Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State has assembled a 15-member special task force to develop a new plan for evaluating excellence in teaching.

Appointed by MSU Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw, the group will develop proposed revisions for Academic Operating Policy 13.15, which focuses on evaluation of teaching performance. Jeffrey Dean, professor and head of MSU’s Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will serve as task force chair.

“Evaluation of excellence in instruction is a very important topic on our campus, and I appreciate task force members’ willingness to fully engage in conversations necessary to develop a plan for evaluation that meets student, faculty and administration needs,” Shaw said.

In addition to Dean, task force members include:

—Tommy Anderson, professor of English and associate dean for academic affairs, College of Arts and Sciences

—Kari Babski-Reeves, associate dean for research and graduate studies and interim head and professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Bagley College of Engineering

—Joy Cariño, a senior English major from Starkville

—Tom Carskadon, professor, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences

—Emily Case, Student Association vice president and senior political science/pre-law major from Richmond, Virginia

—Andrew Mackin, professor and head, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine

—Jake Manning, Student Association president and senior biomedical engineering/software engineering double-major from Ridgeland

—Shawn Mauldin, professor and director, Richard C. Adkerson School of Accountancy, College of Business

—Lyndsey Miller, associate professor of interior design, College of Architecture, Art and Design

—Eric Moyen, associate professor and head, Department of Educational Leadership, College of Education

—Ian Munn, associate dean and professor, College of Forest Resources

—Tomi Obe, graduate research assistant, Department of Poultry Science

—Rebecca Robichaux-Davis, professor, Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education, College of Education

—Darweesh Salamah, an industrial and systems engineering doctoral student from Saudi Arabia

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.