In July, The Chronicle of Higher Education termed Mississippi State University a “2016 Great College to Work For” after a survey was conducted using 281 colleges and universities. “Great Colleges to Work For” was acknowledged by just 93 of the foundations who submitted an application for the program. 
     MSU was also placed on The Chronicle’s honor roll. The campus achieved seven categories of honors including confidence in senior leadership, tenure clarity and process, collaborative governance, facilities, workspace and security, professional/career development programs and job satisfaction.
    Dr. Thomas Bourgeois, dean of students, elaborated on the honors MSU received.
     “I’ve been back at Mississippi State almost 18 years, so I’ve been here a long time,” Bourgeois said. “Part of the reason is, not just it’s a great place to work, it’s the kind of students we attract from Mississippi State, it’s the level of scholarship, it’s the level of engagement that faculty and staff have with students.” 
   Bourgeois said if a student comes to visit campus they have around a 90 percent chance of coming to school here. He said this is impacted not just by academics but also the level of engagement, sense of belonging, people caring about them and making lifelong friends. 
     Bourgeois said by looking around the university it is obvious that many of the faculty have been employed for a long time. He said this is because MSU is a great place to work for. He said there has been a lot of stability and great things happening at MSU.
   In regard to senior leadership, Bourgeois named several individuals who have been in such positions for many years. He said jobs are made easier due to the strong working relationships developed. 
    He said he has been able to establish relationships with a lot of the other mentors, vice presidents and many deans of the other colleges who are essential to how the university functions and provides services to students. 
He described the university as “one big family” who works together very well. 
   “First we share common interests in wanting to help students as part of their scholarship but at the same time you develop friendships because they are really great people who are dedicated to the job they perform,” Bourgeois said. 
   In relation to tenure clarity and process, he said although his job is not tenured, his wife is a full professor and department head and he knows many others who have been through the process. She felt like she had a “fair shot” at it and he watched her go through that.
  “From my understanding, being on the non-academic side of the university, it’s been a good process,” Bourgeois said.
    Bourgeois said he thought collaborative governance is something President Keenum has focused heavily on. 
  “At Mississippi State part of the reason I think it’s a great place to work is because there is a collaborative interaction and people have different levels of expertise but when you look at a problem, especially problems that face our education, it takes different lenses,” Bourgeois said. He said it takes the academic lens, the staff and administrative lens and the security lens as well.
     He described MSU as not only an academic institution but its own city. 
  “The front side are the classrooms and things like that. The back side, from facilities, to paving roads, to electricity, to plumbing, to housing, to feeding students, to accommodating parking,” Bourgeois said. “So there’s a lot that goes into it and those institutions that have a singular focus can’t really provide great services to students or classes if there is not enough faculty to teach them. 
 Bourgeois said operating a university is a delicate balance and if faculty are not trained, there is not adequate parking and if there’s not adequate infrastructure, exceptional services can’t be offered to students. 
   He said he thinks part of the reason there is great collaboration is because when growth, the future of Mississippi State and their strategic plan are discussed, all of those pieces fit in place for an overall comprehensive institution and provide a great experience for students, faculty and staff. 
  In regards to facilities, workspace and security he said the police department is one of the areas that reports through his office and he said Dr. Keenum takes security very seriously.
     Bourgeois said the police department is constantly looking at ways to innovate such as the infrastructure of security, from cameras to locking doors to talking to the university about safety. 
  “The university had a very good master planning process over the last ten or fifteen years because when you’re planning for growth you can’t wait until it happens,” Bourgeois said. “You have to look ahead and you have to balance resources based on what the state and the bond bills give you and the private donors give you.”
      He said changes have been made on campus such as new residence halls replacing old halls that were 50 to 60 years old, a new classroom building is planned to soon be complete to add much needed faculty/academic space, renovations of old buildings, “up keep” and the student union’s recent changes. 
  Dr. Regina Hyatt, Vice President for Student Affairs, said via e-mail this recognition will only enhance the desire many already have to work at Mississippi State. 
    She said in the one year she has been employed by the university she has come to love the community with awesome students, great traditions, outstanding colleagues and every day she feels like their work is making a difference.