Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes for Jan. 24, 2023

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We will be saying farewell in the coming months to several members of our leadership team

2023 will be a time of transitions

  • Brent Dunn, vice president for university advancement, announced he will retire Aug. 1.
  • Steve Foucart, chief financial officer, announced his retirement to be effective Aug. 1.
  • Ryan DeBoef, chief of staff and assistant to the president for government relations, resigned his position effective January 31.

The foundation has shown tremendous growth

In his 38-year career at MSU, Brent has accomplished more than anyone ever thought possible. He is the university’s greatest advocate and has been tremendously important to our success.

Under Brent’s leadership, the foundation showed tremendous growth, raising record-breaking totals nearly every year. The foundation also won multiple awards for excellence in fundraising from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

In addition to the recently concluded Onward Upward campaign, Dunn led the Our Promise campaign, which raised $167 million. He also participated in The Campaign for SMS, which raised more than $50 million.

Brent’s work touched every facet of the university, helping to fund:

  • Student scholarships.
  • Endowed professorships.
  • Headlining speakers for the public affairs conference, like Marlee Matlin, Colin Powell, Jenna Bush Hager and Jillian Michaels.
  • Building renovations, naming opportunities and new buildings, including the John Goodman Amphitheatre in the Judith Enyeart Reynolds Arts Park, Davis-Harrington Welcome Center, Foster Family Recreation Center, O’Reilly Clinical Health Science Center and Great Southern Bank Arena.

Creative problem solver

As CFO, Steve managed Missouri State’s financial success in good times and bad. He has worked behind the scenes to reduce debt load and increase interest revenue – squeezing every penny possible to ensure we were doing the most we could for our students and the university.

Steve has also been the go-to leader among the CFO’s working at the other 4-year institutions across Missouri. His strategic vision and attention to detail has positioned Missouri State as a leader in financial operations and problem solving in higher education.

Legislative ingenuity

Ryan has been with the university since 2011, serving in his current position since 2014.

He led efforts to pass and defend against passage of many pieces of policy legislation each year in the Missouri General Assembly. He also led efforts to secure operating and capital appropriations for Missouri State – most notably, a $10 million core increase in 2019 and $80 million in capital funding for renovation and addition to the newly named Blunt Hall.

Ryan has been a tremendous advocate for Missouri State. I’m excited for him as he moves in a new direction. In his new role as a named partner at Hahn | DeBoef Government Relations, he’ll continue to represent the university as part of our contract lobbying team.

Searches and assignments

The search for the new VP for university advancement has launched and is being led by Zora Mulligan, chair of the search committee, with assistance from AGB Search. We hope to have a new VP named by May.

I will begin a search for an assistant to the president for government relations fall 2023. Dr. James Baker has graciously agreed to return to the university to lead this effort during the 2023 legislative session, following the plans and strategy that are currently in place.

We will address the CFO vacancy in the coming month.

University re-alignment

As part of the on-going effort in the re-alignment of the university, members of the access and outreach (A&O) organization have been reassigned to organizations across the university that better align with the mission of the organization and the university.

  • Non-credit will report through employer partnerships at the efactory.
  • Marketing and promotions will report through marketing and communications.
  • Early college and online will report through the executive vice president.
  • Adult student services will report through enrollment management.
  • Dual credit will report through enrollment management.
  • Off-campus programs will report through the executive vice president .

As you can see, there are many changes taking place at Missouri State, each one giving us the opportunity to step back and review how we move forward in this changing and challenging world of higher education.

It’s an exciting time.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Jan. 17, 2023

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I am pleased to report that Dr. John Jasinski has agreed to continue at Missouri State University as our provost through June 2024.

We will begin the search for a permanent provost in fall 2023. In the meantime, we will remove the “interim” from John’s provost title.

When we hired Zora Mulligan and John last spring, the leadership team and the Board of Governors collaborated to develop a two-year transformation plan. Under that plan, John has focused on academic disruption and modernizing our academic structure.

John was the right person to begin this work, and he is the right person to complete it over the next three semesters. Put simply, John is an expert in exactly the kind of work the board and I have asked him to perform as part of our two-year transformation plan.

Some changes have already been made. We have announced the creation of the Reynolds College of Arts and Humanities. Deans Vic Matthews and Shawn Wahl have worked in earnest as transition co-leads. We also recently began to restructure the units under Missouri State Outreach – and are working through details, currently.

Much more work remains to be done as part of the Academic Affairs Continuous Agility Process (CAP).

Up next

The College Realignment Plan Phase Two is underway. Phase two includes ample opportunities for feedback regarding possible academic structural changes as well as academic advising and student success.

