Mississippi State University named its first executive director of facilities earlier this month. The position was created to oversee campus wide custodial, landscaping, utilities and physical plant duties.
James “Jim” Jones, a Pontotoc native and MSU alumnus, was chosen for the position.
Jones said that he plans to bring all of the departments together to work as one to optimize the campus’s upkeep.
“[The plan is to] bring three organizations into one and improve upon what each provides individually,” Jones said. “By grouping the like functions together, we should be able to gain some synergy and effectiveness.”
Jones said his primary goal is to improve efficiency in campus operations, which will in turn improve the workplace for students attending Mississippi State University and encourage future students to attend.
“We’ve got to translate what we do in facilities … improving the learning environment and ensuring that when families and visitors come here, they see the image that we want to leave with them so that they do come back and when they go out, they are adversaries for Mississippi State,” Jones said.
Jones said he also plans on creating new processes and improving on existing processes.
“We have a lot of very intelligent, skilled people that work in all three of the departments, and my goal is to capitalize on the skill and education of those people to bring it together collectively,” Jones said.
“We have the commitment of the university to assist us in providing the resources where they are needed so that we can pair those resources with the existing ones and improve upon what we have currently,” he added.
Jones, a retired naval officer and professional engineer, came to Mississippi State from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. He received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from MSU in 1981.
After receiving his degree, Jones joined the Navy where he applied his engineering skills to many fields, ranging from construction management to transportation management.
During his 24-year career in the Navy, Jones was based in areas including the Philippines; Monterrey, Calif.; Panama City, Fla.; San Antonio; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Bremerton, Wash.; and Gulfport.
Jones said he decided to come back to Mississippi State for many reasons, including the location and responsibilities. His history with the university played an important part as well.
“It was the opportunity of a lifetime to take the skills that I learned in my past 25 years and apply them to the institution that got me into my career,” Jones said.
“This opportunity is not just handed to anyone. When it came up I lobbied pretty hard for it,” Jones added.
“I’m confident that the people in the process understand what we need to accomplish at MSU, and by working together as a team, we’ll be able to get there,” Jones said.