College of Education

strengthens mission with gifts College of Education

There is no better opportunity for positive change in Mississippi than in its grassroots— education. At Mississippi State University, the College of Education stands ready to lead, and changing tomorrow through education today is the mantra it practices every day. Building on the strength of the work in place, the college’s passion is to expand teaching, research, and outreach to help ensure every child growing up in Mississippi has a chance for success. The generosity and vision of alumni and friends can make this happen with gifts.

For over a century, the College of Education has been preparing highly qualified students and professionals to serve as teachers, administrators, supervisors, counselors, and other education-related professionals. The college is dedicated to offering nationally accredited programs based on essential knowledge, sound practice, relevant research, and realistic training, and its efforts are increasing. Beyond campus, two distance degree programs offered by the college are among the nation’s best—the Bachelor of Education degree program and the elementary education/early childhood education program.

Infinite Impact will provide resources to maintain and strengthen the college’s mission and initiatives. It is with the generosity of loyal alumni and friends that the university can positively impact the world through education. The following outlines specific areas of the College of Education where Infinite Impact gifts can make strides possible.

. Endowed Chairs and Professorships

The College of Education needs to recruit and retain exceptional faculty to teach the thousands of students who are counting on MSU to prepare them for a meaningful future. To flourish, talented students need innovative teachers; however, there exists the challenge of hiring high quality faculty in a competitive marketplace of peer institutions and commercial organizations.

Endowed faculty positions provide leverage with which to entice top educators and researchers in their fields by giving them additional salary support and funds for research. World-changing research takes place in the College of Education every day, and endowed positions can help make this possible in perpetuity. Chairs may be established with a minimum gift of at least $1.5 million, while a professorship requires at least $500,000.

Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program

Being a good teacher is more than just knowing the subject matter, and the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program (METP) focuses its efforts on achieving that. METP is an innovative program designed to attract the best and brightest students who want to become elementary, special education, mathematics, science, and English teachers in Mississippi.

Funded by the Jackson-based Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation, METP creates a unique honors college style learning experience for high achieving education students and promotes collaboration between students and faculty across the university campus. The majority of the program’s students are from Mississippi, but the program also draws future teachers from other states.

METP seeks to attract the top-performing high school seniors to teacher education programs with full scholarships and professional incentives. The program also provides stipends to study abroad or for off-campus learning activities such as visiting high-performing schools around the nation or abroad. All METP graduates make a five-year commitment to teach in Mississippi.

Music Building

Students and faculty in the Department of Music in the College of Education at Mississippi State University have an opportunity to creatively collaborate in harmony in a new state-of-the-art musical environment. Located on the southeast side of campus, the nearly 37,000-square-foot building will bring much-needed classroom and studio space for vital teacher and student interaction.

Planned construction on Hardy Road will position a new building adjacent to the existing band and choral rehearsal hall. A courtyard will adjoin the two, while an outdoor plaza will connect the new building and the existing Lance Practice Field. This configuration between new and

Above: MSU and Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District personnel tour the Partnership School under construction on the university's campus. Right: A rendering of the new Partnership School slated to open this fall.

existing structures will ensure the Department of Music becomes the campus center of musical arts and culturally enhances the Starkville-MSU community. The building will also advance the university as an enviable All-Steinway School as awarded by Steinway & Sons, the internationally renowned manufacturer of pianos. Additional funds are needed for the purchase of Steinway pianos and for an endowment from which the earnings will ensure proper maintenance of these pianos over time.

Once complete, the facility will help the College of Education recruit top music students and top music faculty from across the nation. Developing quality music educators for Mississippi and the Southeast region and providing advanced study of music in the liberal arts tradition are the primary missions of the Department of Music. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, the department currently offers undergraduate degrees in music and music education, with specific concentrations in instrumental music, vocal music, piano, and guitar. The department also offers minor fields of study and a summer only Master of Music Education degree program.

A cornerstone commitment for the entire facility will bring with it a special naming opportunity. Donors may also name featured areas in honor or in memory of family members, friends or mentors. All commitments are payable over a five-year period.

Partnership School at MSU

Historically, the state of Mississippi has struggled with education. To help address this challenge, as well as others, the College of Education will help lead a new Partnership School at Mississippi State that will extend beyond the needs of our state to have national impact as a model for rural education and rural teacher education.

