General Counsel - 601

General Counsel – 601

Kyle P. Mitchell

7/29/2013

Activities

-Attended Retail meeting and appreciation dinner

-Researched and presented information for University Compliance organizational structures

       This week was an awesome week to work in General Counsel.  I had the opportunity to attend an appreciation dinner for all of the retailers who carry the Mississippi State brand.  This was the owners and managers of The Lodge, Campus Bookmart, MSU Bookstore, Hibbett Sports, and businesses outside of Starkville.  There also was a trademark and licensing company that Mississippi State utilizes for all of its trademarking materials.  I got to see how the university, athletic department, the licensing company, and all of the retailers work together to get the best products out to Mississippi State Fans.  There were even conversations about the university logos and how those will be utilized and Adidas as a company to utilized and the positive and negatives of them as a supplier.  Though I did contribute to the meeting at all, it put me in the mindset on issues that universities are dealing with that some Student Affairs professionals don’t even know about.  Having relationships with business such as Licensing Resource Group (LRG) is crucial when you are a university administrator.  There are going to be many times when there is are areas that need to be contracted to outside businesses, and starting those relationships early are very important.  I had the opportunity to meet with the President and CEO of LRG, and it was a great experience to understand what they do to assist Mississippi State.

I also had the opportunity to do a lot of research with university organization structures and the best way to include university compliance.  I focused on the SEC universities, and looked at how they organized their compliance efforts.  Compliance can be anything from athletics, Americans with Disabilities Act, Technology, Research, and Confidentiality.  Then I got the opportunity to have a discussion about the research I did, and how I felt the university should structure a compliance officer. The biggest thing that I appreciated throughout this practicum is that the professionals have always asked my opinion and wanted to me to voice my recommendations.  Though they wouldn’t make a decision based off what I said, it is a good feeling to be asked your opinion on certain topics.  I will really miss working with the Office of General Counsel as this has been a tremendous experience so far!