Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes for May 17, 2022

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In spring 2020, all of our jobs — and our lives — changed significantly when the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe.

Together we worked hard over the last two years to keep the university operating while protecting the health and safety of faculty, staff and students.

This was an arduous task, and we all worked harder and under different conditions than we ever have before. Our efforts paid off — we delivered classes, supported students and kept the university driving forward.

Thank you for all of your work.

Expiring policies

As we draw closer to COVID-19 being deemed endemic, we have reached a new stage of the pandemic. Case numbers continue to fluctuate, but we are nowhere near the highs we experienced early on.

Vaccines are readily available, hospitalization rates are much lower, and the medical community has more research and new tools at its disposal to manage COVID-19.

At the end of this semester, we will roll off the bulk of our COVID-19 policies and initiatives.

We will discontinue our COVID-19 dashboard at the end of this week. We will plan for travel, campus events, and university operations to be normal during the summer and throughout next academic year; recognizing, of course, that changes in the COVID-19 situation could require us to bring back certain mitigation policies and initiatives.

The following policies will terminate May 23, 2022:

The last of our temporary pandemic policies — the COVID-19 Emergency Paid Leave Policy — will expire June 30, 2022.

As masking continues to be required in many healthcare facilities, campus clinics will have authority to set their own masking policies.

Asymptomatic testing will continue to be available, and Magers Health and Wellness Center will continue to administer COVID-19 vaccinations and test and treat students or employees who have symptoms of COVID-19.

Celebrate our #BearGrads

I hope you will join me for commencement ceremonies on Friday and Saturday.

We will recognize over 3,100 graduates in three ceremonies on the Springfield campus and one ceremony on the West Plains campus.

At the 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. ceremonies on Friday, Dr. Frank Einhellig and Dr. Jim Baker will deliver commencement addresses. These two long-standing administrators at MSU are retiring in June, and you don’t want to miss their parting remarks. I look forward to having them by my side for one last set of commencement ceremonies.

At the 5 p.m. ceremony on Friday, Dr. Glenn Coltharp, the retiring President of Crowder College, will receive an honorary doctorate from the Springfield campus and deliver his commencement address.

At the West Plains’ campus at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Mike Ennis, owner of Eminence Manufacturing and long-time supporter of workforce training programs at Missouri State University-West Plains, will receive an honorary degree. Dr. Baker will deliver the commencement address.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for June 8, 2021

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Each year a select group of students graduate with distinction in their major. This seriously high honor is reserved for an elite group of students who graduate from the Honors College and complete a self-designed, rigorous program of course work in their major, culminating in a final distinction project.

Seventeen Missouri State students achieved this honor this May.

