Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes for Oct. 17, 2017

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We recently announced that the touring production of “The Lion King” will come to Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts in February 2019. You don’t have to wait until next year to see outstanding productions on campus.

The touring production of “Rent” will be at Hammons Hall on Oct. 27-28. “Rent: chronicles an unforgettable year in the lives of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams without selling out. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or online.

Meanwhile, the Missouri State theatre and dance department will produce “Pippin,” a story of a young prince who longs to find passion and adventure in his life, Oct. 26-29 in the Craig Hall Coger Theatre. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or online ().

The Hammons Hall Broadway Series will kickoff in December. Productions include:

  • “Chicago” (Dec. 5–7)
  • “The Sound of Music“ (Jan. 9–11)
  • “Kinky Boots” (March 20–22)
  • “The Phantom of the Opera” (May 23–June 3)

If you haven’t subscribed to the Broadway Series in recent years, this lineup presents a good opportunity to consider resubscribing. You can purchase your Broadway Series subscription online.

Show your pride during Homecoming

Next week is Homecoming. As the campus buzzes with student and alumni activities, please take a moment to consider participating in several other events.

On Monday, Oct. 23, the annual office decorating contest will go from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. The deadline to sign up is tomorrow, Oct. 18.  You can sign up online.

On Friday, Oct. 27, following the Board of Governors meeting, we will have our annual Wall of Fame induction ceremony at 4 p.m. in the Plaster Student Union Ballroom. This year’s inductees are:

  • John Bowdidge
  • John Catau
  • Marilyn Chana
  • Bruce Johnson
  • Mike McElhaney
  • Sally Rowe

You can find more information about the Wall of Fame and this year’s inductees in the university’s Wall of Fame news release.

On Oct. 28, before the Bears Homecoming football game against Indiana State, the men’s and women’s basketball teams will scrimmage at 10 a.m. in JQH Arena.  Come out and see our new and returning student athletes.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes Oct. 10, 2017

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The Missouri State Way and United Way Campaigns have kicked off and will continue through Nov. 8. Missouri State University faculty and staff make an incredible difference on our campus and in our community by participating in these campaigns.

Campaign packets have been distributed in campus mail. You can also find information about the campaigns on the Missouri State Way and United Way webpage. Please join me in completing and submitting the contribution forms to participate in these campaigns.

After you complete your forms, please plan to attend the free Celebration Luncheon at noon on Nov. 8 in the PSU Ballroom. I look forward to seeing you there!

Open enrollment time

Our open enrollment period for employee benefits began last week. All benefit-eligible employees are encouraged to go through the open enrollment process to elect, decline, make changes and review the benefits that we offer at Missouri State. You might be surprised by what we offer for you and your dependents:

  • Medical insurance
  • Dental insurance
  • Vision insurance
  • Cafeteria plan
  • Supplemental life insurance
  • Group universal life insurance
  • Critical illness insurance
  • Accident insurance

Basic life, accidental death and dismemberment, and long-term disability are 100 percent paid for by the university.

It’s important to take action now – the deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 1. Once elections or changes have been made, no changes can be made during the year unless they are due to a qualifying event (e.g. marriage, divorce, birth, etc.).

We encourage you to go through the enrollment process even if you plan to keep what you currently have. Not taking any action could result in the possibility of you having the incorrect benefits and deductions.

To begin the enrollment process, access the open enrollment page or call 877-282-0808 to enroll.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Oct. 3, 2017

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Recently we had a phishing email scam reach over 2,000 email accounts at Missouri State. I was one of the 2,000 employees that received this email. If you were one of these 2,000 people, you also received an email notifying you of the scam and telling you what to do if you clicked on the link in the email.

Six people clicked on the link in the email and typed in their university BearPass ID and password (which is a really big mistake). Hackers stole those passwords and changed direct deposit information in an attempt to steal these employees’ September paychecks.

Fortunately, our hardworking cybersecurity and financial services teams at Missouri State quickly identified the situation and worked with the affected individuals to reverse the direct deposit changes. However, this should be a lesson to everyone at Missouri State that hackers are aggressively trying to take your money and personal information, and cybersecurity is more important than ever.

Beware of cybercriminals

While this attack received publicity throughout campus, hundreds of similar attacks target our university networks and information systems each month. The great majority of these attacks are detected and averted by our cybersecurity team without anyone falling victim to them or even knowing they occurred. However, as we learned recently, it is inevitable that some of these threats will make it through to end users like you and me.

Our information security office personnel work hard to keep university data secure, but all of us who use computers are the first line of defense. We must always be cautious and aware when following links, downloading files and opening attachments.

Tips to keep you safe

There are actions you can take to help:

  • Be suspicious of email. Cybercriminals often attempt to make email appear to be from someone it’s not. Look carefully at the “From” address in emails you receive. Cybercriminals may use domain names similar, but not identical, to Missouri State’s, like missouristateedu.com.
  • Avoid clicking on links in email. Because emails can contain deceptively labeled links, it is best to avoid clicking on links in email entirely. If you do click on a link, hover your mouse over it before clicking to reveal the website address it will send you to. If the website address does not match the description, report the email to the information security office.
  • Know where your reply is going. If you reply to an email, check that the “To” address in your reply is what you expected. One tactic used by cybercriminals is setting a “Reply-to” address that is different than the “From” address.

