There’s a lot going on this month on campus. I hope you had a chance to attend the open forum last week for our finalist for president, Dr. Richard “Biff” Williams. We have two more candidates next week – Dr. John Jasinski and Dr. Roger Thompson.

We also held our February Board of Governors meetings last Friday. We accomplished quite a bit.

Key highlights

You may have seen the story on Thursday about the sale of the Meyer Alumni Center to the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. The board approved entering into an agreement with Dake Wells Architecture for design services on plans for a new Alumni Center on campus.

For our Make Your Missouri Statement moment, we featured our award-winning Mock Trial Team led by Dr. Jennifer LaPrade, assistant professor of criminology and Mock Trial Team coach. The talented team started competing only three years ago and has been very successful so far. This program provides a growth opportunity for our students.

We also announced the approval by the Missouri Coordinating board of the Educational Doctorate for Learning and Educational Change Ed:D LLEC. We’re working with the Higher Learning Commission for approval and plan to offer the program starting fall 2024.

Under facilities, the board approved engaging Hood-Rich Architecture in conjunction with the phase II renovation of Kampeter Health Sciences. This will include among other items renovations that will reconfigure space for the addition of the kinesiology department.

The board also approved a bid from CB-GC, LLC, for improvements for the Hammons Student Center that include renovations to convert the west gym storage into areas for the new sports STUNT and Acrobatics & Tumbling. This will be a shared space that will also be used by kinesiology.

We also had a presentation on AI and heard from three professors who are incorporating it into the classroom: Natalie Allen, clinical associate professor, public health and sports medicine; Dr. G. Alexander Hamwi, associate professor, marketing; and Dr. Ridwan Sakidja, professor, physics, astronomy and materials science.

It’s always a great day when we meet with the board and share the important things that are taking place at the university.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State.

Clif