Presidential Updates

A response to recent events

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When we begin the new school year, we typically focus on areas of celebration: our continued growth in enrollment of first-time students, the completion of several major campus construction projects that will improve the student experience, recognition for our first generation initiatives and efforts and continued growth in our number of diverse students, faculty and staff.

However, we realize recent events, such as the travel advisory issued by the NAACP and the violence at the University of Virginia (UVA) may have caused some members of our campus community concern about their anticipated experiences at Missouri State and in our community.

We are deeply saddened and dismayed by the events that occurred at UVA, yet we support the peaceful exercise of free speech, expression and assembly. However, violence is not protected and cannot be condoned. We strongly condemn the racism, bigotry and intolerance shown by white supremacy organizations in Charlottesville. Missouri State University will always stand against such hate and violence while continuing to champion the promise of America for all.

Inclusion is one of our core values at Missouri State University, and we seek to lead Springfield and the state in our commitment to inclusivity. We have over 3,000 underrepresented students and approximately 1,700 international students. We are committed to providing an environment in which all can thrive educationally and professionally.

Diversity and inclusion is an important value for our university and it serves as a critical component of our vision for Missouri State. Inclusive excellence is woven into the three pillars of our public affairs mission. Diversity is also one of the university’s focus areas for its annual action plans and one of our six priorities in our 5-year Long Range Plan.

Missouri State University will continue to collaborate with partners from every sector to ensure a welcoming and inclusive environment for all of our domestic and international university stakeholders, especially our students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni and community members.

We recognize that significant challenges face our world, nation, state, and local communities. Despite these challenges, we will continue our efforts to educate students to be global citizen scholars committed to ethical leadership, cultural competence and community engagement. I hope you will join me in continuing to make Missouri State a place where all feel welcome.

Clif’s Notes for July 11, 2017

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Last month I presented the board with our Report on Action Plan for 2016-17 and highlighted our work and accomplishments over the past year. Thanks to all of your hard work, we had a very good year except in the state funding arena. Of course, that is a very important matter as we all know.

Breaking records

We graduated a record number of students, awarding 4,401 degrees and 299 certificates. We also added new academic programs in areas of critical workforce needs, including a master’s in agriculture, master’s in computer science, master’s in athletic training and master’s in early childhood special education.

We set enrollment records with 26,000 students in the system and 24,116 on the Springfield campus. We enrolled 1,782 new transfer students in fall 2016, making Missouri State the number one transfer student destination in the state of Missouri.

We set records for enrollment of underrepresented students. We expect additional growth in the coming year, making 2017-18 the first year Missouri State has enrolled more than 3,000 domestic underrepresented students. With retention initiatives like designated GEP 101 sections and restructured scholarships, the university increased the retention rate for first-time full-time freshman to 79 percent, a four point increase over a two year period. St. Louis Graduates and the St. Louis Regional Chamber recognized Missouri State as one of five Missouri colleges (only three of which were public) for “leadership in graduating low-income students, first-generation students and students of color with less debt.”

Making improvements

Aerial view of campus

We increased the diversity of our faculty and staff to 12.8 percent (up from 11.5 percent just one year ago), and we once again met our target of 20 percent of new hires being from diverse backgrounds. We also instituted many campus and community diversity training programs, including diversity training for the board and senior administrators and classroom cultural consciousness training for all new faculty and academic administrators.

We made significant facilities investments, including work on Ellis Hall, the Professional Building (third floor), Cheek Hall (computer labs), Blair-Shannon House (bathrooms), Glass Hall, the Health and Wellness Center and Hass-Darr Hall in West Plains.

We improved safety on campus by completing an IACLEA LEMAP assessment in Springfield and West Plains, reallocating money to hire a manager of emergency preparedness, completing a hazard identification risk assessment, revising emergency response plans and policies, increasing campus cameras to 472 digital and 92 analog, and enhancing our information security protections.

We expanded our entrepreneurial activities, completed a second cohort of the business accelerator program, and kicked off several new initiatives and activities like Rosie, the Springfield Entrepreneurial and Innovation Network, and customized corporate innovation events. We received numerous accolades for our entrepreneurial activities, including Entrepreneur Magazine ranking The eFactory third in its national list of “seven incubators that can help your startup.”

We received significant external support with grants and sponsored contracts and private contributions through the Foundation each topping $19 million. We won four conference championships in athletics with our athletes earning the highest overall grade point average in history.

The list of great things we were able to accomplish this year goes on and on.

I want to thank all of you for your commitment to Missouri State. These accomplishments are possible only through the combined effort of our entire team of faculty and staff.

Keeping an eye on the budget

We spent a lot of time last year working on the budget in light of state funding cuts. Before the new fiscal year began on July 1, the governor announced a new set of spending restrictions that will impact Missouri State. In essence, the state intends to fund Missouri State and all other public universities and community colleges using the 9 percent reduction that the governor initially recommended rather than the 6.58 percent reduction passed by the legislature.

The university’s budget assumes a 9 percent reduction, so we will not have to make any immediate adjustments. However, unless the governor lifts the spending restrictions in the near future, it will be difficult to move forward with a mid-year compensation package.

