cutting edge faculty
RYAN NIEMEYER
PhD 08 Director, Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program (METP) Interim chair of leadership and counselor education Associate professor, educational leadership Coordinator, recruitment and outreach 2016 Outstanding Service Award Hometown: Lumberton, Mississippi Four jobs
Having so many roles can be extremely timeconsuming. If you’re juggling multiple things, the key is to have really good, competent people working with you. I have great people who work with me, so I can delegate tasks. It’s a team effort, really. It’s not just me.
METP leadership
My work with METP has substantiated my belief that the way to improve education in Mississippi is through quality teaching and leadership. To have quality teaching, you have to start with a quality person. METP draws the best. What we’re trying to do is give them the macro view of all the forces and factors affecting education. I would love to produce teachers who could come in and see the big picture. My belief is that teachers are truly the first line of leadership.
Proudest moment
A really proud moment for me is coming up next spring — the first class of METP will walk across the graduation stage. A lot of people didn’t think we could move the needle with METP, and now we’re inducting a cohort of 30 kids this year. I’m pretty proud of that.
education edge
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the university of mississippi school of education annual report