Last Thursday and Friday, we held our annual Board of Governors Retreat in Kansas City. An important agenda item was the 2023-24 Action Plan. It includes the Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan and the Academic Affairs Continuous Agility Process (CAP) among other tactics for the coming year.

We have our Long-Range Plan (LRP) that provides strategic directional goals. The Action Plan is the tactical side of the LRP, where in the coming year we execute initiatives that support the LRP goals.

Some items of note included in the CAP are the college realignment changes, implementation of the new learning management system (LMS) that will replace Blackboard and preparation for the 2025 Higher Learning Commission (HLC) visit.

Important work within the SEM Plan focuses on recruitment – including growing fall 2024 enrollment and actions to drive long-term enrollment growth. There’s also significant work in student success – including continued progress in retention and increasing student engagement.

The other functional areas of the action plan include global engagement, inclusive excellence driving university success, community leadership and partnerships, infrastructure and funding, athletics, compliance and work within the West Plains campus.

Some of the more visible items in the functional areas include:

• Construction projects across campus, including Blunt Hall, the braider facility and modernization of Cheek Hall.
• The addition of two new women’s sports (to be announced later) in fall 2024 to maintain Title IX compliance.
• Construction of the autism center on the West Plains campus.

It’s going to be a busy year for everyone on campus as we continue our work toward making MSU and Springfield a great place to learn and live.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State.

Clif