Mississippi Valley State University - Delvian Yearbook (Itta Bena, MS)

Page 98 text:

Valley was this year funded by the National Institute of Mental Health to establish Mississipp1’s first degree program for paraprofessionals in the mental health retardation fields. Project Paratrain creates paraprofessional degree programs at seven Mississippi junior colleges, and is headed by Dr. Cathy Grace, an MVSU elementary education professor. Mrs. Grace and her staff work with representatives from Coahoma Junior College in Clarksdale, East Mississippi Junior College in Scooba, the Jackson branch of Hinds Junior College, Itawamba Junior College at Fulton, Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College at Perkinston, Booneville’s Northeast Junior College and Utica Junior College at Utica. The junior college representatives have joined the MVSU Project Paratrain staff in developing a standard curriculum at their two-year institutions for associate of science degree programs in mental health and mental retardation. The two degree programs will provide improved training opportunities for workers in Mississippi’s mental health and mental retardation | | facilities. This is one program that shows MVSU works to help | others improve academically. It’s called “spreading our fragrances.”

Page 97 text:

| i ; Within the J.H. White 6,000 slides, 800 video tapes and 7,000 other nonbook materials; and thousands of visitors every day are just the obvious about this 56,192 square-feet building. Behind those walls which separate library lobbies, and study and browsing areas is the fertilization of our centerpiece blossom. That fertilization is the librarians and staff persons who see to making periodicals, books and other library materials available to the Valley Family. The J.H. White Library staff is currently working toward filling the university library to its full capacity of bound volumes — 160,245. { ; Over 100,000 bound volumes — strong; nearly 2,200 filmstrips, 600 sixteen millimeter filmstrips, 9,300 manuscripts, 1,000 recordings, ! | { ass mk), =i ag “ as pare rte ct ate

Page 99 text:

; however, none compare to Valley’s Academic Skills Parlor. Lee The ASP There are beauty parlors, ice cream parlors and many other parlors across Mississippi that offer specialized personal services; The patrons of our Academic Skills Parlor — about 150 students a day — although looking for special services, do not visit the two-story former library for ice-cream treats or fancy hair styles. Yet, visits to the skills parlor offer students results that are probably as sweet as ice cream and as satisfying as a pretty hair style. The parlor, staffed by several persons specializing in reading, speech, math and other basic skills and many volunteers from the MVSU general faculty and student body, provides an outlet for students to increase their reading abilities and strengthen their academic skills. The parlor not only focuses on students whose academic potentials are underdeveloped, but also on the average and excelled students. Overall, the purpose of the ASP is to motivate and prepare students for their highest level of achievement in marketable skills, social and civic effectiveness and in realizing their individual potentials. After looking at our parlor, the State Board of Higher Education this year mandated some other state universities to develop similar programs.