Citizen Scholar Archives - Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes for Dec. 17, 2019

December 17, 2019 by Clif Smart

The Board of Governors met last week.

The board approved more than $400,000 in equity salary increases for 125 employees. These are pay raises that cost centers on campus have agreed to fund by reallocating money from their existing budgets.

This is the first time staff and administrators have been eligible for these kind of equity adjustments in more than a year. We went through a similar process in the spring for faculty, and the board approved more than $500,000 in equity salary increases and promotions for 88 faculty members in June.

The board also approved more than $70,000 in raises that we are centrally financing for 48 employees to comply with changes to Fair Labor Standards Act regulations.

Moving forward with JVIC expansion

The board also approved a letter of intent laying out the terms of our public-private partnership with The Vecino Group to expand the Jordan Valley Innovation Center. Under this agreement, Vecino will construct a $14.4 million 30,000 square foot white box addition to JVIC. The university will have the option to purchase the facility for no more than $6.2 million in seven years.

Through a financing model that utilizes $9 million in federal New Market Tax Credits as well as conventional financing, the university will pay $530,000 in annual lease payments. The university anticipates that new revenues the university will receive from JVIC tenants will cover these lease payments.

The university and the Missouri State University Foundation will pay up to $4.6 million when the contract closes (less if additional New Market Tax Credits are secured before closing). The university and foundation will work to recuperate as much of these funds as possible by selling $3 million in state tax credits allocated by the Missouri Development Finance Board for the project and by advocating for funding from the state through the MoExcels program.

This model will allow the university to receive a $14.4 million building for between $7.5 million and $10.8 million. We initially explored this project with a goal of developing additional JVIC space for a substantial discount. I am pleased to report that we are poised to accomplish this goal.

The board is excited to move this project forward. We know this arrangement is not without risks, but the potential impact on the university’s economic development footprint and the development of areas surrounding our downtown campus is outstanding.

Darr gift will grow agriculture programs

The board also approved an agreement to establish a Springfield Public Schools agricultural magnet school and to construct a small animal education facility at the university’s Darr Agricultural Center. These projects will be funded with a $6.5 million gift from the Darr Family Foundation to the Missouri State University Foundation.

The generosity of Mr. Darr and his family through this and other gifts have truly transformed the College of Agriculture and Missouri State University as a whole. Please join me in thanking them for this transformative gift.

Recognizing outstanding students

The board also awarded this year’s Citizen Scholar Award to six high performing students:

Cassidy Cunningham
Seth Hadley
Rachel Prather
Robbyn Rose
Niyati (Mia) Sethi
Stephanie Urich

You can find more information about the award and this year’s recipients in the news release.

The board also approved a commendation to William Miller for his service on the board as student governor. It has been a pleasure working with Governor Miller in this role, and he will be greatly missed.

The board received a strategic enrollment management plan update, viewed a presentation about the Darr College of Agriculture, received a report on the Onward, Upward foundation campaign, viewed a demonstration of the university’s variable data marketing initiative and virtual tour, discussed the Springfield and West Plains campus key performance indicators, and announced and approved board committee assignments for next year.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes Vol. 3, No. 7

December 19, 2013 by Clif Smart

In this holiday issue of Clif’s Notes, I review the budget announcement by Governor Nixon, summarize the actions taken at the Dec. 13 Board of Governors meeting, highlight this year’s Citizen Scholars and provide a summary of more than $8 million in private gifts made recently to Missouri State.

Governor makes announcement, issues challenge

Last Wednesday (Dec. 11), Governor Jay Nixon was on our campus to announce that he plans to recommend a 5 percent increase in core funding for higher education as part of his fiscal year 2015 budget. As part of his announcement, he challenged Missouri’s public universities to keep in-state undergraduate tuition at their current levels.

As you can imagine, this was a very welcome announcement, and I indicated that I will recommend to our Board of Governors that we live up to the challenge. The governor will release his budget in late January, and the discussion in the Missouri General Assembly will be based on that. If the money is distributed on a performance funding basis as the governor recommends, we will receive more than a 5 percent increase as we have met all five of our measures for the second year in a row.

I will keep you posted as we move through the process, which begins Jan. 8, the first day of the 2014 session of the Missouri General Assembly.

