I hope your spring semester is going well as we move ever closer to final exams and commencement in May. This time of year is always busy on our campus, and before we take a short break at the end of the week, I wanted to give you a brief update from the Division of Academic Affairs.

Considering Additional Faculty Ranks

I hope all of you have seen the latest news about where we are in the process of adding to our faculty ranks. For some time now, we have been developing this proposal with input from a diverse range of campus constituencies. The proposal includes additional ranks for instructors, as well as new titles of assistant, associate and teaching professor, and assistant, associate and professor of practice. I appreciate all of the hard work and careful thought that have gone into this deliberative process and appreciate all who have contributed to it. I invite the members of the general faculty to participate in the next steps.

My office and the Robert Holland Faculty Senate are hosting town hall meetings this week and next to answer questions, and then on April 28, we’ll have a general faculty special meeting to further discuss and consider amending the Faculty Charter to add these additional ranks. Voting will take place for three days following the special meeting. I encourage all members of the general faculty to attend the meeting and vote to add these faculty ranks. I would welcome any questions you may have at david.shaw@msstate.edu. Additional information about the meeting is available at https://www.msstate.edu/events/2022/03/general-faculty-special-meeting.

AACSB Reaccredits College of Business and Adkerson School of Accountancy

As all of you recognize, accreditation is one of the pillars that higher education is built upon. Going through the accreditation or reaccreditation process is grueling but essential, and when done successfully, it is fitting to celebrate. I want to congratulate Dean Sharon Oswald and her exceptional teams in the College of Business and in the Adkerson School of Accountancy for achieving reaccreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Well done! AACSB Business Accreditation is one of the most highly regarded designations in the world, and the organization offers a specialized accreditation for accounting programs. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=6578

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:

* Congratulations to Steve Demarais, the Taylor Chair in Applied Big Game Research and Instruction in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture and co-director of the MSU Deer Ecology and Management Laboratory, who is being honored as MSU’s 2022 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award recipient. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=6561

* Kudos to Tracy Fulgham Britt, Mark Novotny, and Ann Spurlock, the winners of the 2022 Robert E. Wolverton Legacy Award in the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as Stacy Hoskins Haynes, Kelly Moser, Colleen Scott, Cody Fondren, Veronica Knowles, and Amber Robinson who were recognized with research and teaching awards during the college’s spring faculty meeting. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=6582

* Congratulations to Renee Clary, a professor in the Department of Geosciences and director of the Dunn-Seiler Museum, who was recently honored as a new Fellow of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=6568

* Kudos to Caroline Kobia, assistant professor in fashion design and merchandising in the School of Human Sciences, and to co-author Charles Freeman, associate professor in fashion design and merchandising, whose work — “Cultivating Rural Entrepreneurship for Community and Economic Vitality: A Case Study of Small Fashion Business in MS” — was recognized at the 2022 American Collegiate Retailing Association (ACRA) conference in March. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=6570

* Congratulations to Paul Tseng, as associate professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, who is the recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Early Career Weed Scientist Award from the Weed Science Society of America. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=6558

* Kudos to Assistant Professor Drew Gholson, an assistant professor and coordinator of the MSU USDA-ARS National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research (NCAAR), who was named Irrigation Researcher of the Year, and to Assistant Research Professor Gurbir Singh, who was named Corn Researcher of the Year, at the 25th Annual Conservation Systems Conferences event. Both are scientists in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and MAFES and stationed at the Delta Research and Extension Center at Stoneville. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=6549

Final Words

Thank you for taking the time to read this month’s letter. 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.