Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A first-year leadership experience at Mississippi State, introduced last fall, is evolving to meet the needs of the growing program, said MSU President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong.
"We've had a tremendous response to the Day One program for incoming freshmen, and we're continuing to develop leadership and service experiences that will engage students from the moment they arrive on campus," Foglesong said.
MSU psychology professor Tom Carskadon, a John Grisham Master Teacher at MSU, proposed the concept for "Day One" and has served as its director during the inaugural year.
"Dr. Carskadon is highly regarded as a student-centered professor, and his ideas and energy have been instrumental in establishing a very successful Day One launch," Foglesong said. More than 225 students participated during their first semester at MSU last fall.
As part of the program's commitment to rotational leadership, Allison Pearson, professor of management and information systems, will succeed Carskadon as Day One director. She also is a John Grisham Master Teacher.
"Dr. Carskadon has set a really high bar, and he deserves recognition for building a foundation that will benefit generations of MSU students as they arrive on campus," Foglesong said.
Carskadon now will advise Foglesong on developing graduate and international leadership programs. Pearson, part of a team of professors who led the initial year of the program, will rotate into her new position this month.
"I am excited to move on to the next step of the leadership continuum knowing that 'the best in the nation' will always be the goal of Day One," Carskadon said.
Students selected for Day One share a common residence hall and work together in action teams that address a specific need for an assigned community partner. They also attend once-weekly leadership lectures, are enrolled in at least one core class together, and are assigned an MSU faculty or staff mentor.
"Part of the excitement of this program is the wide variety of leadership styles and learning opportunities students encounter," said Bill Kibler, MSU vice president for student affairs. "We think its dynamic approach to engaging students with faculty leaders will create benefits for all involved."
Day One is among a number of programs in MSU's comprehensive leadership continuum, which also includes the Appalachian Leadership Honors Program for second- and third-year students, a Young Guns program for rising high school seniors, an academic leadership minor, and a Global Leadership Program, among others.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.