The season has brought us so much to be thankful for despite the destruction of this past August. Southern Miss continues to move forward on many important fronts from accreditation to donations, and I have good news to share.
SACS probation lifted
In December, the board of directors for the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) convened and lifted probationary status due to improvement of documentation in the assessment process for distance education.
It is important to note that during the one-year period, the university remained fully accredited. At no time did SACS express concerns about our overall academic quality or institutional integrity.
Many thanks are in order to all who helped with this process.
• The faculty did an outstanding job! Their contributions to process improvement were tremendous.
• The staff provided remarkable work and guidance through this past year.
• Three teams, including a leadership team, a compliance team and a quality enhancement plan team were formed to focus on accreditation. Many thanks to them.
• Joan Exline, assistant to the president for accreditation, planning and articulation, worked with the university's deans, the graduate council, the academic council, council of chairs and various faculty and staff committees to address assessment issues. We are grateful for her leadership.
During the past year, Southern Miss has continued to prepare for its next regularly scheduled 10-year accreditation assessment, having already submitted reports in October in preparation for the April 2006 SACS campus visit.
Strengthening our university
In November and December several significant contributions were received. I can’t overemphasize the critical nature of these gifts in these times of tightening state budgets and losses due to Hurricane Katrina.
$20 million given for Southern Miss Innovation and Commercialization Center
In November, Senator Thad Cochran’s office notified us that the University of Southern Mississippi would receive a $20 million appropriation from the federal government for construction of a new building at the Southern Miss Innovation and Commercialization Center, a technology park, currently under development on Classic Drive in Hattiesburg.
Using local, state and federal funds, Southern Miss is developing the park to house laboratories, offices and open space for joint university and industry projects that turn research into marketable products. The first new buildings at the 521-acre park will likewise provide space for high-tech companies relocating to south Mississippi, particularly those seeking access to university projects involving polymers and high performance materials in conjunction with the Mississippi Polymer Institute.
Look for more information in January as we continue to report our progress on this momentous venture.
• Luckyday Foundation gives $4.58 million
Southern Miss’ Luckyday Citizenship Scholars program honors Mississippi high school graduates who are exemplary students both academically and in their community. This is an outstanding program funded by an outstanding foundation. Approximately 400 students are enrolled in Southern Miss’ Luckyday Scholars program. Read more here (PDF) about this extraordinary program.
• Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund donates $1.5 million
Just last week I was fortunate enough to meet with former Presidents George H. Bush and Bill Clinton in New Orleans. Over 30 university presidents were present, and Southern Miss was awarded $1.5 million to aid in our disaster recovery. Readmore (PDF) about this story.
Other key funding and donations include the following:
• Southern Miss received $2 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce to further develop and commercialize Toxin Alert’s patented Toxin Guard technology under an existing research and development agreement between Toxin Alert™ and the Department of Economic Development at Southern Miss.
• The Department of the Administration of Justice has received $2 million for construction and equipping of a new forensic science laboratory. This is in conjunction with the Hattiesburg District Attorney’s office and various law enforcement offices on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
• The Institute for Disability Studies at The University of Southern Mississippi, in collaboration with Forrest General Hospital, Hattiesburg Clinic, Southern Mississippi Neonatology, and Southeast Mississippi Rural Health Initiative, is a recipient of a 2005 Health Information Technology Implementation Grant in the amount of $499,999 for the first year. This federal grant will support project CONNECT - Creating Online NICU Networks to Educate, Consult and Team - with approximately $1.5 million over a three-year period.
We continue to boast student, faculty and alumni achievements!
• Southern Miss history professor Dr. Greg O’Brien received an inaugural Dianne Woest fellowship from The Historic New Orleans Collection. The fellowships are offered by the organization to promote the city’s history and cultural heritage. O’Brien’s research focuses on the New Orleans Flood of 1849 and the role of engineer George Towers Dunbar in repairing city levees to spare the city from further harm. The topic is considered timely because of the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans.
• David McRaney of Sumrall, a senior journalism major at Southern Miss, won a $500 scholarship from the Hearst Journalism Program for his work “Area Resident Not Inconvenienced by Katrina,” which ran in The Student Printz Oct. 20, and earned Southern Miss’ School of Mass Communication and Journalism a $500 stipend as well. McRaney is news editor for The Student Printz and won seventh place for the story in the 2005 Hearst Journalism Awards Program competition.
• Cory Horton, a junior at the University of Southern Mississippi, recently attended the 20th Annual National Conference on Ethics in America at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. A native of Bolton, Horton was chosen because of his outstanding involvement on campus. Horton, finance major with an emphasis in real estate, currently serves as director of Student Initiatives for the Student Government Association and is a member of Men of Excellence, AASO, NAACP and the National Association of Realtors.
• The Southern Miss football team has completed another winning season and is playing December 20 at the New Orleans Bowl, held in Lafayette this year. Congratulations to Coach Jeff Bower on his eighth straight winning season and for achieving his 100th head coaching victory this year! Go to New Orleans Bowl for more information. Southern Miss to the top!
Another story about Katrina In opening the mail a few weeks back, we received a $10,000 check made payable to the university with a simple message: “Use it where you need it most following the hurricane.” Sent from a California citizen, we were touched and wrote a letter of thanks sharing information about Southern Miss. But there’s more. Two weeks later, another check from the same individuals, this time for $100,000, arrived in the mail. Again, the message was to the point: “You have lost so much – use this to help the university.”