Board of Governors actions

I want to summarize some of the actions taken last Friday at the Board of Governors meeting.

New programs approved

The Board approved two new academic programs: the Doctor of Nursing Anesthesia Practice (DNAP) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA). These programs had been approved by the faculty and were presented by Provost Frank Einhellig. The next step is for approval by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education.

Both of these degrees meet the needs of our students and of employers. They are very appropriate additions to our academic offerings and to the departments/colleges in which they reside. Learn more about the programs.

Rush, Tatum to receive honorary doctorates

John Rush and James Tatum were approved to receive honorary doctorates. The two Doctor of Public Affairs (APD) degrees will be awarded at the May 2014 commencements. Dr. Ryan Giedd made the recommendation on behalf of the Faculty Senate.

Mr. Rush (pictured on the left) was the CEO of the United Way of the Ozarks for 20 years. He has continued to serve the community on the Springfield City Council and with multiple not-for-profit agencies and organizations.
Mr. Tatum (pictured on the right), a graduate of West Point who served in the Korean War, helped establish the MARET Center. MARET stands for Missouri Alternative and Renewable Energy Technology. He has been a lifelong advocate for education.

Learn more about these deserving honorees.

Architect selected for health facility

Cannon Design was approved to design a new occupational therapy facility. Over the past several weeks, the College of Health and Human Services, our fastest growing college, has been working with a consultant to explore space needs and options. The occupational therapy program will begin in the fall of 2015, so this facility is a priority. I will keep you posted on this project as it moves along.

BKD issues “clean/unmodified” audit

BKD reported its audit findings to the Board. It called the audit “clean and unmodified.” The BKD representatives were very complimentary of the University and indicated that Missouri State is in a strong financial position.

Citizen Scholars honored

As is our practice, we honored the Citizen Scholars at the December meeting. The six recipients are highlighted below in “Telling the Missouri State story.”

It is a great group of students, and I congratulate them.

Discussion on first-generation students

The discussion topic for the December meeting was first-generation students. Given the importance of the topic and the Board’s commitment to it, services to first-generation students will continue to be a priority for us.

I invite you to review the background materials submitted on the topic and also to see the story the “Springfield News-Leader” wrote on the discussion.

More than $8 million in gifts announced

Yesterday (Wednesday, Dec. 18), the Missouri State University Foundation announced that it had received more than $8 million in gifts to benefit students, academics and athletics. The gifts will support new and renovated facilities; scholarships in a number of areas; and several academic programs.

I invite you to read more about the gifts in the news release.

Private gifts will continue to play a vital role in our success in the coming years. We very much appreciate the generosity of these donors. It is a great way to end the year.

Happy holidays

I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to the break. My break to-do list includes seeing the movie “Saving Mr. Banks,” finishing the latest John Grisham novel, traveling a little and spending time with family as I recharge for the spring semester. I hope you have a list that will recharge you, too.

2013 has been another good year at Missouri State University. Thanks for your good work. Gail and I wish you a safe and joyful holiday season and a happy new year.

—Clif

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This year’s Citizen Scholars are great examples of the three pillars of our public affairs mission. They are ethical leaders, culturally competent and engaged in serving their community. They make you proud to be associated with Missouri State.

Recognized by the Board of Governors during the December meeting, six students were selected as Citizen Scholars for their dedication to the public affairs mission of the University through course work, activities and service-learning opportunities.

2013-14 Citizen Scholars

Nii Kpakpo Ekow Abrahams, senior communication major from Joplin, Mo.
Mariah Gregg, senior philosophy major from Thayer, Mo.
Jared Horman, senior graphic design major from Camdenton, Mo.
Kris Keilty, MBA student from Rich Fountain, Mo.
Walter Orr, senior professional writing major from Kansas City, Mo.
Paige Oxendine, senior public relations and socio-political communication major from Neosho, Mo.

More detailed information is available on the Citizen Scholar Award website.

Congratulations to these students. I hope you consider nominating your outstanding students for next year’s award.

Clif’s Notes Vol. 2, No. 5

December 19, 2012 by Clif Smart

In this issue of Clif’s Notes, I review the major actions taken by the Board of Governors on Dec. 14 and also describe staffing changes intended to help us achieve our diversity goals.

