Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes for June 15, 2021

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This Friday, June 18, we will host a celebration of Juneteenth on campus. The event will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Plaster Student Union Theater and will feature a presentation by Dr. Lyle Foster on the historical significance of Juneteenth and the traditions surrounding its celebration.

The community gospel choir, led by Robert Gibson, will perform at the celebration.

Snacks will be available at no cost to attendees.

I want to encourage all faculty and staff to attend this celebration. Similar to the Staff Appreciation Picnic last month, I encourage supervisors to facilitate attendance by employees in your area.

Springfield campus closing at 3 p.m. Friday

Last month, on the Friday of Staff Appreciation Week, we closed the university from 3 to 5 p.m. We will do that again June 18.

Following the Juneteenth celebration, we will close the Springfield campus from 3 to 5 p.m.

Issues related to essential personnel, time reporting, and compensation for this closure are addressed in section 2.15 of the Employee Handbook. Supervisors will work with their staff on how to coordinate coverage if coverage is required.

IDEA Commons continues to evolve

I also want to take a moment to update you on new developments in IDEA Commons.

The Student Exhibition Center is transitioning to new gallery space at 326 N. Boonville, just south of Brick City and the Roy Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center.

The university has a contract to sell the old building on Walnut Street that has housed the Student Exhibition Center for the past 35 years. The proceeds from that sale will fund a portion of the construction cost for the John Goodman Amphitheatre.

The expansion of the Roy Blunt Center is underway, and tenant commitments are in place for a large portion of the new space. Brewer Science made a major gift to the university, resulting in the expansion being named the Brewer Science Innovation Annex.

The General Assembly appropriated $1.8 million to establish the Missouri Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in the annex.

The second-floor expansion of the efactory is complete with all of the eight new offices leased. The third-floor flexible conference and event space is also complete and ready to meet various programming and business needs.

Former Missouri Senator and current member of our Board of Governors Jay Wasson made a major gift to the university, resulting in a portion of the new efactory space being named the Jay Wasson Idea Loft. We recognized Sen. Wasson and dedicated this space last week.

Finally, the City of Springfield has unveiled phase one of its plan to daylight Jordan Creek. You can find additional information about these plans on the Renew Jordan Creek website or in relevant news reports.

We have been actively engaged with city and community leaders on this project. The project involves property currently used by the university, and we have collaborated to make this property available for daylighting the creek while minimizing impact on the university’s operations.

The university stands to lose some parking spaces to the Jordan Creek daylighting project. The university will replace these spaces by constructing new parking on other university property in IDEA Commons.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for June 8, 2021

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Each year a select group of students graduate with distinction in their major. This seriously high honor is reserved for an elite group of students who graduate from the Honors College and complete a self-designed, rigorous program of course work in their major, culminating in a final distinction project.

Seventeen Missouri State students achieved this honor this May.

