Announcements include a partnership with Adobe, new Engineering Leadership Excellence (ELE) dual-degree, and new policy on flexwork arrangements.
Classes at Mississippi State University (MSU) will begin on Wednesday, August 17th. Leading up to the new school year, MSU has announced a round of partnerships, programs, and guidance for the upcoming year.
“The start of a new academic year is always a very exciting time on campus. Welcoming our new students and their families to their new college home is an important part of the start of the fall term,” said MSU Vice President for Student Affairs Regina Hyatt. “We can’t wait to help our students find connections through student organizations and campus events and engage with the many resources we have available to aid in their success and transition to college. It’s great to be starting a new year.”
MSU has announced a new partnership between the university and Adobe to optimize the academic experience and elevate career preparedness. MSU is the first and only Adobe Creative Campus in Mississippi.
The Adobe Creative Campus designation recognizes innovative universities that foster digital literacy, access and equity for students. University leaders anticipate the improved access to cutting-edge applications for graphic design, photography, videography, illustrating and more will help students, faculty and staff expand skills and enhance academic and co-curricular projects.
“In addition to making every industry-leading Adobe Creative Cloud app across desktop and mobile devices available to students at a reduced cost, MSU is collaborating with other Adobe Creative Campuses to share ideas and innovations that help ensure student success,” MSU said in a release.
Resources include 26 apps in the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Adobe XD, Premiere Pro and Adobe Express, among others.
“Additional cloud storage, allowing for easy file sharing, is yet another benefit for MSU students and employees, who also can access Adobe Stock with over 500,000 assets, such as high-quality images, graphics, videos, 3D objects and templates. Adobe Sign, Adobe’s e-signature solution, also may be utilized by MSU employees,” the release continued.
MSU Chief Information Officer Steve Parrott said that the university has listened to their student and employee communities who have asked for a campus-wide Creative Cloud solution.
“These apps are used in the classrooms throughout a variety of disciplines in the academic arena, and the university is committed to equipping our students and employees with the best tools for success,” Parrott said.
The university also announced a new Engineering Leadership Excellence (ELE) dual-degree program at MSU that opens student options to “‘learn by doing.”
This degree is ideal for students to delve into experiential learning, combining technical and industrial engineering skills with business expertise while earning two MSU degrees to put them ahead in the competitive job market.
MSU’s new ELE program graduates students with dual, collaborative degrees—the Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and the Bachelor of Business Administration—with only one additional semester of coursework.
MSU’s industrial and systems engineering department in the Bagley College of Engineering and the College of Business are collaborating on the new degree option.
ISE Department Head Kari Babski-Reeves said the job prospects are endless with this degree in manufacturing, transportation and distribution, healthcare, public agencies and organizations, and the list goes on.”
“These students learn and research how to design and improve systems of all types—people, materials, information, equipment and more—and they gain a general knowledge of business such as planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling and budgeting,” said Babski-Reeves.
A new policy at Mississippi State defines flexible work arrangements that achieve a reliable and productive work environment for both the employee and the university.
The new policy defines the different types of flexwork arrangements, establishes procedures for implementation, and provides important considerations for both supervisors and employees considering flexwork.
“MSU’s primary delivery of instruction, outreach, and engagement with our students and our colleagues remains through in-person interactions,” the policy states. “As such, it is imperative that we strike a balance between employees working on-site and remote in order to maintain collegiality and service to our community.”
Anne Summerhays
