Student Organizations and Leadership

School of Nursing Ambassadors

As the official student representatives of the School of Nursing (SON), Ambassadors:

• Participate in recruitment events.
• Provide campus tours to prospective students.
• Lead orientation groups.
• Serve as mentors to incoming students.
• Meet course requirements in a two-hour leadership course.

Selected during the third semester of the Traditional BSN program, Ambassadors must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 to apply. They must complete an application with documented leadership activities and participate in an interview. Applications are available in February through the Office of Student Affairs. Selection is made in late March.

UMMC SON Undergraduate Nursing Student Body (NSB)

The purpose of the NSB is to deal effectively with student affairs, perpetuate the SON traditions and promote understanding and cooperation between faculty and students. The Undergraduate NSB Constitution was established to promote the general welfare of the student body with fundamental principles of student government.

Junior and Senior Class Officers

Class officers are elected to conduct and deal effectively with class affairs; promote understanding and cooperation between faculty and students of the class they represent; keep the student body officers informed of class affairs; facilitate communication between the student body officers and the study body; and guide class affairs within the framework of the NSB Constitution and Student Handbook. The students also abide by the Undergraduate Class constitution.

Associated Student Body (ASB)

The ASB comprises elected representatives and designated officers from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Health Related Professions, Dentistry and Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences. Each school also elects its own student council. As the official UMMC student government organization, ASB meets with and provides information and opinions on student concerns to the administration and faculty. ASB also develops activities relating to academic programs and sponsors extracurricular activities, including intramural sports and a film series. ASB also publishes the Medic, the campus yearbook and The Murmur, the student newspaper.

National Student Nurses Association (NSNA)

The mission of the NSNA includes the following:

• Organize, represent and mentor students preparing for initial licensure as registered nurses, as well as those enrolled in baccalaureate completion programs;
• Convey the standards and ethics of the nursing profession;
• Promote the development of the skills that students will need as responsible and accountable members of the nursing profession;
• Advocate for high-quality health care;
• Advocate for and contribute to advances in nursing education.

Mississippi Association of Student Nurses (MASN)

The MASN, a constituent of the National Student Nurses’ Association, has the following purposes:

• Assume responsibility for contributing to nursing education in order to provide the highest quality health care;
• Provide programs representative of fundamental and current professional interests and concerns;
• Aid in the development of the whole person, his or her professional role and his or her responsibility for health care of people in all walks of life.

University Chapter, MASN

The University Student Nurses' Association (USNA), which is a chapter of the MASN and the NSNA, functions as the student professional organization for undergraduate nursing students.

The organization elects a president, vice president, secretary/treasurer and projects chairperson from the senior class. The organization holds monthly meetings, where students are introduced to nursing as a profession in a manner consistent with the SON philosophy.

Various social, community and fundraising activities are planned during the year. State and national conventions are held annually, and students, who are in satisfactory academic standing, are encouraged to attend. For students in good standing, time is allowed away from school each year to attend the state and/or national conventions.

Phi Kappa Phi

Members of the Phi Kappa Phi national scholastic honor society are selected on the basis of academic achievement. Induction into the society is conducted once each year. Second-semester juniors, seniors and graduate students are eligible for membership.

Theta Beta Chapter of Sigma

Sigma is the international honor society of nursing. The purpose of this society is to recognize superior achievement and development of leadership qualities; foster high professional standards; encourage creative work; and strengthen commitment to the ideals and purpose of the profession. The SON's chapter is the Theta Beta Chapter.

Candidates for membership are selected from the undergraduate and graduate nursing programs on the basis of academic achievement. A candidate for membership from the undergraduate nursing program must have a 3.0 grade point average and rank in the upper 35 percent of the class. Exceptions to this criterion may be made by the chapter's board of directors, and if granted, exceptions may include candidates with a 3.5 grade point average who rank below the upper 35 percent of the class and/or candidates with a grade point average of 3.0 who do not fall within the top 35 percent of the class but who demonstrate exceptional leadership ability.

Candidates for membership from the graduate nursing program must have a 3.5 grade point average and have one-fourth of the required graduate curriculum completed.

American Association of Men in Nursing (AAMN)

The mission of AAMN is to shape the practice, education, research, and leadership for men in nursing and advance men’s health; and the vision is to be the association of choice representing men in nursing.

The purpose of AAMN is to provide a framework for nurses, as a group, to meet, to discuss, and to influence factors that affect men as nurses. Membership is open to any nurse — male or female — to facilitate discussion and to meet the most important objective of AAMN — encouraging men of all ages to become nurses and join together with all nurses in strengthening and humanizing health care. UMMC SON Chapter of AAMN is the first local chapter in Mississippi.