Values Journey Spotlight

People-Centered

Alonzo Burris
Assistant Director, Graduate Admissions
Dr. Billie Doris McAda Graduate School

Alonzo Burris, assistant director of Graduate Admissions in the Billie Doris McAda Graduate School, said he is big on creating meaningful connections. Having graduated from MSU Texas with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology, he is well aware of the small-knit community that MSU Texas provides and how he is able to relate with anyone, which plays a role in the organization's overall success.

“Modeling my work performance off of the core value people-centered allows me to be genuine with students, as well as faculty and staff” Burris said.

In his current position, being able to meet students as well as faculty and staff where they are helps Burris build a stronger foundation for higher education. This contributes to him being able to appreciate the small wins toward the bigger goal of striving to make MSU Texas a top choice for incoming students.

“Securing those small wins in the student’s application process feeds into making them want to be a part of the Mustangs family” Burris said.  

Burris said being able to watch his success as a mentor to students is his way of being impactful. Maturity and growth in a student college career is what brings him joy, assuring him that he has found his calling in higher education.

“Taking those small steps in my position will help me grow in my professional career, as well as show why MSU is such a great campus,” Burris said.

Visionary

Chance Thompson, a junior in mathematics and in accounting, has spent time in the Violence Intervention and Peer (VIP) educator organization, a group created to educate students about Title IX and why Title IX is important for the campus. The VIP organization with Title IX hosted Take Back the Night on Feb. 10 to spread awareness about sexual assault.

“We tell students what to look for in relationships, red flags. Those are all very big things people need to know, especially when they’re about to get out into the real world where you’re going to be running into people like that,” Thompson said.

During his free time, he adds books to his personal library.

“I’m just trying to collect different books, that way I can reach as many people as I can. I have manga, horror, and history. I have different types of books for people to check out. I tell people the plot of the books if they’re curious about checking out a book,” Thompson said.

One MSU Texas core value that resonates with Thompson is the attribute of being a visionary.

“Being a visionary for me is just having an idea that you want to work toward, and then building the path as you go. For me, I like to do smaller goals and work up for graduation,” Thompson said.

Thompson said he also stresses to people to live life to the fullest.

“Stay true to yourself, live life to the fullest because you’re only in college for one time usually. Keep growing, keep being open-minded and Mustangs up,” Thompson said.

Connections, Visionary, Community

Deidre Frazier's nameplate in her office reads "Chaos Coordinator." Although her title for the McCoy School of Engineering is academic advising coordinator, she does much more, starting with the fostering of connections.

"I'm a problem solver, so when students come to me scared or having trouble or whatever, I'm the person who tries to help them," Frazier said. "I feel very strongly that students matter, but I also feel that we as a college need to treat each other just like we're students... You have to be respectful and you have to really think about how you're interacting."

Frazier wants to meet students, current and potential alike, where they are.

"See a need, fill a need," Frazier said. She said she has worked to cultivate relationships with other offices on campus, with mentors, and many others in order to give her students the best possible chance.

Frazier said the value of being visionary focuses on the possibility for change and adaptation. She said there could be a time in MSU's future where our core values need to be adjusted.

"[We are] never done growing," Frazier said. "That part of it is to look forward to how we want to be better."

For Frazier, it all boils down to community, the whole MSU Texas family working to succeed as one, cohesive unit.

"I feel very blessed about this community," Frazier said. "You know, that is all of us together."

Community

Elizabeth Gibbs is passionate about what she does. As assistant to the dean of the Dr. Billie Doris McAda Graduate School, her focus is on graduate students. She said she tries to take any opportunity to help and encourage students and make their lives as easy as possible.

"I love what I do and love helping them," Gibbs said.

For Gibbs, values mean setting a standard and improving from there. Specifically, she said, the MSU Texas Core Values all work together, but for her, community is most important. The support she received while pursuing her own degrees later in life really made all the difference, and she wants to pay it forward to others.

"It's that support that you can get, that building of friendships and people helping. Whether it's doing work at your house so that you can study, it's building the community of like-minded people [that matters]," Gibbs said.

Gibbs said she loves working with graduate students because, as she was, they are usually nontraditional students. According to Gibbs, a large number of students begin graduate study later in life or after having children. On top of already hectic home lives, their workload is greater so she wants to add something that high level courses often miss: fun.

"Grad students work so hard and they need a little fun and a little release," Gibbs said. "If I can make somebody's life better, then that's what I want to do."

People-Centered, Integrity

Emily Copeland
Undergraduate Student, Senior
Majoring in Mass Communication and Spanish

With her ever-present smile, open-mindedness, and boundless joy, Emily Copeland, a senior at MSU Texas double-majoring in mass communication and Spanish, stands out as an example of how students can harness their experiences to enrich the core values of the university and their personal life.

"For me, they all work together; you honestly can't have one without the other," Copeland said.

A non-traditional student, Copeland said she is grateful to be in a headspace where she has thrived both personally and academically with students and staff, which highlights both connections and community.

