing or dropping existing coverage. The appropriate form(s) must be completed and submitted to your benefits specialist no later than Oct. 31. If you do not want to add additional coverage or make changes to your existing coverage, no further action is required for your benefits to continue in 2023.

MSU announces new search committee training and resources
Mississippi State University is announcing a new online training module and handbook for university personnel serving on hiring committees. As part of the hiring process, all search committee members will be required to complete the online training offered through Human Resources Management. It is required for all faculty positions and professional positions that have a search committee. The goal of the training and focus on job search process is to ensure the university is attracting the broadest and most diverse applicant pools possible as the university seeks personnel to fulfill its learning, research and service missions. The training also helps to ensure candidates have a positive experience at all stages of the hiring process.

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. The complete policy is available at www.policies.msstate.edu/policy/91301.

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.

MSU proves successful at annual CPRAM and SPRF competitions
Staff members from Mississippi State’s Office of Public Affairs, Forest and Wildlife Research Center, Office of Agricultural Communications, University Television Center, Agriculture and Natural Resources Marketing, Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and more are bringing plenty of awards and prestige back to the university from the College Public Relations Association of Mississippi and Southern Public Relations Federation annual competitions. SPRF, a network of public relations professionals from Alabama, North Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, held this year’s Lantern Awards ceremony and conference “Nouveau PR” in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. CPRAM, a consortium of public relations professionals employed at Mississippi’s public and private colleges and universities, returned to an in-person conference this year in Gulfport.

Womack named Mississippi State Chemical Laboratory director, interim State Chemist
A two-time Mississippi State graduate is returning to the university as director of the Mississippi State Chemical Laboratory and interim State Chemist. Erika Womack is now leading the Mississippi State Chemical Laboratory, a state agency housed on the MSU campus that provides testing and analysis services on products sold in the state for a wide range of stakeholders. Womack returns to MSU from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she has served as a research laboratory manager in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation since 2019. Her appointment as State Chemist is pending confirmation from the Mississippi Senate.

USDA funds Bagley College of Engineering proposal
A proposal submitted by Mississippi State Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering professor Mohammad Marufuzzaman was selected for funding by the United States Department of Agriculture through June 2025. The proposal idea, “The Image Based Assessment of Wood Chip Qualities: Transferred Learning Model Development to Field Validation,” was created in the summer of 2021 by Marufuzzaman, whose research interests include operations research, machine learning with applications in transportation and agricultural systems. Marufuzzaman collaborated with Jason Street, Gnaneswar Gude, Haifeng Wang and James Wooten.

Luxion, Breckenridge share expertise at U.S. Senate hearings in Washington
Mississippi State was well-represented in Washington, D.C. as two university leaders shared their expertise with the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Col. Stephen “Lux” Luxion (Ret.), executive director of the MSU-led Federal Aviation Administration Center of Excellence for UAS Research (ASSURE) testified in a Sept. 28 hearing on integrating new entrants into the national airspace system. During a Sept. 29 hearing titled “Securing U.S. Leadership in Emerging Computer Technologies,” High Performance Computing Director Trey Breckenridge encouraged lawmakers to continue technology and R&D investments to advance and protect the nation’s interests.