  • Daniel Amuedo graduated with a degree in cell and molecular biology. Daniel’s final distinction project is titled Free-Standing Liquid Membranes as a Non-Fouling Filter for the Removal of Micro-Plastics from Water.
  • Madeline Arnold graduated with a degree in speech-language pathology. Madeline’s final distinction project is titled Language Options for Children Who Are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing: A Survey of the Deaf Community.
  • Sarah Bachler graduated with a double major with distinctions in both professional writing and creative writing. Sarah’s final distinction project in professional writing is titled Hybridization of Virtual Reality and Technical Communication in Employee Training. Sarah’s final distinction project in creative writing is titled Finding Felicity.
  • Sarah Crain graduated with a degree in psychology. Sarah’s final distinction project is titled Exploration of Personality Traits and International Study Abroad Location Choice Rating.
  • Courtney Cummins graduated with a degree in psychology. Courtney’s final distinction project is titled Childhood Adversity: A Possible Stereotype Threat Affecting Resiliency and Performance.
  • Edye Fletcher graduated with a degree in nursing. Edye’s final distinction project is titled Vaccine Hesitancy Within Hispanic/Latinx Population.
  • Abby Gann graduated with a degree in cell and molecular biology. Abby’s final distinction project is titled Angiogenesis in Microvascular Endothelial Cells with UTP Stimulation of P2Y2 Receptors.
  • Rachel Haselhorst graduated with a degree in musical theatre. Rachel’s final distinction project is titled “It’s An Art”: The Importance of Communication in Collaboration.
  • Sydney Hill graduated with a degree in accounting. Sydney’s final distinction project is titled The Influence of Beta Alpha Psi on Student Graduate Success.
  • Emily Karnuth graduated with a degree in speech-language pathology. Emily’s final distinction project is titled Training Speech Pathology Graduate Students on the Typical English Grammar of Spanish-English Bilingual Children.
  • Mackenzie Morris graduated with a degree in economics. Mackenzie’s final distinction project is titled Personal Tax Exemption and Fertility in the United States: An Empirical Study by Groups.
  • Abbie Poisson graduated with a degree in cell and molecular biology. Abbie’s final distinction project is titled Pediatric-Onset Orthopedic Disorders.
  • Corey Ratsch graduated with a degree in athletic training. Corey’s final distinction project is titled A Comparative Analysis of Concussion Protocol in the National Football League and National Hockey League, as Measured by the 5th International Consensus Statement.
  • Kendall Vowels graduated with a degree in entertainment management. Kendall’s final distinction project is titled Cancel, Postpone, or Reschedule: The Live Music Industry’s Response to Ticket Refunds During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  • Daria Wiederkehr graduated with a degree in interior design. Daria’s final distinction project is titled Sustainable Interior Design: How it Can Trigger Lifestyle Changes that Will Help Protect our Planet.
  • Leanna Zelle graduated with a degree in cell and molecular biology. Leanna’s final distinction project is titled P2Y2 Receptor and VEGFR-2 dependent Angiogenesis in UTP Stimulated Microvascular Endothelial Cells.
  • Debra Zerr graduated with a degree in fashion merchandising and design. Debra’s final distinction project is titled Senior Collections “Fuego Amor.”

Please join me in congratulating these students.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for May 25, 2021

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As I think most of us are aware, two weeks ago, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors, except under certain circumstances. It also stated that fully vaccinated people do not need to be tested for COVID-19 after exposure, if asymptomatic.

Folks, we are nearing the end of the COVID crisis.

This announcement was based on extensive research and science on vaccinations.

There are a lot of definitions for science, but I like this one: Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.

As an institution of higher education with a Carnegie classification of doctoral/professional university, science drives much of what we do at Missouri State. So, when it’s clear this very important CDC information is based on science – it makes me happy and confident in the information.

In response to the latest CDC announcements on the protection vaccines provide to individuals, cities and states have lifted masking and distancing policies. Springfield’s masking policy will end May 27.

Missouri State’s Masking Policy is set to expire May 31. We will not renew or extend this policy.

We have modified the expiration date for the Events and the Return-to-Campus and Travel policies to end May 31, as well.

You will notice other changes to our operations in the coming weeks. Social distancing markers on the floors will be removed. Room capacity calculations will be eliminated from our space reservations program. Signs referencing COVID-19 precautions will begin to disappear. The campus and our operations will begin to look more like it did before the pandemic.

However, masks will still be required in our campus clinics.

Regaining normalcy

I know many of you will welcome these changes while some in our community are not quite ready for these big steps. We understand.

However, as a university that safely sustained and grew during the last year while others did not fare as well, returning to normal operations is important for our students and our continued success.

Strengthen our community

While all the positive news regarding the vaccines, changing policies, etc. is very exciting, there is a segment that perhaps isn’t rejoicing – those with immunocompromised systems who continue to be at risk as a result of medical conditions for which the vaccinations aren’t as effective (organ transplants, some blood cancers, etc.).

The university continues to provide accommodations in these instances. Please reach out to Deputy Compliance Officer Julia Holmes at JuliaHolmes@MissouriState.edu or 417-836-6755 to renew your accommodation status. We will do everything we can to ensure your safety.

We can all strengthen the safety net for our coworkers by getting vaccinated. The vaccine is no longer in short supply.

It virtually eliminates serious versions of COVID-19 and radically reduces the chances you could contract or spread the virus.

Please consider going to Magers, a pharmacy or a healthcare provider to get vaccinated today.

For those who have made the decision to not get vaccinated, I would like to note that nearly 100% of recent patients on ventilators in the COVID wings of our local hospitals have been unvaccinated. I sincerely hope you do not become part of that statistic.

