A couple of weeks ago, I shared updates on the great work happening across the teams focused on the branding and identity goal in Missouri State University’s strategic plan. Today, I’ll highlight the work groups’ progress on Goal 1: Academic Opportunities and Innovation and Goal 2: Community Partnerships and Economic Development. These two goals sit at the heart of who we are and where we’re headed.

Offering innovative academic programs and building meaningful partnerships that ignite social and economic opportunity isn’t just language in a document. It’s our charge.

Goal 1 strategies

Connect curriculum to careers and outcomes

Dr. Kelly Rapp and Dr. Brett Garland lead this group. To strengthen general education through more strategic integration of transferable skills and career readiness competencies, members completed a comparative report evaluating programs across 10 institutions to help inform our offerings in the future.

They also identified a model for competency-based syllabi, as well as reviewed research on in-demand skills by employers and Chamber of Commerce data from Springfield, Kansas City and St. Louis. They’ve made significant progress over the last few months and this will help ensure our students are prepared to succeed in the workforce.

Promote interdisciplinary curriculum, programming and scholarship

Under the leadership of Dr. Johannes Strobel, the group hosted two campus-wide open forums to share the university’s unique PhD framework and invite feedback. Another forum and more consultations are in the works.

The group launched a PhD Speaker Series with the spring lineup underway. It’s also planning two interdisciplinary forums on April 27 focused on AI and tourism. Members have also created a campus-wide list of methodologists and resolved Banner split-credit coding for interdisciplinary students.

Increase equitable access

Guiding this group are Dr. Subha Roy and Dr. Nancy Gordon. The group’s working with our Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (FCTL) to encourage faculty to complete a Quality Matters self-review of their online courses. So far, 54 faculty members have done so, and 21 of them have met with the FCTL to make course improvements.

To better understand barriers in online education, the group has designed two surveys to share with faculty and students at the end of this month. Focus groups will follow after spring break to gather qualitative feedback. Additionally, the group is reviewing market data on online education trends and new program launches, with insights from a recent EAB presentation informing next steps.

Foster increased research productivity

This group has worked in close partnership with the interdisciplinary team to host the PhD campus-wide open forums. During these sessions, members shared details about a PhD framework and speaker series and engaged faculty across colleges for a structured discussion. There’s also now a website to track progress, share resources and ensure transparency.

The group has been meeting with college representatives to assess needs and is partnering with Institutional Effectiveness to gather campus-wide data on research productivity. Overseeing this work group are Dr. Jorge Rebaza and Dr. Marjorie Shavers.

Elevate Missouri State’s national profile in teaching and research

Led by Mark Woolsey, group members have reviewed the incentives currently available to support and enhance online teaching. The next step is to explore other incentive opportunities and gather qualitative insights to better understand barriers and concerns faced by our faculty. They’ve also looked at college-level accreditations and their potential benefits, while exploring program level support for areas that are initiating external accreditation applications.

To boost research productivity, the team is aligning library resources with the phased rollout of research doctorates and exploring cost-effective ways to expand access.

Goal 2 strategies

Promote experiential learning

Led by Dr. Carrisa Hoelscher, this group set a benchmark for student awareness of experiential learning by reviewing National Survey of Student Engagement data and adding items to the exit survey. It also increased financial support for experiential learning, funding eight projects worth $25,000. Among them are:

• Catching Community – students in a child and family development class play catch with community members
• Interprofessional Wellness Program – McQueary College of Health and Human Services students collaborate across programs to deliver interprofessional wellness activities
• Leadership Institute – a hands-on program that builds students’ skills, experience and confidence to lead in different environments

Support technology commercialization and entrepreneurship

Dr. Jason DeBode, Rachel Munday and their team have moved the Innovation Institute from concept to a near-ready proposal, aligning it with the university’s strategic priorities, regional workforce needs and long-term sustainability. They’ve secured initial community partnerships and launched experiential learning pilots that will anchor the institute’s early portfolio while testing delivery models and validating market demand.

They’ve also obtained funding for two research interns who are benchmarking national best practices and informing credential strategy, program design and revenue pathways. Together, this work positions the institute for measurable impact, scalable growth and strong cross-sector engagement.

Share talent

Headed by Emily Denniston, this group has gathered valuable insights from road shows and Chamber of Commerce industry sector roundtables. They include concerns about soft skill gaps; the need to better prepare students for technological change; how they value experiential learning and want best practices on structuring internship programs; and the desire to keep graduates in southwest Missouri by converting interns into full-time hires.

Develop a database of university expertise

Dr. Peng Zhang and his group are conducting a university expertise inventory to support the development of three directories. The ones for university centers and institutes and faculty experts will be prioritized, followed by a university resources directory. The group is also exploring ways to enhance search functionality and improve discoverability of university expertise.

A big thanks to all work group members across both these strategic plan goals. Your dedication, creativity and collaboration are great examples of our values in action. I know I’m not alone when I say we look forward to seeing the continued impact of these initiatives in the months ahead.

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

Biff