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Clif’s Notes for Aug. 16, 2022

August 16, 2022 by Clif Smart

Earlier this month I hired Dr. Algerian Hart as interim chief diversity officer and assistant to the president. He replaces Wes Pratt who retired Aug. 1.

Algerian served as associate dean of our Graduate College. Before coming to Missouri State, he worked at Western Illinois University, University of Nevada Las Vegas and Seattle Pacific University.

Algerian has a robust academic record related to diversity, equity and inclusion including dozens of publications and presentations in the United States and abroad. He also serves as a faculty evaluator for the American Council on Education and a peer reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission.

Much of Algerian’s research and other work focuses on improving academic success of diverse students. I’m confident he’ll use that expertise to help in our efforts to create a more inclusive campus.

Committed to inclusive excellence

Cultural competence is one of the pillars of our public affairs mission, and inclusiveness is a critical value that guides our campus.

Our long-range plan emphasizes the university’s commitment to inclusive excellence.

All of us must do our part to make everyone feel welcome and a sense of belonging at Missouri State University regardless of their race, nationality, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender identity, and broadly diverse backgrounds, experiences, and characteristics.

Everyone has a place at this university, and every single student and member of our faculty and staff are important to the fabric of our community.

Algerian will pick up where Wes left off in leading our efforts to make our campus and our community more inclusive. I hope you are as excited as I am to partner with Algerian in this work.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Filed Under: Clif's Notes, Smart Tagged With: diversity

Clif’s Notes for Sept. 7, 2021

September 7, 2021 by Clif Smart

People participate in Athletics Unity Walk.

Cultural competence is one of the pillars of our public affairs mission, and inclusiveness is a critical value that guides our campus.

Our long-range plan emphasizes the university’s commitment to inclusive excellence.

All of us must do our part to make everyone feel welcome and a sense of belonging at Missouri State University regardless of their race, nationality, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender identity, and broadly diverse backgrounds, experiences and characteristics.

Everyone has a place at this university, and every single student and member of our faculty and staff are important to the fabric of our community.

Working toward a more inclusive campus

We have focused on valuing the inclusion of diversity for over a decade. That focus continues as we start this school year.

The new Multicultural Resource Center in Plaster Student Union is open. It is a welcoming space for students to interact, study and engage in campus life at Missouri State.

If you haven’t already done so, please stop by to check out this exciting new addition to our campus footprint.

During the first week of classes, we hosted a large group of students, faculty, staff, administrators and members of the Springfield community for a Multicultural Networking Reception in the Davis-Harrington Welcome Center.

Our focus was to support students engaged with our multicultural services on campus and provide them with the opportunity to broadly network with people on and off campus who are committed to helping them succeed in academics and their careers.

Last week, our student athletes and athletic staff held a Unity Walk. This walk is a tradition our student athletes started last year to demonstrate their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion at Missouri State University and to stand in solidarity with those directly impacted by injustice and racism.

We also have over 100 first-year students and over 100 returning students engaged with the Bears LEAD (Leadership, Empowerment, Achievement and Diversity) program this fall.

Bears LEAD provides students with opportunities to:

  • Meet new friends.
  • Create connections with faculty and staff.
  • Connect with mentors.
  • Explore Springfield.
  • Participate in community service projects.
  • Gain academic support.
  • Participate in personal/professional development workshops.
  • Attend cultural events and social activities.
  • And much more.

Last year we piloted a new diverse faculty mentoring program called Bear Bridge. The pilot was very successful, and we will grow the program this year.

Bear Bridge is designed to foster collaboration between junior and senior faculty during the tenure track process. I adamantly support this program and its work. If you are a tenure-track diverse faculty member, I encourage you to join this program and connect with the opportunities and resources it provides.

You can register to join the program as a mentor or mentee online.

Get involved

More events and initiatives designed to facilitate an inclusive climate on our campus will occur throughout the year. These activities are designed to facilitate an inclusive climate and institutional culture that values the rich diversity that all campus and community stakeholders bring to Missouri State University.

Examples of these events, initiatives and activities include:

  • The Facing Racism Institute will offer program opportunities throughout the fall and spring semesters and at the Collaborative Diversity Conference in the spring.
  • Professional development opportunities for faculty, staff and students addressing inclusive excellence, cultural competence, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
  • The Student Diversity in Leadership Institute and a Racial Equity Initiative for 25 BIPOC student leaders. Applications are being accepted through Sept. 10; work sessions will begin Sept. 16.
  • The United Academy for Inclusion and Belonging for stakeholders on campus and in the external community.

Please check Inside Missouri State and the university’s other communication channels for information as new opportunities to participate in campus and community events and activities arise.

Make a difference

Advancing new initiatives and attending campus events isn’t enough.

It is important that we all work every day to enhance the climate of our campus and make our community inclusive and welcoming to all comers. This requires intentional action to encourage people in our daily interactions, seek out and offer support to members of our campus community who have been excluded, and intervene when we see inequity, injustice and unfair treatment.

I hope you will join me on the journey to do this important work and continue to make our campus a welcoming environment for all.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Filed Under: Clif's Notes, Smart Tagged With: diversity

Clif’s Notes for June 15, 2021

June 15, 2021 by Clif Smart

Aerial of Carrington seal in quad area

This Friday, June 18, we will host a celebration of Juneteenth on campus. The event will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Plaster Student Union Theater and will feature a presentation by Dr. Lyle Foster on the historical significance of Juneteenth and the traditions surrounding its celebration.

The community gospel choir, led by Robert Gibson, will perform at the celebration.

