Contact: Harriet Laird
Photo by: Kristen Hines Baker
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Lisa Harris isn't afraid of change; in fact, she embraces it.
A passion for what she terms "positive transformation" has earned Mississippi State's associate vice president for student affairs the 2009 Margaret Ruthven Perry Distinguished Journalism Award of the Southern Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers.
Harris' honor resulted from her article, "The Enrollment Manager as a Change Agent," that was named "best written" for the 2009 edition of The SACRAO Journal, the professional organization's best-practices publication.
In praising Harris, journal editor Carol Nobles said, "Your work inspires others to conduct their own research and study in areas important to our professions."
Harris recently accepted the award at the association's annual conference in New Orleans.
A former SACRAO president, Harris said she believes the focus of the article was both timely and ready to be heard. "It was the easiest article I've ever written; it just flew out of me," she said. "I think that's because there comes a time when you can actually write about something that's different from what others are writing."
Harris credits "the whole dichotomy of change" as her inspiration. "As humans, we fight change with every breath in our bodies, yet it is the most constant thing we face," she said.
Within the Division of Student Affairs, Harris supervises the departments of admissions and scholarships, student financial aid, assessment and testing services, recreational sports, housing and residence life, MSU Welcome Center, and divisional communications. She also serves as a liaison with Barnes & Noble at Mississippi State Bookstore and is the primary adviser for the Student Association.
Harris said the article represents combined research and personal theories on enrollment management leadership. In explaining its timeliness, she pointed to current economic conditions that put higher education in a position to increase enrollment while consolidating offerings.
These factors, in turn, force enrollment managers to find solutions that don't negatively affect program and service quality of the type MSU has developed a reputation for providing, she observed.
"One can't think about recruitment and retention strategies if not thinking about cultural change," she explained. "The toughest thing to do is deliver effective, service-oriented programs in a tight budget situation without there being a visible difference."
Harris gives ample credit to MSU for enabling her to be a change agent because it provided the opportunity to share skills developed previously at four other institutions. She said becoming a better administrator was due, in no small part, to the university's access-oriented, encouraging and family-centered environment.
"These are the reasons I've become a part of MSU; it's a family," she said. "I look for an environment that embraces new ideas and is ready for change, and this is why I will always be a change agent; getting into a culture and understanding quickly what's relevant and what's not."
She continued: "It's often easy to simply suggest change, but it's not always easy to attempt to bring change while keeping the integrity of the culture whole. I'm so lucky and grateful to work here with people who are team-oriented and embrace the kind of changes that need to be made for us to make a difference."
Before coming to MSU, Harris worked in enrollment services for the universities of Alabama and Tennessee, and Louisiana State and Clemson universities. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Clemson and a doctorate from LSU.
In addition to having held the SACRAO presidency and serving on its executive committee, she is a former editor of the journal.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional information, contact Dr. Harris 662-325-2279 or lharris@saffairs.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.