Mississippi Valley State University, as similar to other state of Mississippi higher education institutions, needs to make changes to improve the university. A successful MVSU leader implementing change must be aware of its mission.  Shared leadership is a collaborative effort involving students, staff, faculty, administrators and the community.  Shared leadership is based on a commitment to the principle of inclusiveness among these groups.  Inclusiveness is a democratic and collaborative decision-making process characterized by mutual empowerment.  Shared leadership comprises structures, procedures, standards and time limits arranged to make decisions and policies in a systematic and effective manner.  All participants share in the consequences of those decisions and should embrace the ‘my alma mater atmosphere’ at MVSU. Shared leadership is neither created nor sustained to benefit any individual or particular group, but functions to achieve the mission and purposes of the university.

Educational institutions are places of enjoyment, comfort and challenge, and meaningful relationships will translate into organizations that achieve goals.  The communication in a shared governance model will develop feelings of value and excellence among students, faculty, and staff.  This is absent at MVSU!  A university with a dedicated staff geared to achieve these established recognized variables and objectives will advance.  Community-driven MVSU with a history of shared involvement depend on the President and others for leadership and a path of success for students.  Disconnecting the university from this relationship with the campus will decrease the value of the university with the surrounding support sources.  These support sources – community, faculty, students and administration are the foundation of the university and this foundation need to be recognized as the university redevelops.  Historically, MVSU was known for providing academic programs to enhance the Mississippi Delta.  In the current higher education competitive climate, colleges and universities continue to assess their academic programs to remain an attractive institution for the future students.

All internal and external stakeholders connected to the university must give their HEART to “The Valley”. “H” Being honorable is essential to MVSU survival.  An honorable leader sets moral principles, willingness to risk it all, and make a tough decision.  The faculty and staff at MVSU must do what’s right and equal-when difficult, do something symbolic when in leadership and when you stand for something, ignore those people who thrive off negativity.  If you participate in the negative behavior “Chair of the Street Committee,” you’re just to blame for MVSU downfall.

“E” The MVSU family must empower everyone around them.  Each person serving in a leadership position should have a set vision and transparently communicate that vision.  Visionary leaders should communicate in a transparent form that will allow people to put things in perspective for the greater good of MVSU.  Stated by a current alum and administrator, “A leader with no vision cannot move the ship”.

“A” Howard Thurman stated “You need a specific blend of people to build a successful team – Make sure you utilize people talents that best fit them, not for you.”  MVSU has talented people currently working on campus.  They also have talented alumni who are willing to help if they are not hindered to progressing MVSU.  If MVSU faculty and staff must rely on their strengths, the university will prosper.  As a university on a path of improvement, the current internal constituents should participate in a 360 degree review of themselves, which include an evaluation from their peers, family, supervisory and community stakeholders. This will help MVSU become authentic.

“R” Doing my tenure at MVSU as a student and administrator, I continue to hear the phrase “I love the Valley.”  If you love the Valley, you will have a true intimate relationship with the Valley and the Itta Bena/Mississippi Delta community.  A relationship with MVSU colleagues and the community will help people feel secure about the university.  MVSU faculty and staff must always remember they are a public figures and there to serve.  The best way to serve your delta constituents, you must have a relationship with your constituents.

“T” Power and a title can corrupt some people.  Regardless of your position on campus, you must be approachable. Being approachable also mean being touchable. Don’t let the leadership position go to your head.  At MVSU, leadership should come from the soul and understand how people view a leader when they see you.  MVSU is a family structure, human resource frame atmosphere.  It is necessary that leadership is touchable at all times.

Mississippi Valley State University owes nothing to anyone working on campus.  MVSU was established to provide a quality education to students. If each internal and external constituent at MVSU is there to serve and not be served, MVSU will progress at the highest level. Valley is in need of someone who cares and understands the culture. Yes, an alum/true leader is the best fit for MVSU. The next leader should:

1.      Preserve the historic buildings and culture of MVSU (President home and etc..).

2.      Create a direct linkage with the Itta Bena community and surrounding Mississippi Delta cities/towns.

3.      Understand the history of the university (i.e. College Heights).

4.      Eliminate excess employees who fail to be productive in their area.

5.      Enhance the total operation of the university and eliminate favors.

These are some of the initiatives that should take place. As I paraphrase a quote by John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what Valley can do for you, but what you can do for Valley”.

Johnny D. Jones is a 1996 graduate of Mississippi Valley State University.

Mississippi Valley State University is an invaluable part of Mississippi’s higher education landscape, and specifically so for African-Americans. It meets the need of a population neglected at every level of economic development and secondary education. More than other areas in the region, it suffers from the vestiges of segregation and race-based political jockeying.

In spite of these odds, Valley’s quieted voice remains a central member of the national HBCU chorus. Its athletic imprint is improving in football, and maintaining relative excellence in basketball. It’s outreach efforts are beginning to attract local attention, such as an upcoming run for retention and a community initiative where neighbors of the university opened fishing season on Valley’s east and west lakes with more than 100 pounds of caught fish.

In January, the Mississippi Institutes of Higher Learning moved to hire former Tennessee State University Interim President Portia Holmes Shields to the same position at MVSU. She declined the offer to rebuild another black college facing accreditation trouble, financial frailty and identity crisis, but the university has moved forward under acting president Alfred Rankins to aggressively recruit students in the Delta and from Louisiana and Tennessee.

Valley is a school ready for transformation and success, but the narrative of its struggle continues to dominate national perspective on the university. How is it that a university so vital to the region’s economy and growth, with healthy support from the state’s higher ed leadership, can’t catch a president or a break?

Because its culture of alumni, faculty and staff seemingly won’t save the school from itself.

Despondent alumni and non-innovative staff will inevitably cause the university’s merger with a nearby PWI. Valley can’t develop new programs because faculty members fight leadership on results-based, industry-driven curriculum development. Valley, already fighting geography and stereotyping in its search for a president, can’t attract a young, innovative leader because alumni want someone who is ‘Valley bred.’

‘Valley bred’ will lead to ‘Valley dead’ if key influencers in faculty and alumni circles do not accept the reality that Mississippi Valley State is a university in crisis. Its endowment is less than $1 million dollars. It’s most prominent alumnus, Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, wants to be all in for Valley, but sees little potential to which he can lend his brand or his word. Outside of Mississippi, very few high school students have Valley on their list of the top five HBCUs they want to attend.  And who can blame them? The university’s internal academic development, matched with a lack of vision on how and why it serves the Delta region, work in tandem with internal adversaries to keep the same old habits and negative stereotypes going strong.

Mississippi Valley State University, for many observers inside and outside HBCU communities, is the model talking point on the tired discussion of HBCU irrelevance. But it doesn’t have to be. Great ideas are being developed at Valley, and the university’s new leadership is ready to turn those ideas into sustainable designs for the university’s future as a college, business, and cultural partner for the state of Mississippi. But alumni and disillusioned faculty must accept that change is necessary, or be forced out for real change to take place.

If the Delta Devils want a lasting Valley, obstructionists must first learn to get the hell out of the way.