Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State faculty and staff members are being honored for their hard work and dedication in ensuring the successful educational development of university students.
Kevin M. Hunt and Janet S. "Jan" Odom are 2010 winners of recognitions given by the National Academic Advising Association. He is receiving an Outstanding Academic Advising Award/Faculty Category, while she is a selection for an Outstanding Advising Certificate of Merit/Primary Role Category.
Hunt is an associate professor in the department of wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture; Odom, a member of the University Academic Advising Center professional staff.
They advanced to national competition after selections during the spring semester for MSU's Irvin Atly Jefcoat Excellence in Advising Awards.
With offices in Manhattan, Kan., NACADA represents nearly 10,000 members spread among 10 regional conferences. In addition to faculty and professional advisers, such as Hunt and Odom, the 31-year-old association includes administrators, counselors and others in academic and student affairs departments.
While winners are announced each spring semester, the organization formally presents its awards at a fall conference to take place this year in Florida during the first weekend in October.
Since the NACADA awards program was established in the early 1980s, Mississippi State faculty and staff members consistently have been among those receiving top honors.
Hunt, a Texas A&M University doctoral graduate, joined the MSU faculty in 2001 and currently directs the department's Human Dimensions and Conservation Law Enforcement Laboratory. He previously received campus awards for achievements in teaching and diversity efforts.
Odom is responsible for some 250 undeclared and special non-degree students. She holds two bachelor's degrees from the University of North Alabama, and has completed graduate work at MSU. She joined the campus advising center in 1993 as a graduate assistant and became a full-time adviser in 1996.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.