Emily was nominated for outstanding senior woman and was a participant in undergraduate research. She examined diversity in literacy journalism, highlighting how school resources didn't serve certain groups of individuals. In response to the project, she was able to meet with students where they were to help present their educational needs. Her efforts not only show that she has integrity, but also is people-centered as well.

"Understanding these core values, as well as your own will help shape a better future," Copeland said.

People-Centered, Community

Emma Brown, a 2012 MSU Texas graduate, has been working at the university since 2014. Just two years ago, she became the graduate academic counselor for Dr. Billie Doris McAda Graduate School. Brown was a part of the Values Journey integrated by MSU Texas in 2021.

Brown said she values MSU Texas because it is people-centered, which engages others with respect, empathy, and joy, and because it is a community that cultivates welcoming and belonging campus. Brown said she is in awe of what students accomplish while in graduate school. She understands that their experience is different since graduate students do not have much down time.

"It is amazing seeing students at Honors Banquets, seeing their services and having such GPAs," Brown said.

Brown manages the Academic and Research Center for graduate students. "I make sure to keep chocolate and coffee stocked for the students," she said.

One of her favorite memories at MSU Texas is the Centennial Celebration, where the university celebrated 100 years of excellence in higher education.

People-Centered, Connections

Gabbie Pettijohn
2023 Graduate
Majored in Economics, Minor in Spanish with a concentration in International Business and Law

Gabbie Pettijohn, a recent MSU Texas graduate in economics, works in Burkburnett at a law firm and plans to continue that path. Student Government Association (SGA) members elected Pettijohn as president in May of 2022. She finished her term in May upon her graduation.

During Pettijohn's presidency, she and other government representatives helped develop the core values and provided student feedback to make sure the student body remained well represented.

"If I had to represent any of them, it would be people-centered and connections because if I do anything at MSU Texas or online, it must be with other people. I like to think I work best with other people, not just alone, and I think forming connections with people is the most important thing you can do in day-to-day life," Pettijohn said.

SGA members worked toward strengthening connections by personally partnering with every public group on campus. Pettijohn said they also kept students at the forefront and ensured school officials heard them.

"Just talking with people and making sure you are a people-centered organization makes more of a difference in the end," Pettijohn said. "It does not matter what I think or what I am doing, but rather, what matters is what would benefit them or help them in their daily lives."

To continue the helpful legacy she left behind at MSU Texas, Pettijohn plans for a gap year that starts fall of 2023 and will include her traveling to courthouses struggling with financial issues in order to help reconstruct the systems.

Integrity

Jeanel Georges-Insalaco
Instructor of Biology
McCoy College of Science, Mathematics & Engineering

Jeanel Georges-Insalaco, an instructor in the biology department, oversees courses in Anatomy and Physiology, Introduction to Global Biology, and Introduction to Human Biology.

A core MSU Texas value that resonates with Georges-Insalaco is integrity complemented by her personal values of discipline, respect, and resilience. She said her values came from two perspectives, as a student and as an instructor.

"The standards that MSU has held me to have been beneficial for my personal growth. I hold myself to a high standard in regard to academics. As an undergrad and graduate student, I don't think I got an easy A. I appreciate that my professors expected a certain level from me," Georges-Insalaco said.

The ability to learn new things is something that Georges-Insalco said she wants students and peers to take away.

"Personal growth is something that is important to me. The more that I can expand my mind, the more I stay true to my values. How do we do that? It's through learning. Stay curious," Georges-Insalaco said.

Being resilient is a hallmark trait for her.

"Life is going to knock us down, but we can always get back up. As long as we're alive, we can do something different. There can be times when there seems no way out of a bad situation, but there always is. The only time we can't change anything is when we're dead. Where there's life, there's hope," Georges-Insalaco said.

People-Centered, Connections

Jennifer Anderson, an associate professor and chair for respiratory care in the Gunn College of Health Sciences & Human Services, believes that all of the MSU Texas values are important. However, the values that resonate most with her are being people-centered and creating connections.

"One of the things that I've always loved about MSU is the people and the small-knit community here at MSU," said Anderson, who came to the university as an undergraduate student in 1996.

Anderson said she believes MSU Texas showcases the core value of connection by its great atmosphere and environment.

"When I toured the campus way back when I was a 17-year-old student and walked on the campus, it's like you could just feel the connection. It just felt like family. And so I really value that people-centered connection with faculty, staff and students and anyone who comes here on campus," Anderson said.

As the program chair for the respiratory care department, Anderson implements these values every day in her life.

"I work with students inside and outside the classroom, just listening to them and being there for them," Anderson said.

She said she tries to get to know the students and tries to make sure that they have what they need to be successful. "Often with students, as well as faculty and staff, we have so many other things, other than what's going on in our lives in and outside of school."

Anderson said she always tries to be there for faculty, staff and students to help them be successful in their own lives. "At the end of the day, that's what it's all about. It's what we are here for."

Community

Kayla Meaders
Manager of Educator Preparation
West College of Education

Kayla Meaders, manager of educator preparation, guides prospective educators through the process of registering for classes and licensure while working with the Texas Education Agency. She advises students from first year to senior year, not only on their degree requirements, but also on every aspect of educator preparation.