  • Daniel Amuedo graduated with a degree in cell and molecular biology. Daniel’s final distinction project is titled Free-Standing Liquid Membranes as a Non-Fouling Filter for the Removal of Micro-Plastics from Water.
  • Madeline Arnold graduated with a degree in speech-language pathology. Madeline’s final distinction project is titled Language Options for Children Who Are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing: A Survey of the Deaf Community.
  • Sarah Bachler graduated with a double major with distinctions in both professional writing and creative writing. Sarah’s final distinction project in professional writing is titled Hybridization of Virtual Reality and Technical Communication in Employee Training. Sarah’s final distinction project in creative writing is titled Finding Felicity.
  • Sarah Crain graduated with a degree in psychology. Sarah’s final distinction project is titled Exploration of Personality Traits and International Study Abroad Location Choice Rating.
  • Courtney Cummins graduated with a degree in psychology. Courtney’s final distinction project is titled Childhood Adversity: A Possible Stereotype Threat Affecting Resiliency and Performance.
  • Edye Fletcher graduated with a degree in nursing. Edye’s final distinction project is titled Vaccine Hesitancy Within Hispanic/Latinx Population.
  • Abby Gann graduated with a degree in cell and molecular biology. Abby’s final distinction project is titled Angiogenesis in Microvascular Endothelial Cells with UTP Stimulation of P2Y2 Receptors.
  • Rachel Haselhorst graduated with a degree in musical theatre. Rachel’s final distinction project is titled “It’s An Art”: The Importance of Communication in Collaboration.
  • Sydney Hill graduated with a degree in accounting. Sydney’s final distinction project is titled The Influence of Beta Alpha Psi on Student Graduate Success.
  • Emily Karnuth graduated with a degree in speech-language pathology. Emily’s final distinction project is titled Training Speech Pathology Graduate Students on the Typical English Grammar of Spanish-English Bilingual Children.
  • Mackenzie Morris graduated with a degree in economics. Mackenzie’s final distinction project is titled Personal Tax Exemption and Fertility in the United States: An Empirical Study by Groups.
  • Abbie Poisson graduated with a degree in cell and molecular biology. Abbie’s final distinction project is titled Pediatric-Onset Orthopedic Disorders.
  • Corey Ratsch graduated with a degree in athletic training. Corey’s final distinction project is titled A Comparative Analysis of Concussion Protocol in the National Football League and National Hockey League, as Measured by the 5th International Consensus Statement.
  • Kendall Vowels graduated with a degree in entertainment management. Kendall’s final distinction project is titled Cancel, Postpone, or Reschedule: The Live Music Industry’s Response to Ticket Refunds During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  • Daria Wiederkehr graduated with a degree in interior design. Daria’s final distinction project is titled Sustainable Interior Design: How it Can Trigger Lifestyle Changes that Will Help Protect our Planet.
  • Leanna Zelle graduated with a degree in cell and molecular biology. Leanna’s final distinction project is titled P2Y2 Receptor and VEGFR-2 dependent Angiogenesis in UTP Stimulated Microvascular Endothelial Cells.
  • Debra Zerr graduated with a degree in fashion merchandising and design. Debra’s final distinction project is titled Senior Collections “Fuego Amor.”

Please join me in congratulating these students.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Feb. 23, 2021

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The Board of Governors met last week.

The board approved a new tuition model. In-state undergraduate students currently pay tuition of $228 per credit hour for seated classes and $299 for online classes.

In 2021-22, in-state undergraduate students will pay a blended rate of $257 per credit hour for all classes. We anticipate this will result in no tuition increase for most students.

Missouri’s public universities have traditionally increased tuition each year by inflation. By approving the new tuition structure, we will break with that tradition and not increase tuition by CPI next year.

The change is revenue neutral. In 2020-21, in-state undergraduate students paid $87,630,000. Under the new model, students would have paid $87,605,000 — $25,000 less.

A large majority of students with which we interacted supported this change. It is fairer and allows students to better estimate the cost of their education. It allows the university to schedule classes, and students to decide which classes to take, without cost being a factor.

The new model also recognizes that the line between seated and online classes has blurred with many “seated” classes having a substantial online component.

CARES Act funds

The board also approved distributions of federal funds to students.

After all pending CARES Act allocations are received, the university will have $2.3 million of funds remaining from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund established by the CARES Act. Given the compliance requirements for these funds, the board determined that the best use of the Springfield campus allocation of these funds is to refund a portion of online tuition paid by qualifying students on the Springfield campus in the fall 2020 semester.

The remainder of the West Plains campus allocation will be distributed as emergency financial grants to students on the West Plains campus.

We are still calculating the exact amount of the distributions, but we anticipate the online tuition refund will be between $25 and $28 per credit hour. These refunds will be automatically applied to students’ accounts.

The board also approved the first distribution of funds from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA). The federal government has required that we distribute to students about $7.4 million of the funds we received under CRRSAA. The board approved the framework for our plan to distribute these funds as emergency financial aid grants with Pell students receiving a higher amount than other qualifying students.

We will finalize and communicate details about the CRRSAA student distributions in the coming weeks.

Refinancing approved

The board approved resolutions related to the university’s plans to refinance two sets of bonds that were originally used to finance JQH Arena, the O’Reilly Clinical Health Sciences Center, the Davis-Harrington Welcome Center, and to amend the bond issue for the purchase of Brick City Buildings 1, 3, 4 and 5. By refinancing these bonds, the university will save more than $4 million.

