Staff Creative Residencies promote the creative work of UM staff persons by supplying opportunities to pursue creative projects. Staff Creative Residencies recognize that UM staff members have the potential to create, share, interpret, and apply transformative knowledge. The creative work that emerges from these residencies will drive progress and creative economy growth in our state.

Read more about the program here.

Staff Creative Residency Awardees (by year)

If you make something, and if you apply imagination to the making of that something, we want to hear from you.

Staff Creative Residencies FAQ

  • This initiative recognizes that UM staff do creative work outside their formal positions, from photography to woodworking, from writing to video game design to music composition. Conceived by the Mississippi Lab and funded by the Office of the Provost, Staff Creative Residencies does not support continuing education, conference attendance, or activities directly related to job responsibilities. This initiative does not support faculty. Instead, this initiative serves the UM mission by investing in the creative work of UM staff members.

    Five-day residencies are awarded for the summer. Staff members who complete summer residencies are eligible for three-day winter residencies. Residencies are compensated at the regular rate of pay and supported by stipends

  • 1. Email the MS Lab

    Send an email to mslab@olemiss.edu. We will share the specific application prompts, verify eligibility, and connect you with a time to meet with the Mississippi Lab’s director.

    2. Proposal

    Prepare a short proposal explaining the creative work, how you will use the residency to pursue that creative work, and how it will positively impact the community. A brief biography is also requested.

    3. Revise & Review

    Refine your proposal and biography with input from the MS Lab director. Applicants are encouraged to discuss their application with supervisors before submission.

    4. Approval

    Your supervisor and department head, along with the MS Lab director, will review and sign off on the application.

    Your proposal is then reviewed by a panel of three staff members, who choose the cohort. Approximately 15 residencies will be rewarded each year.

    2025 Panel – Hunter Haney, Associate Director of Human Resources; Castel Sweet, Director of Community Engagement; and John T Edge from the Mississippi Lab.

  • Staff members, not faculty, from Oxford and the five regional campuses

    Must have one year or more of successful, regular, full-time service. (Summer 2025 applicants must have been employed on or before April 30, 2024.)

    Supervisor permission is required.

  • One summer week (40 hours) for creative work that promotes personal growth and positively impacts the state. Staff members who complete that week are also eligible for a second three-day winter residency. Summer staff member residencies will take place between June 15 and August 15, 2025 at off-campus locations. Supervisors and staff persons will collaborate to set individual dates and times.

    Staff persons selected for summer residencies will receive $500 stipends for travel, supplies, mentor fees, and other appropriate expenses. Winter residencies, set for January of 2026, come with $300 stipends.

  • Participants will complete 250-word self-assessments and contribute to two events focused on their experiences.

  • April TBD, 2026
    Applications open with a 4 pm event at Johnson Commons.

    April 2026
    Office hours (phone, Zoom, or in-person) with Mississippi Lab Director John T Edge.

    April 30, 2026 @ 5 pm
    Final application deadline

    May 31, 2026
    Grantees announced

    June TBD, 2026
    Cohort meeting

    Summer 2026
    Residencies take place

    August 22, 2026
    250-word self-assessments due

    September TBD, 2026
    Grantee exhibition and conversation, 4 pm in the Johnson Commons Banquet Room

*Staff Creative Residency Logos by students in Tyler Barnes’s graphic design class at UM