So, one more time for good measure, please consider going to Magers, a pharmacy or a healthcare provider to get vaccinated today.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for May 18, 2021

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This week is Staff Appreciation Week. If you haven’t already seen it on social media, please take a look at the below video message we prepared to thank our staff at MSU for their hard work.

Enjoy Staff Appreciation Week events

We will honor our staff this week at two events. Both events will take place on Friday in BearFest Village — the greenspace behind (to the west of) Carrington Hall.

First, at 11:30 a.m., we will host a Staff Appreciation Picnic.

We were not able to have our annual staff awards luncheon and ceremony in January this year.

The Staff Appreciation Picnic is designed to take the place of that ceremony, and we will honor staff at this event in a much less formal, decentralized way.

Second, after the picnic, at 1:30 p.m., we will host a Float into Summer ice cream social. As we did two years ago, we will close the university from 3 to 5 p.m. May 21 after the ice cream social.

Issues related to essential personnel, time reporting and compensation for this closure are addressed in section 2.15 of the Employee Handbook. Supervisors will work with their staff on how to coordinate coverage if coverage is required.

I hope you will plan to attend both of these events.

Recognizing great contributions

During its regular meeting last week, the board approved this year’s slate of inductees into the Wall of Fame. This year’s inductees are:

  • Anson Elliott
  • Mike Jungers
  • James Moyer
  • Thomas Plymate
  • Mark Stillwell

As in years past, we will have an induction ceremony honoring these individuals during Homecoming week. Due to the pandemic, we were not able to have this ceremony last year, so we will also recognize the 2020 inductees at this year’s ceremony.

Read the news release

The board also recognized the recipients of the Missouri State Foundation Awards in Teaching and Service.

Margaret Weaver and Kyler Sherman-Wilkins were selected for this year’s teaching award, and David Romano was selected for the service award.

The board also approved this year’s recipients of the Excellence in Public Affairs Award:

  • Tara Benson
  • David Hall
  • Judith Martinez
  • Gary Meints
  • Caryn Saxon
  • Travis Schilla

Read the news release

The board also approved commendations for Cameron Wickham (outgoing chair of Faculty Senate), Ryan Reed (outgoing chair of Staff Senate), Tara Orr (outgoing student body president) and Blake Haynes (outgoing student body vice president).

I offer sincerest of congratulations to all of these award and commendation recipients. The university and the Springfield community are better because of your leadership and service.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for May 11, 2021

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At this week’s Board of Governors meeting, I will present the Executive Budget Committee’s FY2022 budget recommendations to the board.

These recommendations include $7.5 million in benefit and compensation increases.

Among these increases is a 3% across-the-board compensation increase.

If approved by the board, this increase will go into effect:

  • On July 1 for all full-time, 12-month employees.
  • On Aug. 1 for all full-time, 9-month employees.

Only employees who are full-time on or before May 31, 2021 will receive the increase.

Cost-of-living increases

Compensation is important. With this in mind, the board and I have worked to provide cost-of-living salary increases throughout my presidency.

Unfortunately, the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic made it impossible to provide a cost-of-living pay increase last July.

The 3% pay increase recommended by the Executive Budget Committee, combined with the $600 across-the-board increase that went into effect earlier this year, recognizes the increased living costs our employees have faced since we were last able to budget a cost-of-living pay increase in July 2019.

Funding priorities for the committee

The Executive Budget Committee’s recommendations also include:

  • Enhanced dental plan benefits for employees (a Faculty Senate and Staff Senate priority for this year).
  • Salary range adjustments.
  • A minimum wage increase.
  • Salary increases under the professor salary incentive program.
  • Faculty promotions.

At the request of many members of the Executive Budget Committee, the recommendations will also restore a substantial portion of travel budgets throughout the university and unfreeze many of the currently frozen faculty and staff positions.

The Executive Budget Committee also recommended increases for several university programs, services and initiatives, including:

  • $65,000 for LinkedIn Learning.
  • More than $300,000 in technology upgrades.
  • $120,000 in additional student recruitment travel costs.
  • $300,000 in diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Board will vote in June

I will present these recommendations for discussion at the Board of Governors Finance and Facilities Committee meeting May 12.

The Board will vote on the FY2022 budget at its June meeting.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!