This immersive four-day program facilitates an opportunity for real-world career exploration across three disciplines with current MSU faculty. Attendees will also become more familiar with the MSU Starkville campus and other community resources. This type of programming strengthens college applications and resumes. The scholarship opportunity helps mitigate the cost and would further bolster applications and resumes.

The cost of the program is $250, with a competitive $125 scholarship. The fees include four days of programming with MSU faculty, daily food vouchers and parking passes, transportation to and from site visits (if outside Starkville city limits), one afternoon/evening social event, and a swag bag. 

Applicants will be notified by April 4th, 2025, regarding acceptance to the program and scholarship funds. If you are accepted, information will be provided to submit your nonrefundable registration fee by April 25th, 2025. Please note, registration fees must be received by this date to secure your spot.

This immersive four-day program will expose current and potential students to challenging situations facing groups of people in society, such as health, poverty, aging, crime, rurality, and family, and how community engagement can help alleviate some of these social dynamics. Students will be exposed to the fields of criminology, social work, and sociology through daily programming with MSU faculty and collaboration with community partners. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to learn more about MSU and the Starkville campus.

You will have a chance to meet current MSU faculty, representatives from various campus resources (e.g., career center, writing center, library services, counseling services, health promotion and wellness, etc.), current and/or former students, community partners, and other students interested in the social sciences. 

Criminology—According to the American Society of Criminology, the aim of this discipline is to pursue scholarly, scientific, and professional knowledge concerning the measurement, etiology, consequences, prevention, control, and treatment of crime and delinquency. Criminologists may research crime patterns and causes, evaluate crime prevention methods, or work with entities such as police or policymakers to develop crime reduction and prevention strategies. 

Social Work—According to the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics the primary mission of the social work profession is to “enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession’s dual focus on individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living.” This mission is grounded in six core values: service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationship, integrity, and competence. 

Sociology—According to the American Sociological Association, Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies and how people interact within these contexts. Since all human behavior is social, the subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate family to global communities; from deviance to organized crime; from religious traditions to state institutions; and from the divisions of race, gender and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture.

Below is a list of possible employment areas for each of the three disciplines, though the list is not exhaustive, and may overlap! 

Criminology—law enforcement with local, county, state, and/or federal agencies, court systems, corrections, and research

Social Work—child/adult protective services, community organizing, school-based services, court/corrections, healthcare, aging, mental health/addiction counseling, crisis intervention, non-profit administration/leadership, politics, and research

Sociology—human resources, healthcare, city-planner, public safety, sales/marketing, education, non-profit administration/leadership, and research  
 

Departmental scholarships vary and are dependent upon funding each year. 

To learn more about degree programs in Criminology, Social Work, and/or Sociology at MSU please visit our website at https://www.sociology.msstate.edu/.