Presidential Updates

Dear Colleague Vol. 1, No. 10

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Dr. Belinda McCarthyI want to inform you that Dr. Belinda McCarthy, provost since August 1, 2006, has announced that she is returning to a faculty position to focus on the Master of Student Affairs in Higher Education program. She will focus her time and energy helping develop that growing program. Dr. McCarthy has completed more than 25 years in higher education administration, and she is looking forward to transitioning from her administrative role effective August 1, 2011.

Appointment of interim provost

In the coming days, I will consult with faculty leadership before appointing an interim provost. I plan to make that appointment sometime in the next 30-45 days so the person can begin by August 1.

Then, we will begin a national search for a new provost as soon as possible, probably early this fall.

Changes in the president’s administrative team are a normal part of the transition progress, and it was important for Dr. McCarthy to stay on and work with me during this first year as I learned the campus culture. I have known for some time Belinda’s desire to return to the classroom when the right opportunity arose, and working with the Student Affairs in Higher Education program provides an excellent opportunity for her to use her experiences over the last three decades in the classroom.

Accomplishments as provost

I very much appreciate Dr. McCarthy’s many contributions as provost which will serve the University well for years to come.

As you know, Dr. McCarthy was hired as the first full-time provost when it was reestablished at Missouri State in 2005. She also holds the title of vice president for academic affairs and she is chancellor of the Mountain Grove campus.

She has had many accomplishments as provost. For example, she developed academic, personnel and fiscal policies and procedures as the University moved to the cost center model and implemented recommendations of the Higher Learning Commission. Under her leadership, academic programs began a period of benchmarking and external review of programs; institutional research was expanded and reoriented to support the needs of decision-makers to assess and enhance quality and efficiency.

She reorganized enrollment management services and integrated academic and student affairs initiatives to support student learning and retention, establishing a wide array of student success programs, including living learning communities and the Bear Claw, the University’s new 10,000 square foot Learning Commons.

The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning was developed, which now provides extensive pedagogical support for online and technology enhanced instruction. Working with internal and external constituencies, she has fostered the maturing of the University’s public affairs mission, with particular focus on diversity and international initiatives.

As chancellor of the Mountain Grove campus, she oversaw the renovation of student housing and historic buildings as well as the development of a bottling facility and retail site for the distribution of Mountain Grove wines. She worked closely with the Mountain Grove advisory council to make the Mountain Grove campus a resource and asset to the community of Mountain Grove.

New role

In her new role, she will be developing curriculum and pedagogy in student affairs assessment, evaluation and research, developing and teaching online courses, and working to enhance faculty support and student services for online programs.

When you see Dr. McCarthy, I hope you will both thank her for the work she has done and congratulate her on the new faculty assignment.

Sincerely,

James E. Cofer, Sr.

President

Dear Colleague Vol. 1, No. 9

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Today, Governor Jay Nixon signed into law House Bill 3, which is the operating budget for higher education. I want to summarize the key decisions and comment on their impact on Missouri State University.

Summary of Governor Nixon’s action on budget

  • A total of about $58 million of general revenue has been restricted (withheld) from House Bill 3, and additional amounts of non-general revenue will also be restricted.
  • University and community college operating funds will be cut by a total of 7 percent, which was the Governor’s original recommendation and what we have been planning for since January – the difference between the 5.7 percent reduction approved by the Missouri General Assembly and the 7 percent amounts to about $1.1 million for Missouri State.
  • Two universities, the University of Missouri System and Missouri Western State University, will have their operating budgets reduced by an additional 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
  • Access Missouri Scholarships will be reduced $1 million from what the Missouri General Assembly had approved.
  • Bright Flight Scholarships will be reduced by $2 million from what the General Assembly had approved.
  • MORENET will be reduced by $50,000 from what the General Assembly had approved.
  • The $2 million for the cooperative Doctor of Pharmacy degree between the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Missouri State was approved – the funding goes to UMKC, which will contract back with Missouri State for a portion of the funds.

