Contact: Harriet Laird

STARKVILLE, Miss.—An employee with two decades of work experience at Mississippi State is the new university registrar.

Emily Shaw, who has served as associate registrar since 2020, is now leading the management and maintenance of all student academic records and the university’s approved curriculum. She also oversees class scheduling and end-of-term processing, student registration, transfer articulation, degree audit and education record federal compliance.

Associate Vice President of Enrollment Services John Dickerson, also the previous registrar, said of the hire, “Emily brings a strong and unique administrative and academic experience to this position as she has worked at the academic department and college level, in addition to her most recent service as associate registrar. I am excited to see how her leadership will advance the Office of the Registrar in service of the students, staff and faculty of the university.”

Shaw’s most visible responsibility as the new registrar is coordination of MSU’s spring and fall commencement ceremonies, working with Office of the Registrar staff and others across campus on two of the biggest—and most memorable—events for students and their families.

From 2015-2020, Shaw was director of undergraduate and graduate academic advising for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Before that she held positions as student services coordinator in the School of Human Sciences, coordinator in the Office of Academic Outreach, and program manager and writer/editor in the Southern Rural Development Center.

Her two degrees, a master’s in technology and bachelor’s in agricultural information science and education, are from MSU. She also is currently pursuing an MSU doctorate in human development and family science.

An ex-officio member of the University Committee on Courses and Curricula, Shaw is a member of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and its southern region organization.