Welcome Transfer Students
Check out our newest YouTube video as we welcome transfer students to join the Southern Miss Business family. If you or someone you know is considering transferring to Southern Miss, share our video and see what all we have to offer. Like what you see? Schedule a tour and see our beautiful business building, Scianna Hall.
Faculty partnering with community on Applied projects
Partnering with organizations to complete projects is an important aspect of our mission of supporting economic development by advancing knowledge through influential scholarship and collaboration with our communities. We would like to share a few applied projects that were recently completed by our business faculty.
Dr. Chao meng directs applied project for johnson controls
Dr. Chao Meng, Assistant Professor of Marketing, directed an applied project for Johnson Controls in his supply chain management class during the fall 2020 semester. Students in his class worked with Johnson Controls personnel and computer engineering faculty and students to study their current inventory system, which was mostly manual, and helped develop a new system that would integrate scan guns that are complementary with their current inventory system (MAPICS). Because of the nature of the study, a technology team and a process analysis team were created to complete the study.
Devonte Wells, a student in Dr. Meng's class, used the hands-on experience to create a poster presentation that was accepted for the 2021 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Devonte also worked with the technology team on their part of the project and they recently had a presentation accepted to the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Annual Conference this May!
Dr. jacob breland & dr. heather annulis complete study for Coastal Mississippi
Dr. Jacob Breland, Associate Professor of Management, and Dr. Heather Annulis, Professor of Human Capital Development, recently completed a study for Coastal Mississippi. The project assessed coastal MS residents’ perspectives of tourism on the MS Gulf Coast and determined the public understanding of tourism as it impacts local communities. The report identified potential points of resistance to the growth and development of the visitor economy on the MS Gulf Coast. Breland and Annulis presented the results of the project to the Coastal Mississippi Board and submitted the final report documenting the findings.
Director Search: Trent Lott center for economic development and entrepreneurship
Position Specifications
The University of Southern Mississippi seeks a dynamic, forward-thinking leader for its distinguished Trent Lott National Center for Excellence in Economic Development & Entrepreneurship. This individual will lead a nationally recognized center that is responsible for planning, coordinating, and directing the University’s economic development initiatives and research. The university is strongly committed to promoting strategic economic development that will attract more business to the region and utilize academic research to bolster the local and state economy. Key to fulfilling this commitment is identifying ways to partner with local and state communities in mutually beneficial projects.
Overview of the Trent Lott Center
The Trent Lott National Center for Excellence in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship at The University of Southern Mississippi serves as the catalyst for a university-wide focus on economic development training and research serving public entities, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals. The Center provides client-requested assistance and offer expertise in strategic planning and leadership development; education and training; community analysis and research; and other technical support. The Trent Lott National Center is driven by passion, determination and commitment to be a leading force in advancing global competitiveness through knowledge-led economic development.
Areas of excellence
The Trent Lott National Center for Excellence in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship at The University of Southern Mississippi works cooperatively with the nationally recognized College of Business & Economic Development Master of Science in Economic Development Program to support the research and education needs of the economic development community.
Annually, the Center manages $1-$2M of federally sponsored research and 20-30 community projects which range from $500 to $50,000. The Director manages two research analysts and 6-10 graduate research assistants who conduct strategic plans, feasibility studies, economic & fiscal impact studies, etc., requested by communities small and large. The Center also provides back-office research to support nationally known economic development consultants.
2021 Commencement
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented us from holding recent commencement ceremonies, we are pleased to share that the university has planned a full week of celebrations during May to catch up. During the week of May 3-8, 2021, we’ve scheduled multiple ceremonies to safely honor those who graduated in Spring, Summer and Fall 2020, and Spring 2021. Tickets will be required for entry, however, all ceremonies will be streamed online for those unable to attend in person. Students from the College of Business and Economic Development will be recognized on the following days:
🗓 Wednesday, May 5, 2021 | 🎓 Graduate Students (MBA, MPA, MSED, MSSM)
🗓 Thursday, May 6, 2021 | 🎓 Undergraduate Business and Economic Development Students
🗓 Saturday, May 8, 2021 | 🎓 All Coast-based Undergraduate & Graduate Students
Professional development WOrkshops
Social Media Etiquette & Emotional Intelligence Workshops
Dean Bret Becton led two workshops this month for business students, the first being a Social Media Etiquette workshop that covered how business students can effectively and appropriately brand themselves on social media. The second workshop discussed Emotional Intelligence. Prior to the workshop, the students took a short survey before having an open discussion with the Dean about the dimensions of emotional intelligence, how to identify and react to certain emotions, and ways to improve emotional intelligence. The students then determined an emotional intelligence score for each dimension so they could see where improvements were necessary.
Life After Graduation
Check out what these Southern Miss Business alumni are doing in this series, Life After Graduation, presented by The University of Southern Mississippi.