"I love working with students. That's the best part of my role at MSU. Getting to see students go through milestones like applying to the program, getting in, student teaching, and seeing them get their first jobs. I love seeing the students be part of the program and be successful," Meaders said.

Meaders said she holds being a part of the community dear to her heart. Not only does she enjoy interacting with the students she advises academically, but she also holds an advising position for the Chi Omega sorority at MSU Texas. Meaders is an advocate for students to get involved on campus and join organizations.

"Students learn so much more outside of the classroom that builds on what they learn in the classroom. When they join a student organization, they actually get to practice what they learn. They also get to meet people, have fun and be part of the community in that way," she said.

Meaders said she strives to achieve the MSU Texas core values by being student-focused and catering to the needs of her advisors and future educators. She said being there for every accomplishment, big or small, that her students achieve is what keeps her going every day. "My biggest thing is just to celebrate the little wins. Celebrate the struggles and the hurdles along the way, too. Everything is going to help you grow as a person and as a student. Go out and change the world one day."

Community

Mary Draper, associate professor of history, has been with MSU Texas for five years. For Draper community is the most important of the MSU Texas core values.

"We have such a welcoming campus community," Draper said. "It's one of our biggest assets, and I am committed to supporting our students who make MSU Texas so vibrant."

Teaching U.S. history is important to Draper because she sees it as an opportunity to reflect on our core values in the classroom. When teaching, Draper hopes to build community in her classroom as well as highlight a range of communities and individuals who shaped America's past. She hopes student leave her classes having learned about people who are sometimes missing from the traditional narrative of American history.

Draper has been active in many projects and committees on campus, but said her favorite event is graduation. "I love graduation! Graduation is this fantastic moment where everyone is so excited to celebrate everyone else's accomplishments," she said. 

People-Centered, Community

Robin Reid, multimedia specialist in Marketing and Public Information, focuses on ensuring the content of the MSU Texas website is both accurate and ADA compliant. Reid graduated from MSU Texas in 2018 with a degree in mass communication with a digital media minor. She has worked at the university since 2019, beginning in Fain College of Fine Arts as the website content manager.

Reid's experience as a ruptured brain aneurysm survivor and becoming a person with an acquired brain injury informs her work and passion for the people-centered and community values. "I just really want to make sure people have access to what they need," Reid said.

She believes the web and digital products should be accessible to all people, and shows that through her work in making the university's websites ADA compliant, therefore, accessible.

"Accessibility is not just for people who genuinely need it, it is to help everyone, and with an accessible website, we invite inclusivity which brings the community together and keeps people at the center of why we do what we do," Reid said.

Connections

Sonia White, director of the Center for Nonprofit Management & Leadership in the Dillard College of Business Administration, provides consultation, coaches professional development, and completes research for local nonprofits. As an instructor, she runs the nonprofit management minor program, providing a path for students interested in nonprofit management as a minor.

"The role of this center is to provide consulting, coaching, professional development, and research for local nonprofits. We act as a liaison between the university and the nonprofit community," White said.

White resonates with the MSU Texas core values every day, especially connections. She strives to strengthen her connections with students, faculty, and the community, which enables her to connect faculty members with local nonprofits and introduces students to local internship opportunities.

"I love the interactions and connections I am able to get through my role with students, faculty, and the community. I really do interact with the greater community around the university, and it excites me when I am able to connect a faculty member to a local nonprofit, or a student to an internship opportunity."

White continues to demonstrate MSU Texas values with her hands-on work with students and designs her courses with those values in mind. The skills that students acquire after taking them also uphold the values. Her courses are service-learning based, enabling her students to go out into the community and utilize what they are learning in real-world situations. She said that learning only from a book is inadequate for the situations students may face outside of the classroom.

"As a university, that's one of our primary goals, to be student-focused, and to make sure that we meet the needs of our students so that they can go on and be productive citizens," White said.

She said that the university's main goal is to be student-centered. To achieve this, she ensures that she is meeting the needs of her students and helping them prepare for their future by helping students find internship opportunities and making connections.

The semester was winding down. We'd been working on sentence structure, pronouns, antecedents, contractions, verb tenses, passive voice and the like all semester.

So when I was sitting in a committee meeting, and we started discussing writing some social media profiles working with the public information staff, I jumped on the opportunity. This would be a chance to take theory and turn it into application. Plus, the students would get to work together on a real assignment, practicing higher-level thinking skills.

Students in Editing class had to apply the knowledge of reporting they learned in Media Writing and Reporting. They had to work with the schedules of real people, deal with real scheduling challenges and then had to interview people who, sometimes, had never been interviewed before.

With only two weeks left in the semester, the students jumped on the opportunity, dealt with the challenges and wrote the mini-profiles focusing on the core values MSU Texas faculty, staff and students hold. These profiles exemplify those values not only in what they say but how they were created—people-centered stories allowing everyone involved to make connections.