Meyer LibraryStudent learning outcomes initiative to continue

We appreciate Governor Nixon’s timely review of and action on the higher education operating budget for Fiscal Year 2012.  This gives us time to prepare to implement House Bill 3 on July 1.

We very much understand and appreciate the budget choices the Governor had to make in order to have a balanced budget. The easy decisions are long gone;  all that were left are the difficult ones. We are well aware of the Governor’s support of education at all levels, including higher education, and his desire to fund education at the highest possible level. But he has to balance those desires with other statewide needs, especially the recent natural disasters in our state.

The good news is we have been planning on the 7 percent reduction since January when the Governor announced his budget. As a result, we are prepared and ready to implement our budget at that level. We will live within the budget, while keeping the tuition and fee increases as low as possible for students. In the process, we will not compromise the quality of education our students receive.

As you remember, we had intended to use the $1.1 million to improve student learning outcomes as a major initiative in the new long-range plan. So you know, my intent is to continue with that initiative, even if we must fund it with surplus funds this year. Student learning outcomes are key to our future success and we will pursue that goal with existing resources. It is that important.

Cooperative Doctor of Pharmacy program

Receiving funding for the cooperative Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) Program with the University of Missouri-Kansas City is great news for the citizens of Missouri, and especially those living in southwest Missouri. We will immediately intensify our discussions with UMKC so that we can implement the cooperative PharmD program as soon as possible.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate our area legislative delegation, spearheaded by Rep. David Sater from Cassville. Our delegation worked hard as a group for three years to accomplish this, and we very much appreciate their efforts on our behalf. We very much appreciate the Governor supporting this initiative.

We will make these adjustments in the budget that we present to the Board of Governors next Friday, June 17, for approval. The new fiscal year begins July 1. If and when there is more information to share, I will let you know.

Sincerely,

James E. Cofer, Sr.

President

Dear Colleague Vol. 1, No. 8

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As you may know, the Missouri House and Senate Budget Conference Committee came to an agreement Wednesday night. Their recommendation now goes to the full house and senate for approval. By law, the budget is required to be approved by tomorrow, May 6, which is one week before the session ends. When approved, it will move on to the governor for signature; he has 45 days to act on it, but will likely be more prompt prior to the July 1 start date for the fiscal year.

To remind you, the budget is not complete and official until all of these steps are completed. But at this point, we are confident the Budget Conference Committee’s recommendation will be accepted and approved.

I want to summarize the major components of the compromise package and describe their implication for Missouri State University.

Carrington HallOperating budget

You will recall that the Governor’s recommendation, which was adopted by the House, was for a 7 percent reduction in state appropriations for public higher education institutions. That is the premise we have worked with for the past several months.

The Senate recommended a smaller reduction. It proposed adding $20 million back to higher education so that the cut was 4.8 percent.

The compromise passed by the Budget Conference Committee was for $12 million to be added so that the reduction is approximately 5.8 percent.

For Missouri State, this means approximately $1 million more than we had planned to receive for fiscal year 2012. The Executive Budget Committee has a meeting scheduled for Monday, May 9, at which time we will begin discussing how best to invest those additional funds. At the legislature’s request, we will use a portion of it to help reduce the cost for students. We will report back to you on the Executive Budget Committee’s recommendation.

On behalf of the Board of Governors and the campus community, I want to thank the governor and the Missouri General Assembly for its hard work on the budget which again reflects the high priority all parties place on higher education.

Student studying outside libraryCooperative doctor of pharmacy degree program

After three years of hard work, our legislative delegation was successful in obtaining the on-going funding for the cooperative doctor of pharmacy degree program (PharmD) with the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). Our hope is to enroll the first class in fall 2012.

UMKC will receive $2 million to create a satellite program at Missouri State. The satellite program will be similar to the one UMKC has on the Columbia campus. To implement the program, UMKC will contract with Missouri State for about half of the annual appropriation.

Three years ago, UMKC received one-time start-up funding of $2.3 million which will now be used on both campuses to prepare for the program.

