For three decades, the field of gifted education has enjoyed the passionate advocacy of Dr. Frances Karnes and her namesake Karnes Center for Gifted Studies at The University of Southern Mississippi.

Established in 1979, the Center for Gifted Studies celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and its mission to further the education of gifted students and those with leadership abilities through teaching, research and service.

It provides a wide variety of services for children and youth in grades kindergarten through 12 and support for teachers, school administrators, counselors, university faculty and instructors, as well as parents and grandparents of the gifted.

The Center was renamed The Frances A. Karnes Center for Gifted Studies in 1999 in honor of its director, who is also a professor in the Southern Miss Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education.

“I feel so fortunate to have come to South Mississippi and to the university along with my late husband Ray for this opportunity,” she said. “I’ve had a wonderful personal and professional life here, and it’s been so gratifying to see young people benefiting from our programs and our graduate students go on to promote the field of gifted education.”

Along with current and former graduate students, Karnes has published 44 books and approximately 200 articles in peer reviewed journals. In just the last five years, the Center has received five federal grants.

Karnes and the Center have impacted public policy in Mississippi and across the nation to improve gifted education curriculum and funding, while her graduate students have gone on as educators at all levels to advance her vision across the country and around the globe.

Thousands of students have enrolled in the Center’s popular Leadership, Saturday Gifted Studies, Summer Gifted Studies and Summer Academically Talented Youth programs over the years, which offer courses and enrichment/accelerated programs in a taught by qualified educators and presenters from professional backgrounds.

This spring, the Saturday Gifted Studies Program enrolled 226 students from across the state. Angela Davies, a teacher in the Lamar County School District who teaches the program’s “Author, Author!” class, an introduction to creative writing for students in grades four through six, said the program is a great opportunity for students who show promise in a variety of academic areas.

“It gives young students a chance to learn and grow academically with others who are equally motivated,” she said.

Educators, parents and even grandparents have also benefited from the Center’s Day of Sharing programs that offer resource support networks for these groups.

Dr. Kristen Stephens, assistant professor of practice in Duke University’s Program in Education who serves on the National Association for Gifted Children Advisory Board; and Dr. Tracey Riley, a professor at Massey University in New Zealand, who is writing public policy for gifted education for the South Pacific island nation are just two of Karnes’ former students making an impact in the field. 

Stephens said graduate students who come through the program under Karnes’ tutelage gain valuable experience and learning opportunities not always offered at other universities because of the Center and Karnes’ passion for her work. Southern Miss offers masters, specialist and doctoral degrees in gifted education.

The majority of Karnes’ doctoral students already have three-four peer review articles published in journals by the time they graduate, and the Center’s programs for young students give them a wide variety of research, instruction and administrative and organizational experiences.
  
“The Center is the perfect model for the promotion of gifted education because it is well-rounded with its graduate programs, professional development and networking for teachers, resources and support for parents and research and publications,” Stephens said.  “They all come together. You can’t just target one of them. “

Dr. Kevin Besnoy, who received his doctorate at Southern Miss through the Karnes Center is now an assistant professor at Northern Kentucky University, and has established a program for talented and gifted students at NKU modeled on those offered through the Karnes Center.

“Dr. Karnes is my greatest professional mentor. During my time at the Center, I learned how to go about operating a program that serves gifted and talented students, supports parents of gifted children and develops teachers of the gifted,” Besnoy said. “Her dedication to gifted and talented students is infectious.”

Legal issues involving gifted children are an ongoing interest of the Center, which initiated the Legal Issues Network as a means for state associations for gifted to join together and share information on legal events and concerns associated with gifted education.

Over the last 20 years Karnes, along with Southern Miss political science professor emeritus Dr. Ron Marquardt, wrote three books addressing legal issues, including “Gifted Children and the Law: Mediation, Due Process and Court Cases”; “Gifted Children and Legal Issues in Education: Parents’ Stories of Hope”; and “Gifted Children and Legal Issues: An Update,” all published by Gifted Psychology Press.

Because of Karnes’ efforts, Mississippi is a leader in gifted education and a role model for the nation, Stephens said.

“When it comes to gifted education, people don’t typically think of Mississippi but the fact is the state is ahead in this field, including what it allocates in resources. Not every state has Mississippi’s per student allocation, and that’s due in large part to the advocacy of Dr. Karnes and the Center,” Stephens said. 

Karnes has also taken on the “elitist” negative stereotype often placed on gifted students by training her graduate students to also understand the importance of public relations as a tool to advance gifted education, in addition to having a greater understanding of public policy and legal issues.

Karnes notes that gifted students are tomorrow’s doctors, lawyers, engineers, entrepreneurs and educators, Karnes said, and gifted education helps maximize their potential to succeed and therefore benefit society.

“These areas – gifted education law and policy and public relations - are not typical areas of focus in graduate programs in gifted education,” Stephens said. “They’re often overlooked and probably why gifted education isn’t where it needs to be.

“If we’re going to move gifted education forward, we have to address these issues and Dr. Karnes and the Center are leading the way.”

For more information about the Karnes Center for Gifted Studies, including its programs for students in grades K-12 as graduate education programs, contact the Center at 601.266.5236; online, visit www.usm.edu/gifted.

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About The University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi, founded in 1910, is a comprehensive doctoral and research-extensive university fulfilling its mission of being a leading university in engaging and empowering individuals to transform lives and communities.  In a tradition of leadership for student development, Southern Miss is educating a 21st century work force providing intellectual capital, cultural enrichment and innovation to Mississippi and the world.  Southern Miss is located in Hattiesburg, Miss., with an additional campus and teaching and research sites on the Mississippi Gulf Coast; further information is found at www.usm.edu.