The 128,000-square-foot facility for the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Partnership School will open to its first class of students in fall 2020. The MSU campus school will serve every sixth and seventh grade student in the local district and also will be a demonstration site for student teachers and faculty members. It will provide educational lessons for local district and MSU students as the two entities work jointly to identify collaborative efforts on curriculum, instruction, assessment, and evaluation. In addition, preservice teachers and teachers enrolled in graduate programs will engage in field experiences in the school to observe, firsthand, instructional practices they are learning in coursework.

The learning environment of the Partnership School will extend beyond its walls. Gardens, outdoor classrooms, and other facilities will help foster health and wellness for students. Preservice teachers will learn about the benefits of gardening and health and wellness education

to promote healthy living across Mississippi after they graduate. These outdoor features are possible through a grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Mississippi. The grant supports the school district’s overarching goal to create school environments that emphasize healthy living.

By participating in observations at the Partnership School, College of Education graduates will master effective teaching practices they can carry to schools across the state. In addition to the impact this model will have on our campus, students, teachers, and administrators from across the state will engage in observations and professional development to obtain valuable knowledge and research for their home districts.

Beyond committed support, Mississippi State currently seeks additional gifts for the endeavor. Through Infinite Impact, generous support for the Partnership School will mean essential knowledge, sound practice, relevant research, and realistic training are paramount in the lives of students and faculty.

Scholarships and Graduate Fellowships

A strong merit and need-based scholarship program allows MSU to compete for the brightest students while maintaining high academic standards in an environment enriched with diversity. These scholarships often make the difference in students’ success, as they alleviate some of the financial burdens and allow recipients to focus on their studies to become talented teachers, administrators, and educational researchers.

Annual scholarships of any amount are essential, and endowed scholarships begin with $25,000. These scholarships can benefit qualifying students annually in any of the college’s seven departments: Counseling, Educational Psychology and Foundations; Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education; Instructional Systems and Workforce Development; Kinesiology; Educational Leadership; Music; and the Division of Education on the Meridian campus.

Likewise, fellowships can help the college attract the best graduate students from around the nation in all fields of study. Since many students incur the burden of student loans during their undergraduate study, they are in need of fellowships as a means of supporting themselves in order to pursue a graduate education.

Gifts through Infinite Impact can generate a competitive stipend for a student pursuing a higher degree and simultaneously advance quality education in our nation as these professionals later enter the workforce. In the College of Education, graduate fellowships begin at $250,000, while post-doctoral fellowships start at $300,000.

The EXPRESS Yourself! art program creatively engages individuals with disabilities.

T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability

Mississippi State continues as a national leader in the effort to accommodate students and make the MSU campus more accessible to individuals with physical challenges and mental limitations. The T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability has long served students, children, and families with its mission to ensure persons with disabilities are able to continually benefit from technological solutions and advances in the field of assistive technology.

The T.K. Martin Center maintains a state-of-the-art clinical, research, and training program with a dedicated staff that includes special education teachers, speech and occupational therapists, case workers, engineers, and researchers. Two primary programs, EXPRESS Yourself!, an art program for individuals with disabilities, and Project IMPACT, an early intervention preschool program, are thriving.

The College of Education seeks additional gifts to endow a generous bequest from the late Lorene G. Martin, who shared a love of MSU with her late husband, T.K. Martin, the center’s namesake. The endowment will continue the center’s work in perpetuity—entwining the couple’s legacies with MSU forever. Gifts can help the college reach its goal for the Theodore K. and Lorene G. Martin Endowed Fund for Excellence and honor a lifetime of special accomplishments that impact people every day.

Infinite Impact begins now.

Infinite Impact will enable the College of Education to make strides in teaching and learning, discovery, creativity, globalization, and outreach. Loyal support from faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and friends can collectively set examples and lead foundations, corporations, and individuals nationwide who are capable of larger gifts to support Mississippi State and the College of Education.

Alumni and friends can learn more about the College of Education at www.educ.msstate.edu, as well as through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @CollegeofEd_MSU. For assistance with giving opportunities, contact Trish Cunetto, the college’s director of development, at 662.325.6762 or at tcunetto@foundation.msstate.edu.

STORY AMY CAGLE PHOTOGRAPHY MSU OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS/SUBMITTED