See the Academic Realignment Timeline for details.

Please also note we are conducting a review of our Learning Management System, Blackboard, this spring. With the Blackboard contract expiring, it allows us to step back and review and compare products.

John, Chief Information Officer Jeff Coiner and their teams are gathering feedback and input throughout the spring. More detailed information will be posted to the provost’s website in the coming weeks.

Finally, know that our Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Reaffirmation of Accreditation year 10 comprehensive evaluation is due in early 2025 – followed by a site visit from the HLC Peer Corps. We received a stellar report in 2015 and then again with an Assurance Review in 2020.

John is working with various internal teams to provide for “embedded conversations” as we update our materials, self-assess, provide for collective reviews and submit our report in the first part of 2025. Stay tuned.

Other work is at hand as our academic colleagues address the rest of the transformation plan and elements of the Academic Affairs CAP. Bottom line, opportunities exist through collective impact.

I am pleased with the work Zora and John have completed over the past semester, and I look forward to continuing to work with them to complete the transformation plan.

Farewell reception for Rachel McGinnis

I hope you will join me in congratulating Rachel McGinnis, our director of research administration, as she moves on to a similar position at Middle Tennessee State University next month.

During her 18 years at Missouri State, Rachel has been instrumental in increasing the level of external funding coming to the university. She and her team in the office of research administration have done outstanding work in supporting faculty and staff in research grant applications, and helping the university stay in compliance with grant rules and regulations.

The division of community and global partnerships will host a farewell reception for Rachel from 1-3 p.m. Jan. 23 in the Jay Wasson Idea Loft at the efactory.

Please make plans to attend so you can say thanks to Rachel for a job well done!

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Jan. 10, 2023

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On Dec. 29, President Joe Biden signed all 12 appropriations bills for FY2023.

I am pleased to report that the bills include the following appropriations for MSU championed by Sen. Roy Blunt:

  • $35 million for renovations to Blunt Hall, Cheek Hall, and other STEM and health facilities on the Springfield campus.
  • An additional $3 million for endowed faculty chairs in CNAS.
  • $1.5 million for the ASCEND program in West Plains.

The bills also include $2 million to white box the third floor of the Brewer Science Annex at JVIC. Rep. Billy Long championed this appropriation.

Finally, the bills include $36 million in funding for research by our partners at JVIC.

The funding in the FY2023 appropriation package represents a huge investment in our university that would not have been possible without the important leadership of Sen. Blunt and Rep. Long.

Their service in the Congress ended earlier this year. It is an understatement to say that they will be greatly missed.

I hope you will join me in thanking Sen. Blunt and Rep. Long for their work to support MSU and the legacy they left behind as they concluded their service.

The university has strong relationships with our newly elected officials — Sen. Eric Schmitt and Rep. Eric Burlison — and their staff. Work is underway to show them the many great things we do at Missouri State University and to advocate for their support.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Dec. 20, 2022

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Last week the Board of Governors approved a resolution renaming our main science building on campus (formerly known as Temple Hall) Roy Blunt Hall.

We also broke ground on the $80 million addition and renovation of the facility.

Blunt supports education and research

Sen. Roy Blunt has worked tirelessly in support of education, science and research on a national level.

He continuously demonstrated his high regard for higher education and its importance in today’s landscape. As the chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, Sen. Blunt championed funding increases for:

  • STEM and computer science education.
  • Apprenticeship programs.
  • TRIO.
  • And the Pell Grant program (including year-round Pell).

His legacy in Washington D.C. will undoubtedly be connected to his championing research in health and life sciences. Through his leadership role in Senate appropriations, Sen. Blunt:

  • Oversaw an increase in the budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) each year for seven years straight.
  • Added $15 billion to the NIH budget — an almost 50% increase.
  • Quintupled (5x) Alzheimer’s research funding, increasing federal investment by $2.5 billion.

Because of this support, the NIH recently named their Alzheimer’s research facility after Sen. Blunt.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the dedication. Leaders from all over the world and from across the political spectrum attended and honored him. Democratic and Republican senators alike feted Sen. Blunt’s ardent support for research and the sciences.

NIH prepared a video summarizing remarks made at the ceremony. I encourage you to take a few minutes to watch it.

Blunt has continually supported MSU

Sen. Blunt’s legacy in Missouri will be connected to his support for Missouri State University.

Throughout his time in public office, Sen. Blunt has demonstrated extraordinary support for Missouri State University by advocating for significant federal investment in Missouri State’s academic and research missions and economic development operations.

That work culminated last year when he led efforts to appropriate more than $56 million to support health, life and physical science research, teaching, and facilities at MSU.

