Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi are joining with the 10 other Southeastern Conference institutions in the launch of a new SEC Academic Network. A Web site designed to promote academic endeavors of SEC universities using ESPN360.com technology, www.secacademicnetwork.com went live Friday [Aug. 21] morning.
The Academic Network was established by the SEC, in partnership with ESPN and the member schools. It will feature content from every institution, ranging from research, innovation and economic development to community partnerships, civic engagement and service.
On the Web site, each institution has its own page featuring videos categorized by topic. Alumni, students and fans worldwide now have the ability in one place to learn more about SEC academics through video features that are posted by the league institutions.
"This is an unparalleled opportunity to showcase some of Mississippi State's key institutional strengths in research and outreach, two of the guiding themes of the launch," said MSU President Mark Keenum.
"We're committed to generating quality video that portrays the outstanding accomplishments of our faculty, staff and students in areas that affect our state, our nation and beyond," he added.
His comments recently were echoed by new Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones. "We're excited about the chance to give millions of people a broad view of the academic, service and research work that makes the University of Mississippi a unique and valuable part of the state, national and world communities," Jones said.
"Our faculty and students are among the best in the world, and we're looking forward to telling their amazing stories through this collaborative effort with our conference partners," Jones said.
The SEC Communicators Association, composed of key institutional communication professionals, worked collaboratively to develop major themes and guidelines for the project. Support for the project at MSU and Ole Miss is being provided by their athletics departments, the two institutional leaders said.
"The No. 1 defining principle in our athletics department is to provide a quality education," said MSU Athletic Director Greg Byrne. "Our support of the SEC Academic Network reinforces our commitment to the importance of the academic quality at Mississippi State."
Commenting on the benefit to students as well, Ole Miss AD Pete Boone noted that "the ESPN internship and the 'campus connection' program ESPN has provided each SEC institution will enable our journalism students to gain an unparallel experience in television production and communications practices."
Developed using technology and coordination from ESPN Digital Media and Origin Digital, the Academic Network is a component of the SEC's 15-year television package with ESPN, which is the most comprehensive in the history of intercollegiate athletics.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.