• We participate yearly in Recyclemania , a national recycling campaign to increase awareness of
  recycling needs.
• Lead the campus in recycling efforts.
• Changed old shower heads with low-flow shower heads.
• Composted over 360,000 pounds of waste material from our Dining Services operation.
• Going “trayless” in the dining centers saves over 500,000 gallons of water
• Sponsoring the Green Games each year.
• Publications printed to FSC standards

Follow this link for a tour with Jen Cox our Assistant Director of Facilities and Operations to get a glimspe of our sustainability efforts.

“I think our project shows what the team spirit can do in a very limited time,” said Doug Sampson, university architect and director of planning, design and construction. “We did not have an option to extend the completion date. Our students were coming, and we had to be ready for them.

In only 66 working days, dedicated contractors, designers, construction workers, painters and more renovated seven residence halls and removed two buildings to update and refresh the facilities.

Renovations in the residence halls included:
•Painting of more than 1,000,000 square feet of wall with over 3,000 gallons of paint
•Installing more than 12 miles of vinyl base
•Installing more than four acres of carpet
•Replacing more than 1,050 doors
•Removing and replacing more than 490 windows
•Installing almost five miles of fire suppression piping
•Installing 1,950 sprinkler heads
•Installing more than 1,100 smoke detectors

“This project necessitated a project team that would work together. Each worked hard at making this a successful project,” said Sampson. “All this work was accomplished with more than 13,000 guests, or residents, living in these facilities during the construction period.”

The project team included Malone Finkle Eckhardt & Collins, Butler, Rosenbury & Partners, John McWilliams Architecture, LLC, Structural Engineering Associates, DeWitt & Associates and Missouri State University.

Missouri State has an active Parent’s Association called University Parent Connection.  We would encourage all parents and guardians to join this community here in blogdom and on Facebook!

The University has a whole page on our website dedicated to Parents and Family. It can be found at: www.missouristate.edu/parents/ The link to University Parent Connection can be found on the Parent and Family page or you can go to it directly at: www.universityparent.com/missouristate

Each month during the academic year you will find a new Newsletter. This newsletter covers a wide-range of topics and hopefully covers everything an inquiring parent would like to know! All you need is an e-mail address to get this newsletter sent to you automatically each month. An archive of past editions can be found at: www.universityparent.com/missouristate/newsletter/archive

The Office of Admissions has a Facebook App for any student who is thinking about attending Missouri State or who is already admitted to Missouri State.  It’s easy to add the App to your Facebook account:

1. Sign into your Facebook account
2. Search for the App.  In the search box type missouri state future students app
3. Sign up!

 It will look something like this… 

Once you are signed up, you will be able to interact with other people looking to come to Missouri State or who are already here!  You will also receive information on upcoming events and exciting times ahead at Missouri State….and various faculty, staff and students currently at Missouri State will pop in from time to time to add new content to the Community or just hang out and answer your questions or concerns!

Speaking of questions and concerns, the Res Life Department will now be able to answer any questions you may have about living on-campus for a future semester!

What are you waiting for…sign up now!!

Missouri State Dining Services (MSDS) in conjunction with Chartwells is our new dining services provider.  They arrived on campus in May and they have been working long and hard to get everything ready for today’s first day.  You will see a new varied menu at the dining centers and some new faces mixed in with some familiar faces from last year. MSDS will be holding forums early this semester to see what kind of meal plans and food options we should be offering in the future.  Keep your eyes open, because we will want input from our current on-campus residents as well as commuters, faculty and staff to determine which way MSDS should head in the future.

The new year also brings new vendors over at the Union. Stop by the second floor of the Student Union and check out the new guys on the block! … Chic-fil-A Express, Smashers, Papa John’s and Subway.  We still have a taste or two from last year with Freshens and Wok and Roll still on the floor. Down on the first floor you can get your caffeine fix at Bear Beans, serving up hot Starbucks coffee. As it stand now, a real Starbucks store will be down there by the end of October.

Renovations … where to start?  Wow, were we busy over the summer, spending over $200,000 a day to upgrade and refresh a lot of buildings!  The list is too extensive to post here, so head over to http://reslife.missouristate.edu/fac/Renovations.htm and check things out!  We would encourage you to check out other buildings on-campus to see what’s new.  While you are looking around, start planning on where you want to live for the 2012-13 academic year. Current students get to select their rooms before the incoming students for Fall 2012….reapplication will be here before you know it!

Involvement:  It won’t be long until the call for people to join their building’s Hall Council and RHA will be the talk of the campus.  Make sure to get involved and lend a helping hand to some of the best organizations on-campus!

These are just some of the highlights for the first day of classes.  There will be lots of exciting opportunities and news to share as Fall 2011 keeps moving forward.  Keep checking back here from time to time or subscribe to our feed. You never know when something exciting will be happening in the residence halls!

To check Chartwells out go to:  www.dineoncampus.com/missouristate/

It’s an exciting time to be at Missouri State!

We are spending over $7 million dollars this summer to renovate our halls!

–go here for more details!

We are seeing the new Student Rec Center take shape daily!

–go here for details on how you can enjoy this 100, 00 square foot facility!

We are starting a new era of men’s NCAA Division I Basketball

–go here to see more about Coach Lusk!

We want to make sure you have reserved your space To Be Here Now!!

Visit my.missouristate.edu to secure your place to live during these exciting times at Missouri State!

The football Bears are looking to end their regular season this weekend with a WIN over SIU at Edwardsville, Illinois.  They are hoping for a big win on the road and have their eyes focused on the ball!  The men’s and women’s basketball teams are just now starting to gear up for their seasons with home openers looming this weekend.  The volleyball team is hoping to pack the House this  weekend during its last stretch of home games….and let’s not forget about men’s soccer!  The men’s soccer team clinched the Missouri Valley Conference championship earlier this month ending up 12-3-2!  This weekend they will be in Des Moines playing at the MVC tournmament!  As you can tell Missouri Valley Conference Athletics is exciting!!

Well there’s a lot going on in athletics, but is that all?  NO!! This month is Native American Heritage Month at the University with different events planned all month.  The library has two exciting visiting displays:  Mapping Missouri: Maps from the Collection of the Missouri State Archives and Ozark Light: The Photographs of Charles Elliott Gill.  Our Student Government Association will be having a Town Forum tomorrow night to get student input into various topics affecting them and the University.  On Friday the Theatre and Dance Department will be  conducting auditions for the BFA Acting and BFA Musical Theatre Programs.

These are just a few of the events going on this week.  As you can tell, it’s never a dull moment around here!!  Why don’t you consider the advantages to Be Here Now!