The board also approved an intent resolution to preserve the right to issue revenue bonds up to $25 million to finance the acquisition of the new residence hall.

Other board actions

The board approved the receipt of property (located at 326 N. Boonville) from the MSU Foundation, which will be used to house an art gallery for the Judith Enyeart Reynolds College of Arts and Letters. The board also approved the sale of property the university no longer needs located near the Bull Shoals Field Station in Taney County. The board also approved changes to the consulting contract for the Kampeter Hall project.

The board approved a new behavioral support assistant associate degree program in West Plains and an occupational therapy doctorate program in Springfield. The board also discussed the university’s new test optional scholarship package.

The board received two presentations about the university’s academic programs. In the Programs and Planning Committee, Rachel Heinz presented information about the Bear POWER program, and the board interacted with a panel of students enrolled in the program.

In the regular meeting, Dr. Nancy Gordon presented information about the university’s work in online education, and the board discussed emerging opportunities for new learning modalities. The board also interacted with a panel of four faculty members: Damon Basset, Natalie Curry, Dr. Seth Hoelscher and Dr. Margaret Weaver.

Finally, the board approved changes to its meeting schedule. These changes will allow us to have five socially distanced graduation ceremonies spread over two days in May.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for May 7, 2019

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Next week we will join our students and their families to celebrate graduation.

We will have three commencement ceremonies on the Springfield campus and one in West Plains. I will have to miss some of the ceremonies to attend my son’s law school graduation ceremony. However, I hope you will attend some or all of these ceremonies.

The first ceremony is at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 17 in JQH Arena. Graduates from the College of Humanities and Public Affairs and the McQueary College of Health and Human Services will participate in this ceremony.

The second ceremony is at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 17 in JQH Arena. Graduates from the College of Arts and Letters, College of Education and College of Natural and Applied Sciences will participate in this ceremony.

The third ceremony is at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 17 in JQH Arena. Graduates from the College of Business, Darr College of Agriculture and interdisciplinary academic programs will participate in this ceremony.

The fourth ceremony is at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 18 at the West Plains Civic Center. Graduates from the West Plains campus will participate in this ceremony.

Speakers at the ceremonies

I am particularly excited about the exceptional lineup of graduation speakers at this year’s ceremonies:

  • Jennifer Moore, the news director and content coordinator for KSMU radio, will speak at the 9 a.m. ceremony on May 17
  • Zora Mulligan, Missouri’s commissioner of higher education, will speak at the 1 p.m. ceremony on May 17
  • Stephanie Bryant, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, will speak at the 5 p.m. ceremony on May 17
  • Brian Fogle, President of Community Partnership of the Ozarks, will speak at the May 18 ceremony in West Plains

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Nov. 27, 2018

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I hope you had a relaxing break last week. I began the week cheering on the Bears at the Hall of Fame Classic basketball tournament. While in Kansas City, I met with many donors and friends of the university and two Coordinating Board members and attended two alumni events. I ended the week attending the Missouri Valley Conference volleyball tournament that we hosted in JQH Arena. In the middle of the week, I celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family.

As we face the three-week sprint to the end of the semester, I wanted to let you know about two upcoming events.

Next Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 2 p.m. I will host the annual President’s Holiday Reception in the PSU Ballroom West. You will receive an invitation to the reception this week via email. I hope you will make time to stop by.

Join me at commencement

On Dec. 14, at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., we will have our fall commencement ceremonies. Sen. Jay Wasson will receive the university’s Government Excellence Award at the 10 a.m. ceremony. This award recognizes Sen. Wasson’s support for Missouri State University through his work in support of state funding for the university, legislation that removed Missouri State’s statutory degree restrictions and other critical legislative accomplishments.

Matt Blunt will receive the Bronze Bear Award at the 1:30 p.m. ceremony in recognition of his support for Missouri State University. During his time as Governor of the State of Missouri, Blunt championed the legislation that gave our institution its name — Missouri State University.

Please make an effort to join me at these end-of-year events before we close for winter break on December 20.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!