A University of Mississippi professor’s nest egg will help offset expenses for higher education students seeking extracurricular experiential learning opportunities.
“I’m not going to retire. However long I have left in this life, the University of Mississippi is where I think I will be,” said George McClellan, professor of higher education in the School of Education, where he is also faculty director of the Online M.A. in Higher Education program and interim director of the Ph.D. in Higher Education program.
“There’s this retirement money that I’ve been building up over time, and I’ve had this incredible career where students have let me be a part of their dreams. I’ve gotten to work with amazing colleagues, travel to all kinds of places and meet all kinds of different people,” he said. “I had a really, really, really great ride. I just figured it was my turn to help students have those kinds of experiences.”
The eight-year faculty member has designated the university as beneficiary of a portion of his estate, establishing the Dr. George S. McClellan Higher Education Student Support Endowment.
The endowment will provide holistic support for students, including tuition expenses for higher education degree programs, travel expenses for those attending conferences or professional development opportunities, support for student-research activities and special technology needs related to academic work within the UM School of Education.
Dean David Rock expressed gratitude for his faculty member’s vision for the future.
“I am truly honored by the special gift created by Dr. McClellan to provide support for impactful and meaningful experiential opportunities for School of Education students,” the dean said. “His desire to create an endowment to enhance the educational experience for higher education students is incredible.
“Dr. McClellan is passionately dedicated and committed to student learning,” Rock continued. “He is always accessible and eager to support students and their research. His gift is inspirational.”
McClellan has worked in higher education more than 40 years. He earned a PhD in Higher Education from the University of Arizona in 2003, a Master of Science in Higher Education Administration from Northwestern University in 1998 and a bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature in 1982, also from Northwestern.
Among the courses he teaches at UM are Advanced Qualitative Research; Budget and Budget Management in Higher Education; Education and Society; Enrollment Management; Esports in Higher Education; Individual, Relational and Collective Identities; Intercollegiate Athletics; Introduction to Research; Organization and Governance in Higher Education; Power, Persuasion and Politics in the Professional Workplace; Resource Management in Higher Education; and The College and the Student.
“I teach a whole host of courses,” the professor said. “I teach on college student development — how students change while they’re in college; courses on education and society — why do we in society spend so much time and energy and money on higher ed? What are we trying to do? And how’s that going for us?
“I teach classes on office politics and higher ed. A lot of people don’t understand how political high ed is. There are so many different constituents and they don’t all agree on what we’re trying to do,” he continued. “We don’t teach students very much about how to get along in that world, how to deal with power and how to persuade people and that sort of thing. So, I teach a class on that.”
Prior to joining the UM faculty, McClellan was vice chancellor for student affairs at Purdue University Fort Wayne from 2007 to 2017 when he was sidelined due to a health issue. It was the worst six months of his life.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m not going to be able to work with students. What am I going to do?’ Even on the bad days in this job, I still love it because I get to hang out with students and learn from them,” he said. “They and their families and their communities let me in some small way be a part of them going after their dreams. It’s the coolest job on the planet, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
McClellan has authored or co-authored 12 books — including the best-selling book on budget and financial management in higher education — and more than four dozen textbook chapters, monographs, papers, articles and reviews. Additionally, he has produced six podcasts/webcasts related to student affairs administration in higher education.
He has been actively involved at UM and previous universities, serving on a myriad of advisory boards and committees that shape the future of higher education. Additionally, he has received multiple awards for his service to universities and their surrounding communities.
McClellan, whose own education was supported by scholarships, encourages others to give back in any way they can.
“I know there are staff and faculty all across this university who give every day with their heart, their head, their time, care and commitment,” he said. “I don’t think you have to give money. There are tons of ways to give. Just care about students.
“I can’t not be around students. I can’t even imagine that world,” he continued. “In this job, it’s me and the students and that’s perfect with me.”
To support the School of Education, visit give.olemiss.edu or contact Jacob Ferguson, development associate, at jacobf@olemiss.edu or 662-915-2836.
To learn more about methods for including the university in estate plans, contact Marc Littlecott, advancement director for estate and planned giving, at marcplan@olemiss.edu or 662-915-6625.
By Bill Dabney/UM Foundation