We held our first in-person Board of Governors meetings for 2025 last week, led by Chair Tim Francka. Well, it was a hybrid meeting with our governors who live in Kansas City and St. Louis joining via Zoom due to challenging road conditions resulting from last week’s winter storm. All went smoothly thanks to our talented technical team.

The meeting kicked off with a “Making our Missouri Statement” moment featuring the Pride Marching Band. Drum majors Sonia Brekken and Jayden Coalson talked about what being a member of the band means to them. The moment was capped off with a wonderful video featuring other band members and leaders reflecting on the band’s impact.

The board then approved a walk-on resolution, presented by Interim Provost Dr. Tammy Jahnke, granting an honorary doctorate to Sgt. Major Lanny Asepermy. He’ll receive the Doctor of Public Affairs (A.P.D.) degree during spring 2025 commencement ceremonies. It’s an honor to award this degree in recognition of his work as a leader, advocate and historian.

The board also approved a bid for the phase II renovation of Kampeter Health Sciences Hall and a contract for lighting improvements at Plaster Stadium. The lighting improvements will enable us to meet the standards set by Conference USA for football.

The meeting concluded with an update on the 2025-30 Strategic Plan. The co-chairs of the five work groups presented their goal statements and desired outcomes. While not finalized, a lot of progress has been made by these groups. Thanks to everyone for the hard work.

• Academic Opportunities and Innovation (Dr. Jamie Grigsby and Dr. Scott Worman)
• Branding and Identity (Natalie Allen and Katherine Whitaker)
• Community Partnerships and Economic Development (Dr. Benjamin Beranek and Danny Perches)
• Institution of Choice for Employees and Students (David Hall and Dr. Nicole West)
• Student and Alumni Experience (Kristin Roop and Daezia Smith)

Campus cleanup

I want to take a moment to thank our grounds and custodial employees for the amazing job they did of having campus cleaned up and ready last Thursday when we re-opened. There was a lot of shoveling, plowing and salting that took place around-the-clock to make this happen.

I also want to thank all essential personnel who served our students in the residence and dining halls, the Plaster Student Union, Foster Recreation Center, Magers Health and everywhere else. We couldn’t do this with you!

Join the forum for our last provost candidate

Our last finalist for the provost position, Dr. Mitchell McKinney, is on campus today. His public forum is at 9:30 a.m. in the PSU Theater. I hope to see you there or you can also join via Zoom.

Thanks for checking in. It’s a great day to be a Bear!

Biff