America Reads - Mississippi Graduation Celebration Next Friday
America Reads-Mississippi (ARM), a literacy-based AmeriCorps Program, will host a graduation luncheon to honor 250 AmeriCorps members on Friday, July 13, 2007. The "Life After AmeriCorps" celebration will take place from 11:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Jackson. ARM AmeriCorps Program Members who have completed their year of service, program administrators, key partners, and other friends will be recognized for their efforts. ARM is the largest AmeriCorps program of its kind in the nation, with 270 members serving in 58 elementary and middle schools across Mississippi. Members tutor students in reading, recruit volunteers for literacy activities, and conduct community service projects that meet local needs. This year, ARM members tutored 4,118 students daily (on average) with 63 percent improving in reading by one letter grade, 31 percent improving by two letter grades, 6 percent improving by more than two letter grades, and 99 percent improving in school attitude, homework, class work, and self-confidence; recruited 19,566 volunteers who volunteered 50,957 hours, which benefited 72,550 people and represented $956,463 of value (2006 Independent Sector Volunteer Hourly Value of $18.77 per hour); and earned $1,275,750 in federal AmeriCorps education scholarship dollars. The program, administered by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Office of Academic and Student Affairs, is federally funded through the Corporation for National and Community Service and from state funds through partnering schools. For more information, contact America Reads-Mississippi State Director Randee Williams at (601) 432-6380.
| | IHL Board Teleconference Scheduled for Monday
Dr. L. Stacy Davidson, Jr., IHL Board President, has called a special teleconference meeting of the Board. The purpose of the meeting is to appoint an interim president of Mississippi Valley State University due to the resignation of President Lester C. Newman and to address other business. The teleconference will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, July 9, 2007. An executive session may be held in accordance with the Mississippi Open Meetings Act. Members of the public or press who would like to attend the teleconference may do so by coming to Room 935, on the ninth floor of the Paul B. Johnson tower building located in the Education and Research Center, 3825 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, Mississippi.
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Items included in the “University News” section of the System Review are submitted each week by the universities. The news items are listed in rotating alphabetical order by university.
MISSISSIPPI UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN NEWS
 MUW's Graduate Nursing Program Awarded Grant
Mississippi University for Women’s graduate nursing program has been awarded an Advanced Education Nursing Traineeship (AENT) Grant for FY 2008 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the amount of $39,187. The grant will provide federal funding to cover some of the college expenses for graduate nursing students who will return to their home communities to provide care in underserved areas. “The focus of the graduate nursing program is to educate advanced practice nurses in primary care,” said Dr. Sheila Adams, dean of the College of Nursing and Speech-Language Pathology. “The majority of our graduate nursing students come from rural and underserved counties that have limited or no primary healthcare and most will return to their home communities to practice.” Dr. Patsy Smyth, director of the graduate nursing program, is the project coordinator and will oversee the grant. She received a doctor of science in nursing degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a master of science in nursing degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor of science in nursing degree from the State University of New York. Prior to coming to MUW, Dr. Smyth was the director of the graduate nursing program at Western Carolina University. Learn more. MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY NEWS
 Mississippi Valley State University Online
www.mvsu.edu UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI NEWS
Students to Join Chinese Peers in Cultural Exchange
The son of American missionaries, Graham Purcell grew up in Russia. Now the University of Mississippi (UM) student looks forward to visiting communist China. "It will be interesting for me to see and compare the effects communism had on Russia and continues to have on China," said the 21-year-old political science major from Louisville. Purcell is one of 11 UM students scheduled to participate in the Trent Lott Leadership Institute's Young Leaders International Exchange Program to China, July 11 to Aug. 10. The students join 11 of their counterparts from Nanjing University in Nanjing, China, for a cultural exchange aimed at promoting greater international understanding for students at both universities. The two university groups gather first on the Ole Miss campus for orientation, discussions, and lectures on the current political, economic, and social situation in the world. The group then embarks on a two-and-half week excursion across the South before arriving in Washington, D.C., where they plan to visit significant historic sites. Participants spend the second half of their cultural exchange overseas. "Similar trips are organized by the partner institutions in their own country," said Bill Gottshall, executive director of the Lott Institute. "The tour in China includes tours of the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square. By making visits to key cultural, political, and industrial centers, it is our hope to create more well-rounded leaders in the future." Learn more. Sexualities Focus of 34th Annual Faulkner Conference New Croft Executive Director, Associate Provost for International Affairs Named at UM Business Prof Elected President of International Professional Society Museum Announces New Bridge, Path Improvements on Bailey's Woods Trail UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MEDICAL CENTER NEWS
New Prosthetic Device Helps Grant Second Chance at "Normal Life"
With the birth of his second son and the holidays around the corner, Anthony McCool was working all the overtime he could manage at a plant in Yazoo City. At 10 p.m. on what would have been just a normal October night at work, the 25-year-old took a misstep that would forever change his life. McCool fell off an observation platform. His arm got caught in a conveyer belt, and he was pulled approximately 300 feet before being hung in midair for an hour. While in the most excruciating pain of his life, he wondered if he would even survive to see his family again. That night, McCool lost three quarts of blood. He eventually made it to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, but his arm could not be saved. “They had to take my arm, my shoulder joint, everything,” he said. “I never dreamed anything like this would ever happen to me.” McCool was given a second chance at having a normal life, thanks to Rick Psonak and Richard Boleware, certified prosthetists in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery’s Division of Orthotics and Prosthetics. Learn more. Jones Assumes AHA Presidency Former UMC Physiologist Tries Hand at Fiction UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI NEWS
