Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--More than 30 government administrators and other professionals are new graduates of the State Executive Development Institute.
Since 2003, SEDI has been designated by the Mississippi Legislature as the top management training program for state government employees. The annual weeklong series of classroom sessions are organized and provided at Mississippi State by the university's John C. Stennis Institute of Government.
Institute executive director Marty Wiseman, a veteran MSU political science professor, said the institute was created to complement other management training available in the state, but with special benefits available only at an institution of higher learning.
"The women and men who join us each spring are exposed to the cutting edge of public- and private-sector management theories, organizational development, administrative innovations, and academic research," he added.
Wiseman said the daylong classes "are fully grounded in the practical aspects of government," with a number of sessions led by experienced state and local government executives.
Program topics this year included, among others, accountability and assessment, ethical challenges in the 21st century, e-government, and relationship marketing. MSU President Mark Keenum was featured speaker for the May 7 concluding banquet.
Participants for the 2009 SEDI include (by hometown):
BATESVILLE--Ulmer T. "Trey" Bullock, district materials engineer with the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
CRYSTAL SPRINGS--Carolyn Bell, civil rights director for the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
GREENWOOD--Shella M. Head, district manager for the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services.
HATTIESBURG--Todd E. Jordan and Eddie D. Stringfellow, both assistant district engineers with the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
JACKSON--Trent Curtis, transportation planner for the Office of State Aid Road Construction; Lisa M. Hancock, financial management director for the Mississippi Department of Transportation; Walter R. Hart, a director of the Mississippi State Department of Health's Office of Tobacco Control; Robin L. Hedrick, human resources officer for the Mississippi Library Commission; Dorothy R. Loggins, gaming relations specialist for the Mississippi Gaming Commission; Cheryl Lunsford, intermodal projects administrator for the Mississippi Department of Transportation; Freddie M. "Flip" Phillips, deputy executive director of the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration; Shirley A. Sessoms, deputy director of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi; Edwin S. Smith, local public agency engineer for the Mississippi Department of Transportation; and Kymberly D. Wiggins, public information officer for the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration.
LAUREL--Elliott M. Brown, a psychologist with the South Mississippi State Hospital's Crisis Intervention Center.
MADISON--Marie V. Allbritton, an administrative assistant with the Office of State Aid Road Construction.
MERIDIAN--Mary F. Beaty and Shelia A. Newbaker, branch directors at the East Mississippi State Hospital; and Maria A. Britt, interdisciplinary programs director for EMSH's Bradley A. Sanders Adolescent Complex.
NEWTON--Thomas F. "Freddie" Stokes, assistant district engineer of maintenance for the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
OXFORD--Kimberly A. Bryant, director of resident living, and Everlean Mathis, director of home- and community-based services, both at the North Mississippi Regional Center.
PASS CHRISTIAN--George W. White, president of Fiscal Services Inc., New Orleans, La.
PEARL--Vicki Burton, district manager for Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services; Iris N. Griffin, director of recruitment for the State Personnel Board; and Karen M. Holloway, human resources director for the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration.
POPLARVILLE--Leigh M. Greer, a division director for the South Mississippi Regional Center.
PURVIS--Lee D. Foley, systems administrator for the South Mississippi State Hospital.
TUPELO--Matthew E. Dunn, assistant district maintenance engineer for the Mississippi Department of Transportation, and Terry Miller, director of human resources for the North Mississippi State Hospital.
WHITFIELD--Paula K. Kleeb, in-patient services director, and Lydia E. Weisser, clinical director, both at the Mississippi State Hospital.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more on the 2009 SEDI, contact coordinator LaNell Kellum at 662-325-0215 or lanell@sig.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.