MississippiStateUniversity (MSU) and the
SocialScienceResearchCenter (SSRC)
MississippiStateUniversity ( a comprehensive, doctoral-degree-granting institution, is the largest research university in the state, with nearly $160 million in externally funded research in FY 2006-07. The National Science Foundation ranked MSU 86thof 640 institutions in research expenditures reported in 2006. Kiplinger’s magazine ranks MSU as 95thof 500 in its listing of best values in public education. No other Mississippi school is included among the top 100. In Fall 2007, 17,039 students were enrolled in eight academic colleges and schools that offer 181 different degrees across 94 academic programs. The average ACT of Fall 2007 First-Time Entering Freshmen is 23.6. MSU awarded 3,560 degrees in FY 2006-07. MSU is designated as a Doctoral/Extensive institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Known from its beginnings as “The People’s University,” this land-grant institution is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master’s, specialist and doctoral degrees. MSU has the only school of veterinary medicine and school of architecture in the state.
MSU has established 16 university level centers and institutes. Of these, the Mississippi State Chemical Lab and the Social Science Research Center are the oldest. Others include the Advanced Prototyping Experimentation Laboratory, which houses the 18th most powerful supercomputer among U.S. universities; the Center for Safety and Health, which is the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Consultation Program for Mississippi; the Research and Curriculum Unit, which pursues curriculum and personnel development, program improvement and research to improve career and technical education and workforce development in Mississippi; the T. K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability, which provides comprehensive, multi-disciplinary evaluations related to assistive technologies; and the GeoResources Institute, which provides comprehensive solutions for socioeconomic and environmental requirements using state-of-the-art spatial technologies and resource management. The main campus in Starkville is augmented by a degree-granting center in Meridian and a program center at the Stennis Space Center, a Master of Science degree in Engineering at the Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, 10 branch stations of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and offices of the MSU Extension Service in almost every county of the state. The grounds of the University comprise about 4,200 acres, including farms, pastures and woodlands of the Experiment Station. The net investment in buildings and grounds is approximately $450 million.The MSU Libraries include Mitchell Memorial Library and four branch library. Mitchell Memorial, the Architecture Library and the Veterinary Medicine Library are located on the Starkville campus. In FY 2006/07 the library held 2,098,603 volumes, 57,007 serials/journals (Print Titles, Gifts and E-Journals), has 99 faculty and staff, offers 10 private/group study rooms, 3 electronic classrooms, one presentation room and one auditorium.
MSU’s Information Technology Services (ITS) ( operates the university’s campus network which encompasses 170+ buildings interconnected via a 10 Gbps fiber optic backbone. Desktop network access is provided via 100 Mbps switched fast Ethernet, while an 802.11g wireless network overlays the wired network infrastructure. Access to the Commodity Internet (200 Mbps), Internet2 (1Gbps), and National LambdaRail (1 Gbps) is provided. An upgrade to 10 Gbps for the University’s Internet2 and National LambdaRail connections is planned for 2008.Two geographically-separated datacenters are operated by ITS to provide redundancy and facilitate business continuity in the event of a campus emergency. These datacenters host an array of Sun Solaris, Linux, Novell, and Windows servers that provide a comprehensive suite of information technology services and resources. Among these are email, file and print services, departmental web sites, Luminis web portal (onCampus), Blackboard Vista course management system (myCourses), Banner ERP system, Wimba web presentation system, classroom podcasting, audio/video streaming, and imaging/document management/workflow system.ITS installs and supports a comprehensive instructional technology package which iscurrently available in over sixty classrooms campus-wide, and managesseveral H.323 video classrooms which can be linked to other H.323-capable sites worldwide. ITS offers a variety of site-licensed desktop software for download. The ITS Help Desk is the first point of contact for students and employees needing assistance with information technology issues. The Help Desk is accessible to walk-up customers as well as by telephone, email, and Web.
MSU handles sensitive and confidential data and information within a comprehensive Information Security Program framework. This framework provides three levels of data classification to insure that appropriate protocols, procedures and best practices are implemented based on the sensitivity of the data and meets or exceeds any regulations governing the use of the data. The program also includes security training and awareness, risk assessment, monitoring, auditing and compliance.
