Patricia Day, a UALR master of science in management information systems student graduating in May, has been selected as a Microsoft Student Partner for 2011 – the only student in Arkansas selected by the software giant.

Day, of Hot Springs, is one of 2,869 students in 102 countries around the world selected by Microsoft as campus representatives to promote the company’s products and programs.

The student partners promote new Microsoft products, techniques, and competitions they learn about in monthly online meetings on campuses.

“Our big push now is to get students to register for Imagine Cup,” Day said.

“I learned about MSP while I was at the world finals for Imagine Cup in Poland,” Day said, referring to Microsoft’s worldwide software design competition. She and partner Shawn McGhee developed an IT application to identify and track the immunizations needed by children in the least developed countries of the world.

To apply to be a MSP, Day created a one-minute video to explain the new features of Microsoft Office 2010.

“The perks are sweet,” she said. Day received an Alienware M11x laptop from Dell, a Microsoft partner.

“We will be allowed to keep the laptop if we complete our time and assignments with MSP,” she said. “We were loaned the Xbox 360 with Kinect, but if we complete an assignment we will be allowed to keep it. We are also given a subscription to MSDN, which gives us access to Microsoft’s latest software.”

Last month, she conducted a demonstration of the Xbox Kinect, “the new big thing in gaming for Christmas.”

“Students played between classes in the Reynolds business building atrium. That gave me an opportunity to share about Kinect and about Imagine Cup’s competitions for this year,” Day said.

Dr. Janet Bailey, associate professor of management information systems, said the U.S. Microsoft Team is very selective.

“Students must fill out an application and create a one-minute YouTube video displaying their passion and explaining the benefits and features of one of four Microsoft products: Office 2010, Windows 7 or Phone 7, XNA, or Visual Studio 2010,” Bailey said.