Advocacy is important. I, along with other members of the leadership team, meet regularly with legislators, coordinating board members, the commissioner of higher education, community leaders and others to advocate for our university. Just last week I was in Washington, D.C., meeting with Senator Roy Blunt and officials with several government agencies making the case for Missouri State on funding and policy issues.

Advocacy is not just for the president, the provost, the deans or our administrative leaders throughout campus. All of us can advocate for Missouri State.

We recently established the MSU Legislative Network to help members of the campus community and Missouri State supporters engage with policymakers and community leaders. By signing up for the Legislative Network, you will receive regular status updates on the university’s current talking points, legislative priorities, legislation that will impact Missouri State, and tips to help you interact with legislators and community leaders.

I would encourage all of you to sign up for the MSU Legislative Network online.

More Missouri students, less state funding

More than 26,000 students are enrolled at Missouri State. We now have more students from Missouri than any other university in the state!

These students come from all over Missouri — more than 4,500 from Greene County, more than 4,900 from the St. Louis area and more than 2,200 from the Kansas City area. We have students from every county in the state of Missouri and more than 4,200 from outside Missouri (including 82 foreign countries).

Since 2001, enrollment at Missouri State has increased by more than 6,000 students. However, the state has not adjusted appropriations to account for changes in enrollment.

The result is that Missouri State University now receives significantly less state funding per student than any other university in the state. To bring MSU up to the next lowest university would require a $9.5 million appropriation increase. To bring MSU up to the state average would require a $39.8 million appropriation increase.

Advocating for appropriations

On this backdrop, our priority for the 2019 legislative session is to increase state funding for Missouri State University. We will do this by advocating for:

• An equity appropriation to decrease the gap described above in per student funding
• A performance funding appropriation increase
• Funding for the MoExcels program (a competitive grant program that provides one-time funds to public universities and community colleges for initiatives designed to meet the state’s workforce needs)
• A matching capital appropriation for a facility project at Greenwood Laboratory School

I hope you will join us by signing up for the MSU Legislative Network and advocating for these priorities.

You can find more information about Missouri State’s legislative priorities, this year’s legislative guide (the booklet we use when meeting with legislators and others), our current talking points and advocacy tips on the Legislative Advocacy webpage.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!