2022-2023 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
    Mar 29, 2024  
2022-2023 Undergraduate Catalog

About Millsaps



Vision Statement

Building on its motto, Ad Excellentiam, its strong heritage of social justice, freedom of thought, and reflection on life’s most important questions, and its central location in the capital city of Mississippi, Millsaps engages students in a transformative learning and leadership experience that results in personal and intellectual growth, commitment to good citizenship in our global society, and a desire to succeed and make a difference in every community they touch.

Mission Statement

Millsaps College is dedicated to academic excellence, open inquiry and free expression, the exploration of faith to inform vocation, and the innovative shaping of the social, economic, and cultural progress of our region.

Methodist Affiliation

Millsaps College celebrates its connection with the United Methodist Church. The College embodies the spirit of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist tradition, in its emphases on scholarly inquiry, academic freedom, and spiritual growth. Millsaps College is a church-related institution, welcoming people from all religious traditions or no religious tradition, and committed to equipping all people for a meaningful life of service to others.

Accreditation

Millsaps College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Science, Master of Accountancy, and Master of Business Administration. Contact the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation status of Millsaps College.

Millsaps’ Purpose

Founded in 1890, Millsaps College is a community committed to trust in disciplined learning and the ideals of a liberal arts education as keys to a rewarding life.

In keeping with its character as a liberal arts college and its historic role in the mission of the United Methodist Church, Millsaps College seeks to provide a learning environment that increases knowledge, deepens understanding of faith, and inspires the development of mature citizens with the intellectual capacities, ethical principles, and sense of responsibility that are needed for leadership in all sectors of society.

The programs of the College are designed to foster the growth of independent and critical thinking; individual and collaborative problem-solving; creativity, sensitivity, and tolerance; the ability to inform and challenge others; and an appreciation of humanity and the universe.

Millsaps College is committed to the following objectives through its academic program, support services, and outreach to the wider community.

Academic Program

To select well-prepared students of diverse social, ethnic, geographical, and age backgrounds;

To provide for all undergraduates a curriculum designed to foster student development in oral and written communication, thinking and reasoning, collaborative and integrative learning, and problem-solving and creative practice.

To provide opportunities for study in depth and the development of disciplinary competencies in undergraduate programs;

To provide a graduate program in business with a general management outlook that develops future leaders and expands the body of knowledge in the practice of management;

To foster a caring community that nurtures open inquiry and independent, critical thinking;

To structure opportunities for students to become competent in self-assessment of their academic progress;

To recruit and retain a faculty well-qualified to support the academic program;

To provide faculty with resources for professional development in teaching, scholarship, and research.

College Support Services

To provide physical and financial resources sufficient to support the College mission;

To support the personal development of students through a program of counseling, student organizations, and social activities;

To provide activities and facilities for the enhancement of student physical well-being;

To provide for the aesthetic enrichment of students through a program of cultural events;

To foster the religious development of students through a program of campus ministry;

To provide library and computer resources for student learning and research that adequately support the academic program;

To foster a safe and secure campus environment;

To maintain an organizational structure that supports participation in College governance by students, faculty, staff, alumni, and administration, subject to procedures and policies approved by the Board of Trustees;

To assess as needed, the ongoing activities and programs of the College and to use those continuing assessments in planning and implementing College policies and activities.

Board of Trustees’ Charge to The President of Millsaps College

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, you are charged to fulfill the obligations vested in the Office of President of Millsaps College by the charter and bylaws of the College;

To promote a learning environment that encourages open inquiry and independent, critical thinking;

To engage the faculty, staff, and students in forging a sense of community on campus and a commitment to communities beyond the campus;

To support Millsaps’ Methodist affiliation, interfaith religious life, and history of ethical commitment;

To honor the vital heritage of Millsaps College;

To institute new traditions for its future, and to undertake innovative programs in the pursuit of excellence.

History of The College

Millsaps College was founded in 1890 by the Methodist Church as a Christian college for young men. The philanthropy of Major Reuben Webster Millsaps and other Methodist leaders in Mississippi enabled the College to open two years later on the outskirts of Jackson, the state capital and a town of some 9,000 people. The beginnings were modest: two buildings, 149 students (two-thirds of whom were enrolled in a preparatory school), five instructors, and an endowment of $70,432.

Fifty years later, the student body numbered 599, and the faculty had increased to 33. Women were admitted in the late 1800s. The graduation of Sing Ung Zung of Soochow, China, in 1908, began a tradition of the College’s influence outside the country.

By the time of its centennial celebration in 1990, enrollment at Millsaps had more than doubled, with approximately one-half of the students coming from out of state. The quality of the liberal arts program was nationally recognized with the award of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter in 1988. A graduate program in business administration, begun in 1979, received national accreditation along with the undergraduate business program in 1990.

Millsaps’ first president, William Belton Murrah, served until 1910.

Other presidents are:

David Carlisle Hull (1910-1912)
Dr. Alexander Farrar Watkins (1912-1923)
Dr. David Martin Key (1923-1938)
Dr. Marion Lofton Smith (1938-1952)
Dr. Homer Ellis Finger Jr. (1952-1964)
Dr. Benjamin Barnes Graves (1965-1970)
Dr. Edward McDaniel Collins Jr. (1970-1978)
Dr. George Marion Harmon (1978- 2000)
Dr. Frances Lucas (2000-2010)
Dr. Robert W. Pearigen became president of Millsaps College on July 1, 2010.

