IHL recognizes two Mississippi State faculty with Diversity and Inclusion Awards
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擳wo Mississippi State faculty members were honored Thursday [Feb. 18] during the Mississippi Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning鈥檚 annual Diversity and Inclusion Awards ceremony.
Qiana M. Cutts, assistant professor in 91传媒鈥檚 Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Foundations, as well as Derris Devost-Burnett, assistant professor in 91传媒鈥檚 Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, were recognized for their efforts in advancing diversity and encouraging understanding and respect.
A member of the Bulldog family since 2016, Cutts earned a bachelor鈥檚 in English and master鈥檚 in teaching from the University of West Alabama. The West Blocton, Alabama, native also holds a master鈥檚 in clinical mental health counseling from Argosy University and a doctorate in educational policy studies from Georgia State University. A self-described 鈥渜ualitative researcher by training and poet by nature,鈥 Cutts focuses her research primarily on diversity, social justice and intercultural competency, which examines teachers鈥 relationships and communication with students of various backgrounds.
Burnett, the faculty coordinator of 91传媒鈥檚 Meat Science and Muscle Biology Laboratory, earned bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in animal and poultry science from Tuskegee University. From there, he went on to complete a doctorate studying metabolic efficiency in beef cattle at Auburn University. Burnett, who grew up in downtown Denver, Colorado, conducted postdoctoral work at Kansas State University before joining 91传媒 in 2015.
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