Mississippi State University

• Craig Fleming has been named President – Eastern Division and Rodney Grogan has been named President – Western Division.
• “These promotions are well deserved,” said Will French, Chairman and CEO of Dunn Investment Company.
• Moreover, these two leaders are developing an excellent team for the long-term at Dunn.”
  Craig Fleming leads the management teams at Dunn Construction Company, Dunn Building Company, Civil Constructors, Dunn University, and Dunn Real Estate.
• He began his career with Andersen Consulting and joined Dunn in 1994, where he held leadership positions with Dunn Construction, Dunn Roadbuilders, and MMC.

• Lenders base those decisions on the borrowers’ credit scores.
• To learn more about credit scores, The Conversation consulted with two finance scholars.

Credit scoring assesses the likelihood of default

• They rely on various proprietary credit scoring systems that use past borrower repayment history and other factors to predict the likelihood of future repayment.
• Although 26 million of 258 million credit-eligible Americans lack a credit score, anyone who has ever opened a credit card or other credit account, like a loan, has one.
• Most people don’t have a credit score before turning 18, which is usually the age applicants can begin opening credit cards in their own name.
• Based on that repayment behavior, the credit scoring system assigns people a single number ranging from 300 to 850.

Recent improvements in consumer credit scores

• Average credit scores in the United States have risen from 688 in 2005 to 716 as of August of 2021.
• While credit card debt is at a record high, the average consumer was using just over a fourth of the revolving credit to which they had access as of September 2022.
• Six in 10 Americans have a score above 700, consistent with the general trend of record-setting credit scores of the past few years.

Credit score evolution from the 1980s to the 2020s

• The FICO credit scoring system was enhanced over the 1960s and ‘70s, and lenders grew to trust computerized credit evaluation systems.
• Credit scores really began to exert an influence on American borrowers beginning in the 1980s as FICO become widely used.
• Even FinTech lenders, which strive to go beyond traditional credit models, heavily rely on credit scores to set their interest rates.

Credit scores might seem scary but can be useful

• Borrowers with poor or limited credit have challenges building more positive credit histories and good credit scores.
• This challenge is particularly important because credit scores have become more widely used than ever because of the increasing availability of data and growing precision of credit models.

You can improve your credit score by making wise decisions

• So, someone who pays the bills every month will have a higher credit score at the end of the year.
• Having more credit accounts can also positively affect your credit score because having these accounts shows that many lenders find you creditworthy.
• As a result, you might benefit from leaving credit accounts open if you make the wise decision not to access that credit.
• Because managing the ratio of debt to income is also critical to a good credit score.

• In addition, faculty and staff will receive guidance on adapting learning materials to accommodate those who are color blind.
• Within the Department of Health Sciences’ student population of approximately 400, the statistics would indicate about 17 students are color blind.
• While people with normal color vision see over one million shades of color, the color blind only see an estimated 10% of hues and shades.
• In the EnChroma study, nearly 1,000 color blind people, including the parents of color blind children, shared their opinions about how Color Vision Deficiency affected their educational experiences.

• "We are thrilled to unveil our lunar vehicle design and to announce our exciting new promotional partnership," said Leidos CEO Roger Krone.
• "This groundbreaking collaboration between Leidos and NASCAR takes both companies into uncharted territory, just like we believe our rover will do for NASA and its astronauts.
• "NASCAR partnering with Leidos couldn't make more sense when it comes to this vehicle," said Pete Jung, NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.
• We are eager to watch this uniquely designed rover traverse different areas of the lunar surface."