Season’s greetings from the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President. Before we officially start winter break in just a few days, please let me share a brief update from the Division of Academic Affairs with you.

SACSCOC Reaffirms Accreditation

As many of you will recall, we have been going through the reaccreditation cycle with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) this year. We hosted a very successful site visit in February as part of this process, and it could not have gone any better. And then we waited. I’m very pleased to report that the Board of Trustees officially voted last week at the SACSCOC annual meeting in Texas to reaffirm Mississippi State University’s accreditation for another decade. While many of you contributed to this significant effort, I want to once again thank Associate Vice President for Institutional Strategy and Effectiveness Tracey Baham, our accreditation liaison, for leading us through this process. Read more at https://www.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2024/12/mississippi-state-universitys-accreditation-reaffirmed-sacscoc.

Celebrating Our Newest Graduates

I also want to thank everyone who contributed to our highly successful commencement ceremonies in Humphrey Coliseum and the MSU Riley Center and the doctoral graduation and hooding ceremony in Bettersworth Auditorium last week. I appreciate all who worked so tirelessly to ensure our graduates could celebrate this special time with their family and friends, as well as the many faculty members who participated and attended. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=7921.

Call for Honorary Degree Nominations

While we just concluded fall commencement, our spring graduation ceremonies will be here before we know it. Faculty, staff, students, and alumni are invited to submit nominations for honorary doctoral degrees that will be awarded in 2025. Nomination letters and support materials should be sent to the Honorary Degree Committee via email to provost@msstate.edu by January 17, 2025. Under IHL guidelines, persons eligible for the Doctor of Laws, Doctor of Science, Doctor of Humane Letters, Doctor of Creative and Performing Arts, or Doctor of Public Service must have demonstrated nationally recognized sustained achievement in scholarship, public service, creative and performing arts, or professional activity.

Kudos and Congratulations

Every month, I look forward to sharing faculty and staff success stories with you, and here are a few that have crossed my desk recently:

* Kudos to the Clinical Psychology Program for earning a 10-year accreditation from the American Psychological Association and achieving a 100% match rate for clinical psychology internships through the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers for the past 13 years. Well done! Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=7907.

* Congratulations to Nicole Rader, professor and head of the Department of Sociology and assistant dean for strategic initiatives in the College of Arts and Sciences, who has been awarded the 2024 Distinguished Scholar Award by the Division of Feminist Criminology – the largest division of the American Society of Criminology – and was selected for “exemplary scholarship,” specifically her 2023 Temple University Press publication “Teaching Fear: How We Learn to Fear Crime and Why It Matters. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=7908.

* Kudos to Craig Merrett, an associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, who has been recognized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as an AIAA Associate Fellow. Read more at https://www.memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=7917.

* Congratulations to Gregg Twietmeyer, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology, who has been named a fellow of the National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=7909.

* Kudos to Amanda Patrick, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, who is one of only 19 early career scientists globally to be named an “Emerging Investigator” by the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=7899.

* Congratulations to the Mississippi State Online team for winning a silver excellence in marketing award for “Creating a Sense of Belonging: MS State Online Revamped Orientation” and bronze for “Revolutionizing Student Engagement: MS State Online’s Journey to Strategic Online Communication” campaigns from the University Professional and Continuing Education Association. Read more at https://www.memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=7920.

Final Words

During this special time of year, I wish you happy holidays and all the best in the upcoming new year. I hope each one of you can use the time we have during the break to relax, reflect, and prepare for an even better and brighter 2025.

Merry Christmas and Hail State!

David

Dr. David R. Shaw is Provost and Executive Vice President at Mississippi State University. His email address is david.shaw@msstate.edu.