MSU Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life hosts annual Ritter Awards

The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life at Mississippi State University recently hosted its annual Ritter Awards. Since 1994, the Ritter Awards have been made possible thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Ritter of Kosciusko, to enhance and reward the pursuit of excellence by the fraternities and sororities at MSU. The 2022 calendar year was a year of success for Fraternity and Sorority Life and the award ceremony and reception was a time to recognize student leaders and advisors for their work to provide high quality experiences for students.

The following students and chapters were recognized with awards:

• Greek Hall of Fame:

- Sophia Garcia of Doddsville – Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.

- Reece Davis of Jackson – Sigma Chi Fraternity

- Eli Myrick of Gadsden, Tennessee – Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity

- Mylan Wallace of Ridgeland – Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

- Mary Katherine Oglesby of Madison – Alpha Delta Pi Sorority

- Smith Wolford of Starkville – Delta Gamma Sorority

- Lyric Hill of Jackson – Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.

• Advisor of the Year

- Priscilla Degutis of Collierville, Tennessee – Alpha Delta Pi Sorority

• President of the Year

- Mary Meghan Dickerson of Moss Point – Pi Beta Phi Sorority

- Walker Jones of Hernando – Kappa Sigma Fraternity

• New Member of the Year

- Isaiah Morgan of Jacksonville Beach, Florida – Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity

• Excellence in Scholarship

- Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity

• Excellence in Leadership

- Kappa Delta Sorority

• Excellence in Community Service

- Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority

• Most Improved Chapter

- Theta Phi Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.

• Excellence in Brotherhood/ Sisterhood

- Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity - Pi Beta Phi Sorority

• Greek Collaboration Award

- Delta Chi Fraternity/alpha Chi Omega Sorority – West Point Animal Shelter Project

• Best Academic Program

cially help the East Central Region, where one in four nursing positions in Meridian is vacant. While Msu-meridian's accelerated program will be the first in Mississippi, about 75 such programs have been developed nationwide since 1970 to offer a fast-track, quality route to registered nurse licensure for college graduates seeking a new career. A majority of registered nurses enter the field through associate or bachelor's degree pathways.

Msu-meridian Head of Campus and Associate Vice President Terry Dale Cruse said the proposed program will graduate up to 60 new registered nurses annually. These graduates will be prepared as generalists

in nursing practice with an emphasis on interprofessional and team leadership.

“This program can significantly impact healthcare needs by growing the number of highly educated nurses who can become leaders in this field, teach others as faculty members, and generally increase access to highquality healthcare,” Cruse said.

He pointed to a 30% decrease in the number of nursing students and graduates over the past three years, which he said emphasizes the need for “novel efforts to grow and develop innovative prelicensure programs that address the extremely low ratio of baccalaureate and higher degree nurses to associate degree nurses in the state.” He noted that only 25% of the area's nursing workforce has a bachelor's degree or higher, but this level of education

is associated with increased patient satisfaction and outcomes.

Cruse said today's IHL board vote gives the university approval to move forward with consulting and preparation for curriculum development, faculty hiring and development, and finishing the interprofessional simulated space in the Riley Campus's Rosenbaum Health Sciences Building, where the university's Physician Assistant program already is housed and will share certain facilities with the new nursing students.

Specifically, Cruse explained Msu-meridian's Stage I Application-declaration of Intent/ Need to establish a new professional nursing program, an entry-level MSN program, in the state has been approved by the IHL Board of Trustees. The approval of Stage I allows Msumeridian

to plan and develop the program. Once the program has been developed, Msumeridian will submit a Stage II Application to IHL, and an onsite visit will take place. Once all requirements for Stage II are met, Msu-meridian will seek Board approval of the Stage II Application, which is Initial Accreditation, allowing for the admission of students.

Cruse said that if the timeline goes according to plan, the inaugural class of graduate students would be admitted in early 2024 with the first cohort of 36 students beginning their studies in August of that year.

For more about Msu-meridian, visit www.meridian.msstate.edu.

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