Ann Hoffman, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Education, said there is no metaphorical replacing of a certain professor, especially in Bucqueroux's case since she was adored by many.

“When Lucinda Davenport composed a note that she actually died she canceled class that day in honor of Bonnie but let students know there would be grief counselors in the room if they had any questions or wanted to talk,” Hoffman said.

After Bucqueroux's death, the chair of the journalism department, Lucinda Davenport, began looking for a new instructor for Bucqueroux’s classes.

But one of Bucqueroux’s classes, JRN 108, is a large class not just any professor could handle. The department needed a seasoned professor with experience in dealing with a large class.

“Bonnie’s large class has about 250 students in it so it takes a special kind of talented skill to teach a class that large and someone who had taught it before stepped up and said she would take it over,” Hoffman said.

The person to take over the job for the rest of the semester is Sue Carter. Carter has been with MSU for 24 years and has experience working in the journalism department.

“I had taught JRN 108 for a number of years but it had been a while, it was familiar to me,” Carter said.

Despite Carter’s current class load, she said she is happy to take on this new class in honor of her friend Bucqueroux and doesn't plan to make any changes to the class going forward.

“The syllabus is a contract between the instructor and the students, I plan to honor the syllabus,” Carter said, “The content will be the same but the style will be different."

Although each individual department is responsible for replacing their professors in any type of situation, including when a professor dies, human resources takes over the legalities and paper work which come with the death of a university employee.

Senior human resources professional Becky Proctor said MSU reaches out to the employee's family to notify them, if they are not already aware

“We are notifying the health vendors of the death and if they have an insurance policy, we notify the insurance companies of the death and we file the claim for the family," Proctor said.

The department also contacts the university president’s office and the president usually sends out a condolence letter letting people know about the employee’s passing.

In the case of Bucqueroux's passing, the process was quick and the journalism department was back to normal within the week. But that doesn't mean that Bucqueroux won’t be missed.

“She was very high energy and engaged students,” Hoffman said, “it’s a very painful reminder that life is short."