Work has already begun to develop strategies to fund strategic investments in next year’s budget. One such investment will be a compensation package for employees. I will update you when this work materializes into a plan.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for April 18, 2017

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Clif's Notes

One of our signature public affairs events, the Collaborative Diversity Conference, is this week Thursday and Friday. I encourage all of you to register for the conference and attend.

Exceptional programmingDiversity conference presentation

The theme for this year’s conference is “practice what you preach in diversity and inclusion.” The conference will inspire a more in-depth commitment to our public affairs mission by encouraging participants to do more than just speak about diversity and inclusion. The conference will present viable ways for attendees to implement diversity and inclusion practices into their lives.

While the official conference begins on Thursday, there will be a pre-conference session with “American Textures” film director Arnd Wachter. A networking event will follow the session at Q Enoteca.

Conference sessions throughout Thursday and Friday will be highlighted by:

The Collaborative Diversity Conference is an important way the university advances the public affairs mission. I will be out of the country for this year’s conference, but I will be participating in one of the sessions via Skype.

If you have not already done so, I would encourage you to register for the conference and participate in our efforts to become a more culturally conscious university, community and state.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Nov. 1, 2016

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Clif's Notes

As you know, the university has identified two focus areas for the 2016-21 long-range plan:

  • Increasing the number of graduates while maintaining academic rigor and quality
  • Enhancing campus diversity and inclusion

Keeping ourselves accountable19273 MSU Spring 10 am Commencement. diverse

At the October Board of Governors Programs and Planning Committee meeting, we worked with the board to finalize specific measurable goals. These goals will be used to hold the university accountable and to ensure that progress is made in these focus areas. The goals, along with historical data, are reflected in the tables below.

Degrees and certificates awarded annually (July 1-June 30)
Fiscal year Degrees and certificates
FY12 4,473
FY13 4,311
FY14 4,409
FY15 4,431
FY16 4,642
Goal FY21 4,900
Six-year graduation rate
Cohorts Graduation rate
2006 cohort in 2012 55%
2007 cohort in 2013 53%
2008 cohort in 2014 55%
2009 cohort in 2015 52%
2010 cohort in 2016 55%
Goal fall 2021 57%
First-year to Second-year retention rate (fall to fall)
Year Retention rate
2011-12 75%
2012-13 75%
2013-14 75%
2014-15 78%
2015-16 79%
Goal fall 2021 82%
Six-year graduation rate
Cohorts Pell-eligible First-generation Hispanic/Latino Black African-American Two or more races
2006 cohort in 2012 51% 47% 41% 40% 57%
2007 cohort in 2013 48% 46% 48% 44% 59%
2008 cohort in 2014 50% 46% 42% 32% 61%
2009 cohort in 2015 45% 44% 45% 35% 46%
2010 cohort in 2016 49% 48% 52% 33% 43%
Goal fall 2021 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
First year to second year retention rate (fall to fall)
Year Pell-eligible First-generation Hispanic/Latino Black African-American Two or more races
2011-12 65% 71% 75% 74% 66%
2012-13 68% 65% 73% 66% 63%
2013-14 66% 61% 71% 71% 67%
2014-15 72% 73% 78% 69% 72%
2015-16 71% 72% 75% 74% 83%
Goal fall 2021 79% 79% 79% 79% 79%
Faculty and staff that are international or members of historically underrepresented groups
Year Percentage
Fall 2011 10.5%
Fall 2012 10.7%
Fall 2013 10.6%
Fall 2014 11.0%
Fall 2015 11.5%
Goal fall 2021 14%

Understanding the numbers18903 Fall scenes on campus. Bob Linder/ Missouri State

These goals are not intended to be static. The university will review these goals each year when it unveils its annual action plan. Should the university achieve a measurable goal, the university may set a new goal or refocus. Likewise, if achievement of a goal becomes improbable, the university will explain the reasons for not meeting the goal and establish a new goal or goals that the university has a realistic opportunity to achieve.

Work is underway to achieve these goals. Specific action items are listed in the 2016-17 Action Plan. Earlier this fall, over 50 representatives from Missouri State University participated in a statewide Complete College America 15 to Finish, which we hosted on our campus. Conversations are ongoing to implement the strategies discussed at this conference. We are hopeful that these strategies, along with the action items in the 2016-17 Action Plan, will result in progress toward our measurable goals.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Respect and inclusiveness are an important part of our campus

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Since I have been president of Missouri State University, one of our top priorities has been to create an inclusive environment on campus and to encourage everyone to respect the differences among individuals in our campus community and beyond. We’ve updated policies and provided training to students and employees on campus to help make this happen.

This week we had an incident involving a member of the Greek community on campus and his interactions with a transgender individual from the Springfield community. Unfortunately, the actions of the student did not reflect the inclusiveness or respect that we have been trying to develop in our students. The student bullied and humiliated the victim. Such actions are both disappointing and unacceptable.

As we would hope, the leader of the fraternity consulted with our Title IX coordinator for guidance when he learned what had happened. As an organization with zero tolerance for this kind of behavior, the fraternity swiftly took action to discipline the student and reach out to the victim.

We applaud the leader of the fraternity not only for responding quickly and taking appropriate disciplinary action with the student, but also for the respect shown toward the victim.