Board of Governors meeting summary

At its December meeting, the Board of Governors took several actions. I want to summarize them here.

2 percent raise

The Board officially approved the 2 percent, mid-year, across-the-board raise. That raise will go into effect Jan. 1, 2013, for staff and Feb. 1, 2013, for faculty. The details of that raise, including who qualified for it, were included in the Oct. 31, 2012, edition of Clif’s Notes.

Financial audit

BKD presented the annual audit of the University. BKD reported that the audit was clean with no qualifications. BKD also commended the University for its strong financial position.

Citizen Scholars

The Board also honored the six Citizen Scholars for 2012-13. Once again, it is an outstanding group of students, who are featured below in the “Telling the story” section.

Sustainability discussion

In recent months, the Board has expressed a desire to revitalize and reinvent both its organizational structure and its regular meetings. Toward that end, the Board will now have five full meetings and two retreats per year. The Executive Committee will play a larger role, meeting monthly to handle more routine matters, which will be ratified at full Board meetings.

For the regular meetings, the Board will now focus a major portion of its time on one topic. This will allow the Board to have more thoughtful, meaningful discussion on a “big idea” that will affect the future of the University.

The topic for the first in-depth discussion last Friday was sustainability. Background materials were sent in advance, and the Board heard about 30 minutes of presentations by students, administrators, academicians and City Utilities. That was followed by about 45 minutes of discussion by the Board. The presentations were very well-done, and the discussion was very good and extremely helpful. With the guidance we received from the discussion, we will develop sustainability plans for the future and report back to the Board. I will communicate a summary of the sustainability discussion, as well as our plans for the future, in an upcoming issue of Clif’s Notes.

For the February meeting in West Plains, the discussion topic will be the expansion of academic programs on that campus. For the May meeting in Springfield, the topic will be marketing since the marketing research will be available and fresh at that time.

I believe these changes will allow the Board and the campuses to focus on some significant issues and make better use of Board members’ time and talent. This is becoming a nationwide trend, so we are in the forefront of it.

Diversity staffing

I wanted to make you aware of some staffing changes we have made in an effort to achieve our diversity goals:

Charlotte Hardin will now assist the Professional Education Unit as we work to improve diversity in our education programs. Charlotte is a Springfield native and has worked in a number of roles in student affairs for the past 28 years. In her new role, she will work closely with Dr. Chris Craig, who heads the PEU.
Juan Meraz will become the assistant vice president for diversity and inclusion. Juan had been serving as head of diversity outreach and recruitment.
Francine Pratt will soon begin working part-time in the office of multicultural programs. She will work with various student development and community initiatives housed within the Multicultural Resource Center.

These changes are effective Jan. 1, 2013. We believe they will strengthen our diversity efforts and help us move toward our goals more quickly.

Thank you and happy holidays

I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to the break. My break to-do list includes seeing the movies “Lincoln” and “Les Miserables,” reading the latest John Grisham novel, traveling a little and spending time with family as I recharge for the spring semester. I hope you have a list that will recharge you, too.

2012 has been a good year for Missouri State University, thanks to your good work. Gail and I wish you a safe and joyous holiday season and a happy new year.

–Clif

Leader. Person of high moral character. Role model.

These are just a few of the descriptions faculty nominators used for this year’s Citizen Scholars. Recognized by the Board of Governors during the December meeting, these students were selected for their dedication to the public affairs mission of the university through course work, activities and service-learning opportunities.

Six students receive the Citizen Scholar Award for their dedication to the public affairs mission. From left are: Lauren Bansbach, Amber Carr, Bethany Forrester, Anthony Hendrix, Casteel Kirk and Scott Turk.

2012 Citizen Scholars

Lauren Bansbach, a senior biology major from St. Louis
Amber Carr, a senior broadcast journalism major from West Plains
Bethany Forrester, a senior civil engineering major from Springfield
Anthony Hendrix, a junior biology major from Neosho
Casteel Kirk, a senior agriculture education major from Urbana
Scott Turk, a senior socio-political major from Springfield

More detailed information is available from the Citizen Scholar Award website.

Our Citizen Scholars are great examples of what it means to live the public affairs mission. They make you proud to be associated with Missouri State University.

I hope all faculty members will consider nominating their outstanding students for next year’s award.