This man and his wife are not alumni and not Mississippi residents; they simply wanted to help our university. We have sent our heartfelt thanks to them and continue to be touched by the generosity and spirit we have seen in days following Katrina.
Diversified Products donated over 5,000 gallons of American Pride, an environmentally friendly paint developed by researchers at the University of Southern Mississippi, to people in the Gulf Coast region recovering from Katrina. We are working on plans to restore our Gulf Coast facilities. And, we are actively engaged in assisting students and prospective students so that their dream of a college education from Southern Miss can become a reality. Our faculty, staff and students in these affected coastal counties remain a top priority for us here at the university.
Looking forward In this holiday season, my personal wish is for good health for you and your family. May you be together enjoying the spirit of this season. May you take time to savor the joys that family and communities share with each other. And, may you have a safe and blessed New Year. From our Southern Miss family to yours, all the best this holiday and a happy 2006!
If the state of Mississippi ever loses it senior U.S. Senators and the resulting PORK, would USM ever get any federal money or "grants"? If these projects are so good, why are they always bypassing peer review? Has anyone heard the RESULTS of these many, many federal pork projects? It seems all we hear about is the funding and never any results the "research" (contractual services?) produce. Makes one think the only purpose was to get money to USM.
If the state of Mississippi ever loses it senior U.S. Senators and the resulting PORK, would USM ever get any federal money or "grants"? If these projects are so good, why are they always bypassing peer review? Has anyone heard the RESULTS of these many, many federal pork projects? It seems all we hear about is the funding and never any results the "research" (contractual services?) produce. Makes one think the only purpose was to get money to USM.
That's all it's ever been about. To get money. I'll bet SFT & Co couldn't provide even a 30 second sound byte on what research is being done. Just get us the overhead baby!
Junior wrote: Could Bud K. have written a better PR letter?
I think he would have left on his own if things had not happened as they happened.
Bud K. was an honorable guy. He gave much to this institution. I am glad he did not have to try to make SFT look good.
Ah, Bud Kirkpatrick! One of ST's finest hours. While not on a par with the G & S firings, the treatment of Bud stands as a monument to the unique management ethos of the Thames administration. After all, why simply fire the man when it's so much better to publicly humiliate him?
I hope he's doing well. I hope he lives to see the worm turn.
Third Witch wrote: Junior wrote: Could Bud K. have written a better PR letter?
I think he would have left on his own if things had not happened as they happened.
Bud K. was an honorable guy. He gave much to this institution. I am glad he did not have to try to make SFT look good.
Ah, Bud Kirkpatrick! One of ST's finest hours. While not on a par with the G & S firings, the treatment of Bud stands as a monument to the unique management ethos of the Thames administration. After all, why simply fire the man when it's so much better to publicly humiliate him?
I hope he's doing well. I hope he lives to see the worm turn.
Thanks, Third Witch. Did anyone ever do anything to honor this man's 40 plus years of service to this institution?
http://www.usm.edu/president/ A Message from the President December 19, 2005
"Using local, state and federal funds, Southern Miss is developing the park to house laboratories, offices and open space for joint university and industry projects that turn research into marketable products. The first new buildings at the 521-acre park will likewise provide space for high-tech companies relocating to south Mississippi, particularly those seeking access touniversity projects involving polymers and high performance materials in conjunction with the Mississippi Polymer Institute."
Surprise! Surprise! (underlining added for emphasis).
Junior wrote: Did anyone ever do anything to honor this man's 40 plus years of service to this institution?
Yes - the staff from his office gave a surprise going away party for him at his truck in the parking lot on the day he left the university. Forty-plus years....what class the university showed. I hope President Cracker's send off is just as dignified.
Did anyone ever do anything to honor this man's 40 plus years of service to this institution?
Junior, everybody gets the same thing: a cheap silver plated bowl that tarnishes over time. When I toss mine in the trash a member of my family retrieves it and puts it back on the shelf.
I appreciate the suggtion. But it's not the tarnish that bothers me. It's the bad memories it evokes. If you need one of those bowls, check with your local flea market.
One_of_the_forgotten_contributors wrote: I think it is demoralizing to single out a single professor or only two of our wonderful students for mention.
I don't get this post. Congrats to Prof. O'Brien. He's on a roll--He also won a teaching award from the Miss. Humanities Council. I'm glad SFT pointed him out for praise.
qwerty wrote: One_of_the_forgotten_contributors wrote: I think it is demoralizing to single out a single professor or only two of our wonderful students for mention.
I don't get this post. Congrats to Prof. O'Brien. He's on a roll--He also won a teaching award from the Miss. Humanities Council. I'm glad SFT pointed him out for praise.
Nobody's taking anything away from O'Brien. He deserves the accolades. But the end-of-the-year attaboys and attagirls shouldn't single out one person at the expense of everyone else who worked their butts off this year.
What exactly happened with Bud?...I know he was hastened out but how or was he mistreated? Since this happened over two years ago, I either didn't know or don't recall what sort of situation played out
Instead of being allowed to retire, with the requisite hoopla, he was rudely and cruelly and publicly fired. So much for a lifetime of service. SFT in action.