SocialScienceResearchCenter (SSRC)
Founded in 1950, SSRC ( is a university-level, interdisciplinary research center whose annual research portfolio normally ranges between $10-15 million. One of the oldest and largest social science research organizations in the nation, SSRC reports to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development and to the Vice President for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine. SSRC conducts rigorous, objective and unbiased research on relevant social, economic, political, human resource and social-environmental problems facing the state, nation and world. It provides a vehicle for unique social research and public service programs that do not fit more traditional academic structures. The SSRC leverages its appropriated funds to develop its research infrastructure and to enhance its grants and contracts program. Typically, grants and contracts fund more than ninety percent of the SSRC’s activities. Each year, research fellows lead approximately 40 extramurally funded research projects that address social, health, safety and security issues. SSRC employsover 100 research associates, research staff and undergraduate and graduate research assistants and over 200 part-time data collectors, observers and facilitators. Primary SSRC units include the Family and Children Research Unit (FCRU);Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program (MASEP); Mississippi Health Policy Research Center (MHPRC); and the Wolfgang Frese Survey Research Laboratory (SRL), which are described in detail below.
Research scientists develop their own research agendas, locate funding for their research and develop research strategies, collaborations, tools and personnel to carry out their research goals through the support of SSRC’s administrative infrastructure, which assists in the financial and personnel aspects of preparing, submitting and administering research grants and contracts. This research support is available to full-time and joint appointees of the SSRC, and SSRC-affiliated faculty at MSU. The SSRC’s administrative infrastructure, such as the internal accounting and evaluation procedures, ensures that all funds are used appropriately, that budgetary questions can be resolved promptly and efficiently, and that research scientists can devote the bulk of their time to research.
SSRC maintains its own Information Technology and Communications Services (ITCS) and Media Laboratory (ML) infrastructures. ITCS includes eight servers, nearly 200 PCs, and over 70 printers. On-site services include computer networks and security; full-featured groupware; multimedia design and development; document imaging; data conversion, analysis, and warehousing; geographic information systems (GIS); teleconferencing; Internet access; Web site design, development, and hosting; compartmentalized data services for sensitive data management; data storage and archiving; and desktop (hardware and software) technical support. Such on-site delivery significantly extends the capabilities of research scientists and staff beyond the general purpose computing and communications services provided by the university and istailored to meet specific requirements in conducting competitive social science research. With full-time, on-site professional systems support, the SSRC is well-equipped to meet the most demanding research requirements, and is compliant with the general guidelines for network management, security, and operations as outlined in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Handbook, Special Publication 800-12. The Media Laboratory (ML) provides multimedia assistance and consultation to SSRC and MSU research scientists and staff. ML disseminates research findings using the latest print and electronic technologies, including Adobe Photoshop; Quark Xpress, EndNote, ESRI ArcGIS, Macromedia Studio, Camtasia Studio, and other developmental software. ML handles in-house printing needs with advanced poster and binding capabilities, and maintainsthe SSRC core website and the Mississippi Health Policy Research Center (MHPRC) website.
Family and Children Research Unit (FCRU)
The FCRU conducts research on issues affecting the health, safety, and well-being of children and families. It employs an interdisciplinary approach for program planning and evaluation and conducts basic and applied research in order to build effective service systems and inform state, local, and national policymakers. A key focus of the FCRU has been the exploration of new venues, primarily early education and child care centers, for conducting child health research and interventions with traditionally difficult-to-access populations.
The FCRU is home of the Mississippi KIDS COUNT( which is funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The 2007 MS KIDS COUNT Data Book was released at the first annual MS KIDS COUNT Summit in January 2008. MS KIDS COUNT provides accurate and nonpartisan data, statistics, and original research Mississippi’s children to policymakers, educators, program administrators, caregivers, advocates, and the public.Other research includes an assessment of child health issues in the Mississippi Delta fundedby the Health Resources and Services Administration through the Delta Health Alliance; an evaluation of the HealthWorks! Program, a children’s interactive health museum in tupelo, MS; and a project sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics to conduct a national survey of child care directors on their knowledge of pandemic flu outbreaks. Previous FCRU research has included the Safe Havens Training Project to assist caregivers of children who have witnessed violence, conducted with Family Communications, the producer of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood; a survey of mothers regarding early child health with Wright State University Department of Pediatrics; a five-year study to identify best practices for prevention of dental disease funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; and a feasibility study of an environmental tobacco smoke intervention program in Head Start programs with the University of Arizona, funded by the National Institutes of Health.After Hurricane Katrina, the FCRU released a number of press releases regarding the impact of the storm on Mississippi’s children and conducted a shelter survey to determine children’s most immediate post-disaster needs. The FCRU has conducted a number of interviews, focus groups, and surveys of child care directors in order to better understand issues facing children and caregivers. The surveys initially included five states, but after the FCRU developed the first-ever national database of child care centers, the survey was expanded to include 1,800 child care directors across the country. The FCRU has also produced an AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics book, About Children: An Authoritative Resource on the State of Childhood Today, that combined the knowledge of over 60 of the nation’s leading experts on children.These projects and partnershipsserve as a foundation of expertise, experience, and resources—positioning the FCRU as a nationally recognized contributor to the advancement of the health, safety and well-being of children and families.
Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program (MASEP)
MASEP is the State of Mississippi’s intervention program for first-time offenders of driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs (DUI). The program is court mandated under the state’s Implied Consent Law and is required for driver’s license reinstatement. Mississippi is one of three states that have a uniform statewide DUI intervention program and MASEP is the only DUI intervention operated by a university.The program was established in 1972 and has served over 230,000 participants to date. MASEP is a 12-hour group intervention that provides education on the effects of alcohol and other drugs on driving and health, substance abuse and mental health assessment and referral, and is consistent with the basic principles of Motivational Enhancement Therapy. MASEP endeavors to help offendersexamine their lives and make decisions to change behavior harmful to themselves and others. The MASEP staff is actively involved in judicial education programs, law enforcement training programs, and community educational efforts. Since the beginning, research and development have been an important part of MASEP efforts. Researchers at SSRC have conducted numerous studies on alcohol usage in Mississippi, with particular focus on drinking/driving issues, DUI intervention design and recidivism, and a broad range of highway safety issues including seat belt usage. Research associated withMASEP has also been influential in informing and developing public policy in regard to drinking driving behavior, sanctions, and intervention.
MississippiHealthPolicyResearchCenter (MHPRC)
The MHPRC was founded in response to the recognition of the leaders of state health organizations and state government officials of the need of a research entity to provide evidence-based data to guide policy makers and other stakeholders on issues related to health and health policy inMississippi. As Mississippi’s only research center devoted to health policy issues, MHPRC provides data and research on, for example, the Mississippi Medicaid program, the physician labor force, smoke-free legislation, and underage drinking and driving interventions.As a Center of Excellence, the MHPRC provides Mississippi with a sustained program of research as well as a public forum to inform Mississippians about health policy issues. It also serves the state by collecting and analyzing health and health policy data and information. The MHPRC disseminates health policy research information through a series of methods including the frequent release of fact sheets, policy briefs, data maps, and policy papersthrough traditional methods and electronically via the internet. Fact sheets provide a concise overview of a single health policy related topic in a one- or two-page document format; policy briefs cover a broader range of information; health mapsusually appear in a poster format utilizing GIS and visualization techniques to depict policy relevant health patterns for Mississippi; and policy paperspresent comprehensive and detailed analyses of particular health policy issues. Research from the MHPRC has been used to inform legislative debate on a variety of issues including the potential impacts of and public support for increases in the state cigarette tax and the need for mental health screening for youth in state detention centers. New Health Policy documents are made available at:
Wolfgang Frese Survey Research Laboratory (SRL)
The SRL is one of the oldest and largest survey facilities in the southeastern U.S. The SRL has the capacity to conduct telephone, mail,web, and mixed-mode surveys. Since its inception in 1982, the SRL has completed more than 300 local, regional, national, and international surveys.It typically completes one or two telephone projects per month, as well as several web, mixed-mode (web and telephone), and mail surveys per year.The SRL has 20 Computer-Assisted-Telephone-Interviewing (CATI) units for simultaneous data collection and was the first site to beta test the new mixed-mode CATI for Windows software from Sawtooth Technologies, Inc. This software has the capability of simultaneously doing web and telephone surveys for the same study.TheCATI system has both audio and visual interviewer monitoring capabilities and a rapid dial system. TheSRL operates on a full time basis, for eleven and half months per year. The SRL, in conjunction with the Department of Political Science, conducts Mississippi’s only scientific public user survey, the Mississippi Poll. SRL state and national household and business surveys cover a wide variety of topics including social climate,tobacco control and use, private forest management cost, vocational rehabilitation services,health practices, childcare issues, natural disasters, and community and economic development.