In the coming weeks and months, we will work closely with UMKC, the local hospitals, and others to prepare to launch this much-needed program. We want to express our thanks and appreciation to our area legislators for their good and persistent work in achieving this goal. It will be the citizens of southwest Missouri that benefit the most from this.

I hope this update is helpful to you. We will continue to communicate as we head toward the Board of Governors’ approval of the fiscal year 2012 operating budget at the June 17 meeting.

Sincerely,

James E. Cofer, Sr.

President

Dear Colleague Vol. 1, No. 7

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Spring on Missouri State CampusToday, we are posting revised and updated draft material for the 2011-16 Long-Range Plan. I invite you to review these items and provide feedback.

Strategic directions, objectives, performance measures and targets

This update focuses on the performance measures and targets for the objectives under each of the strategic directions. The chart for each strategic direction includes objectives which have been refined based on your input and further discussions by the work groups and Steering Committee.

The performance measures and targets for each objective also have been thoroughly discussed by the Steering Committee. Now, we need to have your input to further define them.

In some cases, you will note that we are still researching some baseline data. In other cases, you will see that the first initiative is to determine the target. All of this is expected and normal; the key is to determine the measures we wish to use, which we have done.

As a reminder, this is the document I will present to the Board of Governors as an update on the progress we have made on the plan.

We are already working on the next step, which is to develop specific tactics to achieve the performance measures and targets. These tactics will largely be determined by the colleges and other units that will be responsible for implementing them. We will share that draft with you when it is ready. And, a first draft of the narrative of the plan is in process.

So that we have the most complete information possible, I ask that you make every effort to provide your feedback on this draft by Friday, March 4.

Sincerely,

James E. Cofer, Sr.

President

Dear Colleague Vol. 1, No. 6

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Classroom

I am writing to inform you about a Voluntary Retirement Incentive Plan we will make available to eligible full-time faculty and staff on all campuses (Springfield, West Plains, Mountain Grove) in early 2011. The proposal was approved today (Dec. 17) by the Board of Governors.

Voluntary Retirement Incentive Plan
Details and Timeline

As you know, we anticipate having a significant reduction in our state appropriations for Fiscal Year 2012 (July 1, 2011–June 30, 2012). With about 70 percent of Missouri State’s budget in salaries and benefits, there is little doubt that personnel will be affected by the reduction in appropriations. This is one element of the “smaller footprint” I have been discussing over the past several months.

Plan to accomplish two goals

The 2011 Voluntary Retirement Incentive Plan is designed to accomplish two goals:

  • Provide maximum budget flexibility to address the reduction in state appropriations
  • Provide an opportunity to reallocate salary dollars to better compensate a smaller workforce that will continue to provide a high-quality educational environment.

Retirement eligibility for MOSERS and CURP are defined separately by each respective plan. Generally, they include an age-plus-years-of-service threshold for eligibility. According to recent lists provided by MOSERS and CURP, 213 faculty and 248 staff are eligible for the program; however, the program will be limited to the first 50 faculty and the first 100 staff who submit their paperwork beginning February 1, 2011.

Human resources to contact eligible employees

Carrington HallBy December 22, if not sooner, those eligible for this Voluntary Retirement Incentive Plan will be contacted via personal letter by the office of human resources;  the letters are being mailed today (December 17).  Those letters will be based on the information provided by MOSERS and CURP.  If you don’t receive a letter and believe you are eligible, please contact the Office of Human Resources. In addition, those who are able to purchase MOSERS time through other service such as the military, in order to qualify, also would be eligible if the purchase is completed prior to the date of retirement. You should also contact human resources if you fall into this category.

Between now and January 31, 2011, the office of human resources will schedule and publicize a number of information sessions to answer questions you may have.

Our hope is that this voluntary plan provides a “win-win” opportunity with good options for faculty and staff and reduced costs and reallocation opportunities for the University. I will keep you posted as we move through this process.

Sincerely,

James E. Cofer, Sr.

President