General Information

The close personal relationship among students, faculty, and the administration is one of the most vital parts of the Millsaps College experience. A liberal arts college designed to educate students for responsible citizenship and well-balanced lives, Millsaps offers professional and pre-professional training coupled with cultural and disciplinary studies. Students are selected on the basis of their ability to think, desire to learn, moral character, and intellectual maturity. The primary consideration for admission is the ability to complete academic work satisfactory to the College and beneficial to the student.

Millsaps’ student body is made up of students from across the nation and numerous countries. Students come from a variety of faith traditions, including many Christian denominations and other major world faiths. All are urged to take advantage of the educational and cultural offerings available in Jackson.

Research facilities available to students include the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the State Law Library, the Jackson/Hinds Library System, the Rowland Medical Library at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and a number of other special libraries unique to the capital area. Together, they provide research facilities found nowhere else in Mississippi. Cultural advantages include the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra; New Stage Theatre; Mississippi Opera; musical, dramatic, and sporting events held at Thalia Mara Hall, the Mississippi Coliseum, and the Jackson Convention Complex.

Millsaps College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Science, Master of Accountancy, and Master of Business Administration. Contact the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation status of Millsaps College.

Routine inquiries about the institution, such as admission requirements, financial aid, and educational programs should be addressed directly to the institution and not to the Commission’s office. The College is approved by the American Association of University Women and the University Senate of the United Methodist Church. The business programs offered by the Millsaps College Else School of Management are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The Department of Chemistry is accredited by the American Chemical Society (AES). Copies of any of these documents may be requested by writing the Dean of the College.

Millsaps-Wilson Library

The Millsaps-Wilson Library supports scholarly research with a print collection of 200,000 volumes and a robust collection of online databases that contain journal articles and electronic books. Within the library are the Millsaps College Archives and the J.B. Cain Archives of Mississippi Methodism. In addition, the library has a variety of special collections and a rare book room. The library is a member of several organizations that promote resource sharing and cooperation among libraries.

Services provided to the campus community include research assistance, library instruction, interlibrary loan, and instructional technology support.

Space is available throughout the library for group and individual study. The facilities include group study rooms, individual study carrels, seating areas, and tables. Meeting rooms are available for campus groups upon request.

The library has over 40 computers including 16 computers in the information commons and 24 computers in the library computer lab. Three printers and two scanners are available. The digital media lab includes two computers and equipment dedicated to the digital arts. Wireless internet access is available throughout the library.

Computing Facilities

Millsaps College has developed outstanding computing resources for teaching, learning, and research. From PC labs and their dorm rooms on campus, students have access to the fiber optic-based wired and/or wireless computer network, supported by enterprise-class servers and network equipment located in the Academic Complex. Millsaps provides all users with Internet access, electronic mail, and personal network storage space.

Buildings and Grounds

The College occupies a beautiful 100-acre residential campus in the heart of Jackson, Mississippi, the state capital. Chief administrative offices are in the renovated James Boyd Campbell Administrative Center. Renovated in 2013, the center includes Whitworth Hall and Sanders Hall. Murrah Hall, built in 1914, was renovated in 1981 to house the Else School of Management.

Sullivan-Harrell Hall, built in 1928 and renovated in 1990, houses the departments of geology, mathematics, physics, government and politics, psychology, and sociology/anthropology. Olin Hall of Science, dedicated in 1988, houses the departments of biology and chemistry.

The Christian Center, completed in 1950, was built with gifts from Mississippi Methodists, alumni, and friends. Renovated in 2019, it houses the departments of English, Greek and Roman studies, history, philosophy, and religious studies.

Millsaps state-of-the-art Visual Arts Center, completed in 2019, houses the art department and contains classrooms; a digital arts computer lab; studios for drawing, painting, printmaking, papermaking, and sculpture; a wood shop; a foundry; and individual student studios.

The Gertrude C. Ford Academic Complex, completed in 1971, includes a 430-seat recital hall with a 41-rank Möller organ and two Steinway concert grand pianos. The complex houses the department of music, the department of art, information technology services, the business office, human resources, and the office of records. It contains music practice rooms, a choral music room, and classrooms.

A cottage built in the 1940s to house faculty and their families is now Reuben’s, a student eatery that is open in the afternoon and late at night, offering a variety of food and drink options on campus.

The Maurice H. Hall Activities Center is home to Millsaps Athletics. The 63,330-square- foot building contains both competition and recreational space. The HAC contains a full array of fitness and weight training equipment, an aerobics room, racquetball and squash courts, and gyms for volleyball and basketball. There are team rooms and rehab facilities for men’s and women’s athletics. Other athletic facilities include an outdoor track, tennis courts, and fields for football, baseball, softball, and soccer.

The A. Boyd Campbell College Center includes the cafeteria, a coffeehouse, the bookstore, the post office, and student life offices.

A pedestrian plaza links the Hall Activities Center, the Campbell College Center, and the Olin Hall of Science, and provides a pleasant environment for relaxing, socializing, and working. The plaza features permanent seating with network connections to create outdoor dining and study areas.

There are seven co-ed residence halls and one men’s residence hall. Five of the co-ed residence halls offer suite-style living. All dorms are centrally heated and cooled. The campus also contains five fraternity houses and four sorority lodges.

The James Observatory is a historical landmark located on the northwest corner of campus. The campus has numerous gardens with benches and arbors thanks to generous donations from alumni and friends.