IHL recognizes two Mississippi ��APP faculty with Diversity and Inclusion Awards

Studio portrait of Qiana Cutts — Qiana Cutts (Photo by Logan Kirkland)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Two Mississippi ��APP faculty members were honored Thursday [Feb. 18] during the Mississippi Board of Trustees of the ��APP Institutions of Higher Learning’s annual Diversity and Inclusion Awards ceremony.

Qiana M. Cutts, assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Foundations, as well as Derris Devost-Burnett, assistant professor in MSU’s 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’s in English and master’s in teaching from the University of West Alabama. The West Blocton, Alabama, native also holds a master’s in clinical mental health counseling from Argosy University and a doctorate in educational policy studies from Georgia ��APP University. A self-described “qualitative researcher by training and poet by nature,” Cutts focuses her research primarily on diversity, social justice and intercultural competency, which examines teachers’ relationships and communication with students of various backgrounds.

Studio portrait of Derris Devost-Burnett — Derris Devost-Burnett (Photo by Tom Thompson)

Burnett, the faculty coordinator of MSU’s Meat Science and Muscle Biology Laboratory, earned bachelor’s and master’s 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 ��APP University before joining MSU in 2015.

For more on IHL’s Diversity and Inclusion Awards, visit��.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at .

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