Retired Southern Miss Professor Examines Scope of Embezzlement in Mississippi
In his recently published book, Hands in the Till – Embezzlement of Public Monies in Mississippi, Dr. James R. Crockett, professor emeritus of accounting at The University of Southern Mississippi, writes about embezzlement involving public servants and employees of organizations that receive public funds. As in his previous book, Operation Pretense – The FBI's Sting on County Corruption in Mississippi, the story of the undercover operation that led to the indictment of 57 county supervisors, Crockett examines the how and why of public greed and corruption. Crockett says that as a teacher of auditing, he naturally was interested in the crime of embezzlement. “I began noticing how much embezzlement of Mississippi’s money was reported in the media. I also noted that the information just dribbled out. I wanted to capture the scope of the problem in a book.” During the writing of Hands in the Till , which recounts the details of 37 cases of embezzlement uncovered by the Office of the State Auditor, Crockett says that he had to leave out dozens of cases because the book was becoming too long. “I tried to choose representative stories from a number of areas,” said Crockett. Those cases range from the indictments and convictions of circuit clerks and tax collectors to school administrators and employees of organizations that receive public money. Learn more. Southern Miss Alum Playing Role in New Orleans' Recovery from Katrina Hattiesburg Foster Grandparent Program Offers Volunteer Opportunities Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Scientist Selected for Microbiology Committee UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI - GULF COAST NEWS
University of Southern Mississippi - Gulf Coast Online
www.usm.edu/gulfcoast ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY NEWS
Alcorn State University Online
www.alcorn.edu DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY NEWS
Delta State University Online
www.deltastate.edu JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY NEWS
JSU Football Camps Help Inspire Jackson Area Youths
Throughout the 2007 Jackson State University (JSU) football camps, the emphasis has not only been on practice and on-the-field instruction, it also has been about making the right decisions in life. Tuesday afternoon, JSU Head Coach Rick Comegy invited three guest speakers to talk to the campers about making plans for the future and avoiding the pitfalls that are prevalent among young males. The speakers told them to concentrate on their future and to seize available educational opportunities. Worth Thomas, Jackson State's lobbyist, was one of the presenters to speak to approximately 60 campers, whose ages range from 13 to 17. Thomas said that speaking to the campers is one of the more important things he can do. "This is about helping people," said Thomas. "This is about getting to these children before they become victims." C. Daryl Neely, Mississippi policy advisor, and Christopher Epps, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, were the other two speakers. Neely advised the campers to face all challenges that might come up and to decide their own future. Learn more. JSU Students Landscape Hamer Gravesite for Summer Project Summer Orientation and Advisement for Transfer and First-time Freshmen JSU Volleyball to Hold 6th Annual Camp MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY NEWS
MSU Officials See Positive Signs for Fall Enrollment
Mississippi State is anticipating a "manageable and planned increase" in enrollment this fall. Recruiting efforts by the entire university community, from alumni throughout the nation to President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong's two-week tour of high schools during the spring, are among factors being credited with the anticipated enrollment increase for the fall 2007 semester compared to a year ago. With one last freshman orientation session scheduled this summer, associate student affairs vice president Lisa Harris said the campus community can expect more students on campus when classes begin on Aug. 20. "The Bulldog Nation has come together," Harris said. "Everyone understands that it's all our jobs to ensure successful recruitment." Since becoming MSU president last year, Foglesong has said the land-grant institution needs to have a steady, incremental annual enrollment growth of about 300-500 students. In response, Harris and others in the Division of Student Affairs have intensified the recruiting of freshmen and transfer students as part of FutureState 2015, the university's long-term plan for enrollment, research, faculty, and economic development. "We have realistic, managed growth that allows the university to handle enrollment increases," Foglesong said Tuesday. "Our plan ensures that we have appropriate faculty and other university resources necessary for student enrollment increases." Learn more. MSU Announces New Strings Program in Music MSU Softball Coach Leads U.S. To Gold Medal At ISF Junior Women's World Championships 
July 6 - John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance at Ole Miss, tells the story behind the food, people, and places that have become Southern legends at Off Square Books in Oxford. Edge is the author of Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lover's Companion to the South . Learn more. July 7 - The University of Mississippi presents a college planning conference specifically for rising high school seniors, with sessions on admissions, student life, financial aid, academics and more. Includes campus tours and a picnic in the Grove. Learn more. July 7, 19, 24 and 27 - Southern Arena Theatre at The University of Southern Mississippi presents Noel Coward’s classic comedy “Fallen Angels” at the Gilbert F. Hartwig Theatre. For tickets, call the Southern Miss Ticket Office at (601) 266-5418 or 800-844-8425. Learn more. July 9 - Mississippi State begins its first day of courses for the summer semester's second term. Second semester summer school ends with final exams on Aug. 7. Learn more. July 9-12 - The intensive four-day Ole Miss Film Workshop is designed to introduce high school students, college students, teachers, and others to both film appreciation and the actual techniques of filmmaking. Workshop sessions are set for the Ole Miss-Oxford Depot. Pre-registration is required. Learn more. July 28 - Jackson State University will host "Get Ready 2008," an informational fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for prospective students. Interested participants should RSVP by July 20. For more information, call (601) 979-1383 or email latoya.boston@jsums.edu . Learn more. Aug. 4 - Jackson State University will celebrate its Summer Commencement exercises at 9 a.m. in the Lee E. Williams Athletics & Assembly Center on the JSU campus. For more information, call (601) 979-2272. Learn more. |
