Contact: James Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi Commissioner of Higher Education Alfred Rankins Jr. is visiting both Mississippi State University campuses this week as part of his statewide listening tour.

Rankins, appointed commissioner in March by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, visited with MSU administrators, faculty members, students, staff and alumni in Starkville on Thursday [Sep. 27] and in Meridian on Friday [Sept. 28]. During his public forum Thursday at MSU’s Mitchell Memorial Library, Rankins discussed his goals as commissioner, which include raising educational attainment in Mississippi, raising the profile of each institution and making sure the state’s universities maintain high levels of accessibility and quality.

“I want to help President Keenum be an advocate for Mississippi State University, so I need to know what is going well,” Rankins said. “I want to know what the issues are, but I want to know what is going well also, so I can effectively articulate the needs of this university.”

Rankins, former president of Alcorn State University, earned master’s and doctoral degrees in weed science at MSU. He also began his career in higher education as a faculty member in MSU’s in Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Prior to becoming president of Alcorn State, his undergraduate alma mater, Rankins served as deputy commissioner for Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning and as acting president of Mississippi Valley State University.

“I’m trying to gain insight from various constituency groups and members of the community on how you view this great university, and more importantly, what I can do as commissioner and what our governing board can do to better serve Mississippi State University,” Rankins said Thursday. “Because of my time here, I think I know a little bit about Mississippi State, but I don’t know everything. I think the ones that are equipped to inform me of the needs and the great work that’s going on here are the people in this room, and that’s why I’m here.”

During a question-and-answer session, Rankins discussed the role IHL staff and board members play, the Public Employees Retirement System, infrastructure and maintenance needs on Mississippi’s college campuses and the Complete 2 Compete program. Complete 2 Compete helps students who have been out of college for at least two years finish their postsecondary degrees. In its first year, the program has helped 108 students finish their degrees at MSU, along with hundreds more at Mississippi’s other colleges and universities.

“The program has been very successful,” Rankins said. “We’ve had former students on all our campuses that now have a degree in their hand because of this program.”

MSU President Mark E. Keenum moderated Thursday’s forum on the Starkville campus and said he was proud to show the commissioner various research facilities and discuss the exciting things happening on campus.

“We could not be more fortunate to have someone with his distinguished background and experience leading all of our eight public universities, including the medical center,” Keenum said. “It’s a huge undertaking and a huge responsibility, and we’re very honored and blessed to have Dr. Al Rankins.”

For more on the commissioner’s listening tour, visit www.mississippi.edu/commissioner/tour-schedule.asp.

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