Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi have partnered to launch the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching program with the goal of recruiting students for teaching careers in Mississippi.
According to a MSU University Relations news release, the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation in Jackson funded the creation of MET with a gift totaling more than $12.9 million.
The news release said each university plans to recruit 20 students per year, and the first MET classes will begin in the fall semester of 2013.
Students accepted into the program will receive full scholarships and room and board for up to four years, along with money for study abroad or other off-campus study opportunities, according to the news release.
Teresa Jayroe, associate dean and professor in MSU’s College of Education, said all of MET’s graduates will make a five-year commitment to teach in Mississippi after graduation.
Jayroe said MET will be similar to an honors college for education majors, with rigorous acceptance requirements in order to attract top students.
“The program will have ACT, SAT and GPA score requirements comparable to honors colleges on the MSU and Ole Miss campuses, as well as seek students who have demonstrated outstanding dedication to children and education,” she said.
Jayroe said MSU and Ole Miss will collaborate to offer a student exchange for weeklong residencies each summer, during which the universities will host each other’s MET students.
During the press conference in Jackson on Jan. 22, Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones said leaders at both universities believe MET will make a statement through MSU and Ole Miss’s partnership and full scholarships that teaching is important in Mississippi.
“This is a project that will move us forward, that will change the perception of teachers in this state,” he said. “This (MET) has to work because in our country and in our state, the future of our children and our economy depends on this working. The other reason this is going to work is because the leadership of our universities is committed to it, and the leaders of our states is committed to it.”
Jayroe said the initial goal of MET will be to recruit students who want to become mathematics and English teachers in order to help meet the needs of the new Common Core curriculum that was introduced last year.