I hope your summer is going well. As we look ahead to the start of the fall semester in August, I want to encourage our new faculty members to consider participating in the 2026 New Faculty Teaching Academy (NFTA). It’s a free and optional program designed for faculty within their first three years of teaching at MSU. NFTA, which features both online and in-person components, is divided into three focus areas: organization, engagement, and communication. The course is designed by the Center for Innovation in Teaching Excellence and will be taught by Shannon Harmon, CITE instructional support specialist. You can find more information about NFTA at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=8604.

Please let me take a few minutes of your time for an update from the Division of Academic Affairs.

Center for Simulation Earns Prestigious Accreditation

Our health sciences initiative continues to build on the strong momentum we have in Meridian, and that now includes a first-of-its-kind status for the Center for Simulation, which is housed on the third floor of the Rosenbaum Building at MSU-Meridian’s Riley Campus. The MSU Center for Simulation is the first in Mississippi to earn the Human Simulation accreditation from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. SSH accreditation is the gold standard for quality in healthcare simulation. Congratulations to Associate Professor of Nursing and Director of Simulation and Clinical Affairs Alaina Herrington and her team for their efforts to achieve this designation. Read more at https://www.memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=8591.

DDDs: Please Complete Leading in an Emergency Training

I want to thank our deans, directors, and department heads who have completed the DDDs - Leading in an Emergency required training. If you have not yet completed the training, please log in to Canvas at canvas.msstate.edu and complete the course as soon as possible. The course takes approximately 25 minutes to complete and provides guidance on preparing for and leading your department during a campus emergency. I hope you will never need to call on the important lessons you will learn in this short online course. However, it is very important – and required – that all DDDs complete this training. If you have questions about the course content, please contact Emergency Management Director Brent Crocker at brent.crocker@msstate.edu or 662-325-4521. For technical assistance with Canvas, please contact the ITS Service Desk at servicedesk@msstate.edu.

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 Leah Kemp, the director of the Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center, who was recently honored by the Mississippi Main Street Association with the Sam Kaye Excellence in Design Award. Additionally, the community of Saltillo received the Outstanding Main Street Plan award for the Carl Small Town Center’s master planning work. Read more at https://www.smalltowncenter.msstate.edu/news/2026/06/small-town-center-work-director-honored-main-street-association-awards.

* Congratulations to the College of Arts and Sciences’ Rinat Gabitov and College of Forest Resources’ Frank Owens for their selection as Fulbright U.S. Scholars. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=8584.

* Kudos to Anne Marshall, the executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and a professor in the Department of History, who has received a Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for her book “Cassius Marcellus Clay: The Life of an Antislavery Slaveholder and the Paradox of American Reform.” Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=8569.

* Congratulations to Jaspreet Singh Randhawa, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, who has received a prestigious CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation to support his work on the nuclear reactions that power stellar explosions and other extreme cosmic events. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=8573.

* Kudos to Rubin Shmulsky, the Warren S. Thompson Professor of Wood Science and Technology in the Forest and Wildlife Research Center and Department of Sustainable Bioproducts, who was recently honored with the 24th International Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation of Wood Symposium’s Distinguished Service Award. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=8594.

* Congratulations to Michele McDonnall, director of the National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision (NRTC); Karla Antonelli, NRTC research scientist; and Emily Marett, an instructor in the Department of Management and Information Systems, who were recently recognized with the Best Research Paper Award from NARRTC, an association dedicated to federally funded disability and rehabilitation research. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=8596.

* Kudos to the talented and highly skilled university communicators who were recognized with awards during the recent College Public Relations Association of Mississippi’s annual conference. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=8585.

* Congratulations to Christie Collins, a lecturer in the Department of English, who co-edited the recently published anthology, “Divergent Writers: Disability, Illness, Neurodivergence, and Ableism in Creative Writing.” Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=8582.

Final Words

I want to close this month’s letter by thanking Leslie Corey for her years of dedicated leadership and service to Mississippi State as she prepares to retire as the university’s chief human resources officer this month. Leslie – it has been an honor and joy to work with you, and I really can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done during your time here. I know all of your friends and colleagues join me in wishing you the very best as you start a new and exciting chapter in your life.

As Leslie retires, we welcome Jason Hernandez as our new chief human resources officer. He has hit the ground running, and I am confident he will continue to provide outstanding leadership for our human resources initiatives moving forward. Read more at https://memo.msstate.edu/story.php?id=8559.

And last – but certainly not least! – we are also celebrating Robert Moorhead and his extraordinary career as he retires from MSU this month. Dr. Moorhead followed me as the director of the Northern Gulf Institute and the Geosystems Research Institute, and he has taken these institutes to new heights through his incredible leadership. Thank you, Robert!

Thank you for reading this month’s Academic Matters. Your comments, questions, suggestions, and concerns about these or other topics are welcome at david.shaw@msstate.edu. 

David

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