Mississippi Today
Delta State looking for new dean but won’t say what role no-confidence vote played
Delta State University in Cleveland is seeking a new dean to lead the college of arts and sciences nearly three months after the faculty senate called for the current dean's resignation.
The administration revealed the search for a new dean, along with five other executive-level positions, near the end of a town hall last week that was largely dedicated to the financial position of the regional college in the Mississippi Delta.
But it is unclear what, if any, connection the search has to the faculty senate's unusual no-confidence vote in November that called on the current dean, Ellen Green, to resign, citing a failure to advocate for faculty and an ineffectiveness in handling tenure and promotion cases. Many faculty can't remember the last time the faculty senate writ-large took such a vote.
When the president, Daniel Ennis, was asked during the town hall for an update on the administration's response to the no-confidence vote, he refused to answer the question.
“I'm not going to make any response to that at this forum,” Ennis said. “As to when — I don't have a good answer for that. Just gonna step aside on that question.”
A few minutes later, a different question led Ennis to share that a search for a new dean would be underway. It was also shared that the university had selected a headhunting firm, Coleman Lew Canny Bowen, after seeking requests-for-proposals last fall.
Green, a biology professor, was appointed interim dean in 2020. Her predecessor came to Delta State following a national search. Green is still listed as dean on Delta State's website and did not return inquiries seeking comment.
Christy Riddle, a university spokesperson, did not answer questions from Mississippi Today about a timeline for the search or when Delta State hopes to have a new dean in place, writing in an email that “we are unable to comment on personnel matters.”
In response to questions about the search firm, Riddle wrote, “this information will be available after the (Institutions of Higher Learning) Board takes action at its next meeting.” But at the town hall, Ennis said he had taken foundation funds allocated to him to hire a search firm to help “with multiple executive searches.”
READ MORE: Delta State dean gets no-confidence vote following lawsuit, Mississippi Today reporting
Christopher Jurgenson, the faculty senate president and a biochemistry professor, said the town hall was the first he'd heard of the search for a new dean. He said he had not talked to the administration about the no-confidence vote since it passed in November.
“What we do know is the resolution passed, and we found that we were getting a new dean,” Jurgenson said. “What transpired between those two things, how they were connected, I don't really know.”
Jurgenson added he believes the administration has to be careful about what it says due to at least two employment lawsuits the cash-strapped university has recently faced. In one of those cases settled last year, an Iranian former art professor said that Green locked him in his office until he agreed to resign after his department chair, who is Turkish, allegedly sought to replace him with a fellow Turk.
Still, Jurgenson said this administration has been more collegial with faculty than prior ones. He noted he's received no blowback on the no-confidence vote, something some faculty senators were worried about.
“Something I want to emphasize is just to remind everybody, what we're doing here matters, people are listening and don't give up,” Jurgenson said.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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Mississippi Today
Renada Stovall, chemist and entrepreneur
Renada Stovall sat on the back deck of her rural Arkansas home one evening, contemplating life when she had a life-altering epiphany…
“I gotta get out of these woods.”
She heard it as clear as lips to her ear and as deep as the trees surrounding her property. Stovall's job as a chemist had taken her all over the country. In addition to Arkansas, there were stints in Atlanta, Dallas and Reno. But she was missing home, her parents and friends. She also knew, she needed something else to do.
“I thought, what kind of business can I start for myself,” said Stovall, as she watered herbs growing in a garden behind her south Jackson home. Some of those herbs are used in her all-natural products. “I know when I lived in Reno, Nevada, where it's very hot and very dry, there really weren't products available that worked for me, my hair, and my skin suffered. I've got a chemistry degree from Spelman College. I took the plunge and decided to create products for myself.”
In 2018, Stovall's venture led to the creation of shea butter moisturizers and natural soaps. But she didn't stop there, and in December 2022, she moved home to Mississippi and got to work, expanding her product line to include body balms and butters, and shampoos infused with avocado and palm, mango butter, coconut and olive oils.
Nadabutter, which incorporates Renada's name, came to fruition.
Stovall sells her balms and moisturizers at what she calls, “pop-up markets,” across the state during the summer. She's available via social media and also creates products depending on what of her ingredients a customer chooses. “My turmeric and honey is really popular,” Stovall added.
“The all-natural ingredients I use are great for conditioning the skin and hair. All of my products make you feel soft and luscious. The shea butter I use comes from West Africa. It's my way of networking and supporting other women. And it's my wish that other women can be inspired to be self-sufficient in starting their own businesses.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1954
MAY 17, 1954
In Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal treatment under the law.
The historic decision brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, ruling in the case of student Linda Brown, who was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.
In Mississippi, segregationist leaders called the day “Black Monday” and took up the charge of the just-created white Citizens' Council to preserve racial segregation at all costs.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Every university but Delta State to increase tuition this year
Every university in Mississippi is increasing tuition in the fall except for Delta State University.
The new rates were approved by the governing board of the eight universities, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees, at its regular meeting Thursday.
The average cost of tuition in Mississippi is now $8,833 a year, a roughly 3% increase from last year. Students can expect to pay tuition ranging from $7,942 a year at Mississippi Valley State University to $10,052 a year at Mississippi State University.
In recent years, universities have cited inflation and rising insurance costs as reasons for the tuition increases. At Thursday's meeting, the board heard a presentation on how property insurance is becoming more expensive for the eight universities as Mississippi sees more tornadoes and storms with severe wind and hail.
READ MORE: Tuition increases yet again at most public universities
But it's an ongoing trend. Mississippi's public universities have steadily increased tuition since 2000, putting the cost of college increasingly out of reach for the average Mississippi family. More than half of Mississippi college students graduated with an average of $29,714 in student debt in 2020, according to the Institution for College Access and Success.
At Delta State University, the president, Daniel Ennis, announced that he will attempt to avoid tuition increases as the regional college in the Mississippi Delta undergoes drastic budget cuts in an effort to become more financially sustainable.
“We will resist tuition increases so that our most economically vulnerable students can continue to have access to the opportunities that a college degree can provide,” he wrote in a memo to faculty and staff on Monday. “We will move beyond basic survival and into a place where we have the capacity to take better advantage of our undeniable strengths.”
Delta State didn't increase tuition last year, either. Officials have been concerned the university is becoming too pricey for the students it serves.
Tuition for the 2024-25 academic year, by school:
- Alcorn State University: $8,105
- Delta State University: $8,435
- Jackson State University: $8,690
- Mississippi State University: $10,052
- Mississippi University for Women: $8,392
- Mississippi Valley State University: $7,492
- University of Mississippi: $9,612
- University of Southern Mississippi: $9,888
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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