Contact: Jim Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Fourteen Mississippi State staff members are new selections for the 2012 Learning Experience for Aspiring Professionals program.
Earlier this month, the group gathered for its first meeting in what previously was known as the university's Staff Leadership Program.
LEAP is designed to provide the selected employees with advanced knowledge of campus operations, as well as training to enhance leadership skills coupled with direct, practical work applications.
During the 10-month experience, the participants will meet regularly with campus and community experts to discuss, explore and understand the goals and priorities of the land-grant institution and its many departments and units. Institutional operations, effective team building, employee performance management, relationship and influence building, and strategic thinking are among session topics.
"Employee development programs such as LEAP help give our professionals the tools they need to compete and succeed," said Meg Arnold, learning and development manager for the MSU human resources management office.
Chosen through a competitive nomination and selection process, the new class members include:
--Elizabeth Blaine, financial analyst, budget and planning office;
--Tyler Bryant, assistant director for budget and finance, housing and residence life department;
--Tina Cunningham, assistant director, sponsored programs administration office;
--Patricia Drackett, Crosby Arboretum director, Coastal Research and Extension Center;
--Ra'Sheda Forbes, assistant director, Holmes Cultural Diversity Center;
--Cedric Gathings, assistant director, Colvard Student Union;
--Lisa Gooden-Hunley, co-op program senior coordinator, Career Center;
--Greg Hunley, Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action specialist, diversity and equity programs office;
--Erin Kiess, laboratory and environmental safety coordinator, regulatory compliance and safety office;
--Tammie McGarr, business manager II, College of Business
--Edward Meek, laboratory manager, Basic Sciences/Center for Environmental Health Sciences;
--Patrik Nordin, assistant director of facility operations and marketing, recreational sports department;
--Sheri Pape, marketing and communication coordinator, MSU Foundation's shared advancement services office;
--Chad Thomas, assistant athletic director for marketing, athletics department.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.
For additional information about LEAP, contact Arnold at 662-325-3713 or marnold@hrm.msstate.edu.