From that $56 million:

  • $3 million established an endowment to support CNAS faculty and research.
  • $50 million will finance the bulk of the work we started last week to reinvigorate the facility previously known as Temple Hall.

He’s not done yet. Sen. Blunt continues to work during his last weeks in the Senate for the appropriation of additional federal funds to further support CNAS facilities, faculty and research. I hope to be able to update you on that work very soon.

It is because of Sen. Blunt’s support for MSU and his support for science and research that the board voted to rename our primary science facility on campus Roy Blunt Hall.

Honoring Temple’s legacy

The facility was previously named after Mr. Allen P. Temple, and it is important that we continue Mr. Temple’s legacy.

Mr. Temple was the head of the university’s science department for nearly 40 years in the early 1900s. He was a pioneer in the field.

He was well-known as an enthusiast for advances in communications technology.

  • He was the first faculty member at MSU to use technological visual aids (e.g., slides, films, etc.) to assist his teaching in the classroom.
  • He was the driving force behind the university obtaining and using a wireless radio transmitter and receiver and establishing an AM radio station on campus that was operated by science faculty and students more than 50 years before KSMU came to campus.
  • He was also a pioneer with video technology, producing a documentary film called “College Life in the Ozarks” and showing various films in the college auditorium.

Mr. Temple will continue to be honored with a prominent display in the atrium of the current building. We will also name the atrium after Mr. Temple.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Dec. 13, 2022

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I am in the process of meeting individually with state legislators from our area to discuss our priorities for the coming year.

On Thursday I will update the Board of Governors on those priorities and provide them with copies of our legislative materials. You can find the content of our updated legislative materials on the Legislative Advocacy webpage as well as talking points and a form to join the MSU Legislative Network.

Priorities for this legislative session

We have three priorities this year.

Our first priority is to increase MSU’s operating appropriation. The coordinating board sent a request for a 7% core increase for all universities to Gov. Mike Parson. We are in regular communication with the Governor and staff in his office as they work to determine whether to include the CBHE request in Gov. Parson’s budget recommendations in January.

Our second priority is for our MoExcels project this year. That project will expand our construction management program and construct an addition to Kemper Hall for a construction management lab. The coordinating board included this request in their package of capital projects for the year, and we are advocating that it be included in the state’s budget.

Our third priority is for a $35 million one-time appropriation to partially fund the second phase of redeveloping our science facilities on campus — completing backfill renovations in Temple Hall, renovating Cheek Hall, and constructing a biomedical sciences lab in Kampeter Hall.

Board meeting set for Dec. 15

In addition to a legislative update, the board will have several important discussions and action items on Thursday.

In committee meetings:

  • Forvis will present the results of our annual external audit during the Risk Management and Audit Committee meeting.
  • We will update the board on the status of campus facilities projects during the Finance and Facilities Committee meeting.
  • We will have a preliminary discussion about changes to college and student fees at the Programs and Planning Committee meeting.

At the regular meeting, the board will recognize the six students being honored as Citizen Scholars this year:

  • Morgan Blanck
  • Samara Mizutani Cesar
  • Milana Hainline
  • Blake Rief
  • Lindsey Sanderson
  • Orlondo X. Williams

The board will also receive a presentation about the Paras to Professionals Pathways program and vote on a resolution to establish a Center for Rural Education in the College of Education.

The board will vote on a resolution to set an $80 million project budget and award a construction management at risk agreement to The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company for the addition and renovation of the building currently known as Temple Hall.

The board will also discuss and vote on a proposal to rename the building Roy Blunt Hall and to name the atrium in the existing facility after Allen P. Temple. Next week’s Clif’s Note will discuss this proposal in detail.

The board will receive an update from Zora Mulligan and John Jasinski on the university’s work to develop and implement a transformation plan.

The board will vote on an Executive Committee roster, and Gov. Chris Waters will announce other committee appointments for the coming calendar year. As the incoming chair, Gov. Waters will chair the Executive Committee.

Based on conversations with Gov. Waters, I anticipate Gov. Lynn Parman will chair the Finance and Facilities Committee, Gov. Ann Kampeter will chair the Programs and Planning Committee, and Gov. Anson Elliott will chair the Risk Management and Audit Committee.

Finally, the board will vote on resolutions recognizing board members whose terms expire at the end of December. These members include Gov. Amy Counts, Craig Frazier and Carol Silvey. I have enjoyed working with each of these members of our Board of Governors, and the university is better because of their service.

We remain in communication with Gov. Parson’s office about appointments for these board positions and the other vacant and expired positions on our board.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!