Last week Gov. Mike Parson delivered his State of the State Address and budget recommendations.

Gov. Parson’s proposed budget includes:

• Full restoration of MSU’s $94 million operating appropriation and sources of funding.
• Full funding for state scholarship programs.
• $1.8 million in one-time funding through the MoExcels program to establish the Missouri Cybersecurity Center of Excellence at the Jordan Valley Innovation Center.
• $50,000 in one-time start-up funding for an associate degree program in behavioral health support on our West Plains campus.

Legislative priorities

Gov. Parson’s proposed budget provides us with a great starting point in this year’s appropriations process.

Our top legislative priority this year is restoration of our core operating appropriation, and Gov. Parson’s recommendations include that priority. His budget also funds important student support, capital and academic needs on both of our campuses.

I hope you will join me in once again thanking Gov. Parson for his extraordinary support.

House begins work on budget

The House will now begin its work on the state’s budget. Our team has testified to the House appropriations subcommittee to advocate for the university’s priorities, and we have met with critical legislators who will form the state’s budget. We will continue to interact with lawmakers in the coming weeks and months.

COVID-19 updates

I am pleased to report that the university has administered 1,294 doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

You can find updates on who is eligible to be vaccinated and information on whether the university currently has vaccine available on our COVID-19 vaccinations webpage. At present it does not appear we will receive additional vaccine from the state this week.

We have also updated our COVID-19 Information Center and dashboard. I would encourage you to take some time to review the information on those webpages, including the most up-to-date data about COVID-19 on our campus and the university’s response.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!