Jackson Free Press

This holiday season at the historic King Edward Hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn Jackson Downtown will host a series of Teddy Bear Teas for kids of all ages.

Each of the five scheduled Teddy Bear Teas will feature a photo with Santa and his elves, storytelling, kid-friendly treats and a King Edward teddy bear for each child.

Admission is $25 per person for adults and children more than 1 year old. Children under 12 months receive free admission. Participants will receive a $1 discount with a copy of a ticket from the Mississippi Children's Museum.

The teas will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Dec.14 and 20-22. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the hotel at 601-969-8507.

Millsaps Receives Grant for International Program

Millsaps College recently received a $200,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations to establish the International Perspectives Program, a new model for incorporating global experiences and conversations on campus as well as in field programs. Funds from the foundations will be used to launch the International Perspectives seminars and an annual International Perspectives Conference, key components of the program.

The program will designate 12 Millsaps students as International Scholars starting in fall 2017. They will reside together in a living/learning community on campus, participate in weekly International Perspectives seminars during the fall semester and work with a visiting scholar-in-residence to plan a spring campus-wide seminar. A Millsaps International Faculty Fellow will plan the weekly International Perspectives seminars during the fall semester and assist the visiting scholar-in-residence with the spring conference.

Half of the International Scholars will be Millsaps sophomores and juniors from the United States with previous international experience, while the other half will be Millsaps degree-seeking students from countries outside the U.S. The International Scholars will explore global topics such as emerging democracies, war, immigration, climate change, famine, development issues, water management, green-market economics and gender issues.

Dr. S. Keith Dunn, senior vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, said in a release that the International Perspectives Program will bring viewpoints from around the world to bear on internationally important issues on campus.

"It will be an exciting way to bring the impact of our international studies program home to enrich the perspectives of all our students," Dunn said. For example, a student from Egypt with experiences in a new democracy, a Greek student with perspectives on recent austerity measures and a Guatemalan student researching Mayan history would share their experiences during the seminar.

Millsaps President Dr. Robert W. Pearigen said in a release that the International Perspectives Program builds upon the college's track record of creating nationally recognized field-learning laboratories across the globe, including its facilities in Yucatan, and connects to the College's strategic plan, "Across the Street and Around the Globe: Partnerships and Influences at Millsaps College."

"The new program will allow Millsaps College to expand and deepen international learning experiences for Millsaps students that are fully integrated into their liberal arts experience, provide a global literacy model for other institutions working to address international learning challenges and build on the strength of our current signature curricular programs," Pearigen said. "We are grateful to the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations for their partnership and support."

Millsaps Dean Named Outstanding Educator

The Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants recently named Kimberly G. Burke, dean of the Else School of Management at Millsaps College and professor of accounting, the 2014 recipient of the Outstanding Educator Award. Burke will receive the award during the 2015 Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants convention in Sandestin, Fla.

The society annually recognizes a full-time accounting professor at a Mississippi college or university for excellence in teaching, motivating students, or educational innovation, and for making a contribution to the profession as demonstrated by involvement in professional organizations, research, and work educating the public about accounting issues.

Burke has more than 19 years of teaching experience. Her classes include undergraduate and graduate auditing, intermediate and advanced accounting, accounting information systems, principles of financial accounting and introduction to liberal studies. She has also written a number of continuing education courses for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

As dean of the Else School, Burke oversees Millsaps' undergraduate business, accounting and economics programs, an MBA program, an Executive MBA program, and a Master of Accountancy program.

Burke holds a B.B.A. and an M.S. in accounting from Texas Tech University and a Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University. She joined the Millsaps faculty in 1995.

In 2008, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education recognized Burke as the Mississippi Professor of the Year. Burke also helps Millsaps graduates secure jobs with leading accounting firms and established an executive shadowing program for accounting students.