Community engagement projects recognized at MSU with annual awards
Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥斞侵奚墒悠 is honoring four community engagement projects with the university鈥檚 annual Excellence in Community Engagement Awards.
Winners and honorable mention recipients were selected for projects that demonstrate best practices in community-engaged service, as well as community-engaged teaching and learning, for work conducted throughout 2025.
鈥淐ommunity engagement is at the heart of MSU鈥檚 land grant mission. We were founded on the belief that knowledge is not meant to be contained to the classroom and on campus, but co-created with our community partners and extended into neighborhoods, farms, schools and businesses,鈥 said Joe Fratesi, MSU interim executive director for outreach and engagement and assistant director of the university鈥檚 Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development.
Winning community-engagement projects are awarded $3,000 and honorable mentions receive $1,500 to further their work. Recipients are selected by the MSU Engagement Council, with additional funding support from the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President and the Office of the Vice President for the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine.
Honorees include (by category):
Community-Engaged Service winner:聽Hoof to Heart
Extension Associate III Lori Irvin, Agricultural Technician II Narsis Whigham and聽Professor Clay Cavinder,聽Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Hoof to Heart addresses the daily challenges faced by individuals in recovery from addiction through structured, small-group equine-assisted learning sessions. The program utilizes solution-oriented, experiential learning to promote personal insight, resilience and meaningful behavioral change. Participants engage in sessions grounded in the Eagala Model for Equine-Assisted Services. This evidence-informed approach focuses on trauma resolution and solution discovery by leveraging the unique human鈥揾orse connection. Through guided, experiential activities, participants develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, interpersonal skills and practical life competencies. Anticipated outcomes include reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression, progress in trauma resolution, improved critical thinking, enhanced life skills, stronger relationships and overall quality-of-life improvement.
Community-Engaged Service honorable mention:聽Bulldog Explorers
Associate Professor Kelly Moser, Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, College of Arts and Sciences; and Professor and Head Kenneth Anthony, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership, College of Education
Bulldog Explorers is a community-engaged, exploratory world language program designed to expand access to early language and cultural learning beyond traditional school settings. In response to declining elementary world language and social studies programs, the program offers an innovative, out-of-school model grounded in a sustained partnership between the Starkville Public Library, MSU鈥檚 Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, and the Department of Teacher Education and Leadership. The program features monthly 鈥渟uitcase鈥 kits that invite children and their families to explore different countries, languages and cultures through hands-on, interdisciplinary activities that connect to the elementary curriculum. It intentionally centers family engagement and community collaboration, strengthening educational capacity while fostering curiosity, empathy and intercultural awareness among young learners.
Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning winner:聽MSU Psychology Clinic
Associate Clinical Professor Emily Stafford, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
The MSU Psychology Clinic, under the leadership of Associate Clinical Professor and Director Emily S.H. Stafford, aims to address two principal needs: the shortage of mental health services in rural Mississippi and the demand for high-quality training for clinical psychology doctoral students. The project establishes a symbiotic relationship in which innovative student training drives the expansion of community services. This is accomplished through Stafford鈥檚 development of the 鈥淪cientist Practitioner鈥 course sequence, which embeds first-year doctoral students in the clinic, pairing them with advanced students for a year-long, supervised, hands-on learning experience. This hierarchical model accelerates the development of foundational clinical skills for junior students while providing advanced students with crucial practice in peer supervision and mentorship.
Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning honorable mention:聽Preparing Practice-Ready Veterinarians
Associate Clinical Professor Jake Shivley, Department of Clinical Science, College of Veterinary Medicine
The MSU College of Veterinary Medicine Shelter Medicine Program prepares practice-ready veterinarians through authentic, community-engaged clinical education. Every animal treated in the program is unowned and comes from one of more than 30 Mississippi shelters and rescue partners, including a longstanding formal partnership with the Oktibbeha County Humane Society. Surgical care is provided at no cost to partners and is performed by students in real-world learning environments under direct faculty supervision. Students progress through a vertically integrated curriculum spanning the second-year SAMS surgical laboratory, the third-year Shelter Medicine elective, and the required fourth-year Shelter Medicine Spay/Neuter rotation, which serves as a capstone surgical experience. In fiscal year 2025, students performed 8,044 free surgeries and provided medical care for 4,747 animals, serving more than 12,700 statewide. Since the program began, students have completed more than 135,000 surgeries for community partners. This model strengthens animal welfare, expands access to care and prepares graduates with proven capability and readiness.
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