For best practices on keeping our information safe and secure, I recommend viewing the information security awareness training video developed by the information security office. In light of a recent increase in the number and sophistication of attacks throughout the globe, we will be increasing our efforts to train groups of employees unit-by-unit throughout the university. If you hear that your unit will be participating in group cybersecurity training, I recommend that you participate to learn how you can keep your personal information and assets safe from cybercriminals.

If you receive anything suspicious, or if you have any questions or concerns related to information security, please contact the information security office at 417-836-5226.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Sept. 26, 2017

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Last week we issued our official enrollment report. I am pleased to report that Missouri State University set another enrollment record with 26,216 students throughout the system for fall 2017.

The Springfield campus also set another record with 24,350 students, up 234 from last fall. Over the past decade enrollment on the Springfield campus has grown by more than 22 percent.

Our growth in domestic student enrollment was offset by a decrease of 212 (14 percent) in international students. I will be meeting with our international programs team in the coming weeks and months to develop strategies to mitigate these decreases in future years.

Our freshman class (i.e., “first-time new-in-college”) includes 3,184 students, an increase of 1.9 percent over last fall. A total of 2,750 of these students are from Missouri. Mizzou had only four more first-time new-in-college students from Missouri than we did as this gap continues to close.

Additionally, 1,264 transfer students are from Missouri. A total of 4,014 new degree-seeking undergraduates are from Missouri.

Other highlights include:

  • Graduate student enrollment increased by 128 to 3,505
  • Enrollment of students from underrepresented groups increased 181 to 3,159
  • Our student body includes students from all counties in Missouri, every state in the United States, and 88 countries throughout the world

West Plains sees small decrease

On the West Plains campus, the census day figures show 1,930 students are taking classes compared to 1,951 students last fall.

Keeping our campus safe

Last week the U.S. Department of Education rescinded some of the guidance previously provided on sexual misconduct under Title IX and issued new interim guidance. We have analyzed that guidance and determined that it does not require any immediate changes to our policies and procedures. We will continue to monitor this situation as legal changes unfold, and we will engage as appropriate in the Department of Education rulemaking process.

Keeping students safe is critically important to me, the Board of Governors and our administrative leadership at Missouri State. We will continue to work diligently to prevent sexual assault and other forms of violence on campus.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Sept. 19, 2017

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Dr. Frank Einhellig and I will give the State of the University Address at 12:15 p.m. Sept. 25 in the PSU Theater. This year’s address will:

  • Highlight the university’s accomplishments from the past year
  • Provide an update on the university’s progress on critical benchmarks
  • Discuss our plans for the coming year, including our plans to develop a sustainable financial model in an era of declining appropriations from the state

I hope you will plan to attend the address. If you cannot attend, please consider participating remotely with YouTube livestream. You can also hear the presentation at 7 p.m. Sept. 25 on KSMU or you can see the presentation at 7 p.m. Oct. 2 on Ozarks Public Television. Additional information can be found on the State of the University Address webpage.

Developing a plan

Earlier this year, the Coordinating Board for Higher Education announced its intention to develop a new performance funding model. The Missouri Department of Higher Education established a task force to advise the coordinating board on the new model. I was appointed to this task force.

Over the past several months I have worked with the governor’s office, legislative staff and MDHE to develop task force recommendations.

The coordinating board will approve the new performance funding model at its December meeting. Several items in the new model have yet to be finalized, but other items have been settled.

As with the prior model, the new model will impact the state’s apportionment of new appropriations for public universities. We anticipate that policymakers will also use the new model to make other funding and policy decisions in the coming months and years.

The new model

The new model will include six metrics organized under three headings.

The first heading is “Student Success and Progress.” Two metrics will fall under this heading. Those metrics have been settled upon and I do not anticipate further revisions. They are:

  • Degree, certificate and other credential completions per full-time equivalent student.
  • Percent of students meeting or exceeding an established threshold for general education assessment; major field assessment; or professional/occupational licensure exams.

The second heading is “Efficiency and Affordability.” Two efficiency metrics and one affordability metric will fall under this heading. One efficiency metric and the affordability metric are still under discussion. However, the other efficiency metric will be a continuation of our existing efficiency metric — core expenditures as a percentage of total expenditures.

The final heading is “Graduate Outcomes” and one metric will fall under that heading. That metric will be successful graduate outcomes within six months of graduation as determined by the NACE Final Destination Survey. Specific parameters and thresholds for this metric remain under discussion.

All measures will be used by all institutions, and we will no longer be allowed to select our metrics. Some measures will be weighted to increase institutions’ focus on STEM programs, health care programs and Pell-eligible students.

Significant change

One significant change under the new model will be to replace the six-year graduation rate metric with degree, certificate or other credential completions per full-time equivalent student. This new measure accounts for all students (including transfers, part-time students, etc.), not just first time, full-time freshmen.

It also includes all completions, not just traditional undergraduate and graduate degrees. This underscores the importance of our action items this year to unbundle academic programs, develop micro-credentials, and create boot camps and non-degree training programs.

It will be more challenging to meet the metrics under the new model than it was under the old model. However, I believe the new model offers Missouri State an opportunity to further establish itself as a leader in higher education in the state.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!