Snacks will be available at no cost to attendees.

I want to encourage all faculty and staff to attend this celebration. Similar to the Staff Appreciation Picnic last month, I encourage supervisors to facilitate attendance by employees in your area.

Springfield campus closing at 3 p.m. Friday

Last month, on the Friday of Staff Appreciation Week, we closed the university from 3 to 5 p.m. We will do that again June 18.

Following the Juneteenth celebration, we will close the Springfield campus from 3 to 5 p.m.

Issues related to essential personnel, time reporting, and compensation for this closure are addressed in section 2.15 of the Employee Handbook. Supervisors will work with their staff on how to coordinate coverage if coverage is required.

IDEA Commons continues to evolve

I also want to take a moment to update you on new developments in IDEA Commons.

The Student Exhibition Center is transitioning to new gallery space at 326 N. Boonville, just south of Brick City and the Roy Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center.

The university has a contract to sell the old building on Walnut Street that has housed the Student Exhibition Center for the past 35 years. The proceeds from that sale will fund a portion of the construction cost for the John Goodman Amphitheatre.

The expansion of the Roy Blunt Center is underway, and tenant commitments are in place for a large portion of the new space. Brewer Science made a major gift to the university, resulting in the expansion being named the Brewer Science Innovation Annex.

The General Assembly appropriated $1.8 million to establish the Missouri Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in the annex.

The second-floor expansion of the efactory is complete with all of the eight new offices leased. The third-floor flexible conference and event space is also complete and ready to meet various programming and business needs.

Former Missouri Senator and current member of our Board of Governors Jay Wasson made a major gift to the university, resulting in a portion of the new efactory space being named the Jay Wasson Idea Loft. We recognized Sen. Wasson and dedicated this space last week.

Finally, the City of Springfield has unveiled phase one of its plan to daylight Jordan Creek. You can find additional information about these plans on the Renew Jordan Creek website or in relevant news reports.

We have been actively engaged with city and community leaders on this project. The project involves property currently used by the university, and we have collaborated to make this property available for daylighting the creek while minimizing impact on the university’s operations.

The university stands to lose some parking spaces to the Jordan Creek daylighting project. The university will replace these spaces by constructing new parking on other university property in IDEA Commons.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Filed Under: Clif's Notes, Smart Tagged With: diversity, IDEA Commons

Clif’s Notes for Aug. 18, 2020

August 18, 2020 by Clif Smart

Davis-Harrington Welcome Center on a sunny day

Racism and racial violence has unfortunately been a part of our history since our country was founded. Recent tragedies include the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. That these incidents continue to happen in 2020 should trouble and disturb us all.

Through the #BlackAtMoState hashtag, our current and former students share their accounts of racism experienced while they were on campus. I read these social media posts and I have asked members of our board and leadership team to read them as well.

Missouri State University works to resist racism. We aspire to make our campus a place where everyone feels welcome regardless of their race, sex, sexual orientation, sexual preference, gender identity, disability, religion, political affiliation or other characteristic.

While we have made significant progress, we have not always lived up to that goal. We must do better.

Improving the climate

This year we will continue to work to improve the campus climate and combat bias on our campus. Our leadership team is developing specific action items for this year. Examples include:

  • We will refocus our Bias Response Team and provide the team with stronger tools to intervene and address bias involving race or another protected class.
  • We will design a facility expansion of the Multicultural Resource Center.
  • We will expand our cultural consciousness and competence training. The expanded training will include curricular modifications, participation by the university leadership team in the Facing Racism Institute, creating a Student Diversity Leadership Institute for student leaders, and increasing other cultural consciousness educational opportunities for faculty, staff and students.
  • We will improve access, retention and graduate rates of underrepresented students through Bears L.E.A.D., TRIO, college access programs, Jump START, and NASPA’s First-gen Forward and First Scholars Network.
  • We will add new and expand existing recruitment and retention strategies for underrepresented faculty and staff. We track the percentage of our faculty and staff that are underrepresented. That percentage has increased over the past several years. We will work to continue that trend in the coming year.
  • We will review and modify policies and procedures to ensure equal opportunity throughout the university system. We have already begun this process by establishing a test-optional admission pathway for prospective students.
  • We will continue to develop and enhance our partnerships with HBCUs, the National Black Graduate Students Association, the Student African American Brotherhood and the Diversity Talent Hub program.

Please email president@missouristate.edu any suggestions you have for diversity, equity and inclusion action items that you would like to see included in this year’s action plan. We will present this plan to the Board of Governors in September.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Filed Under: Clif's Notes, Smart Tagged With: diversity

Clif’s Notes for June 23, 2020

June 23, 2020 by Clif Smart

Fountain with library and Glass Hall behind

Last week, the Missouri State University Foundation announced that it had received an eight-figure gift commitment from the C.W. Titus Foundation. The funds will support scholarships for students in the College of Arts and Letters. The funds will also support the university’s plans for an arts park and a permanent outdoor amphitheater.

At its meeting last week, the Board of Governors voted to name the College of Arts and Letters the “Judith Enyeart Reynolds College of Arts and Letters” in recognition of the gift from the C.W. Titus Foundation.

Reynolds worked in MSU’s department of English from 1966 until her retirement in 1994. She and her husband, Tim Reynolds (who is a trustee of the C.W. Titus Foundation), were long-time supporters of the university.

2021 budget update

The board also approved the university’s FY2021 budget. The budget assumes a loss of $9.25 million in state funding and an enrollment decline of 1,500 students.

These revenue reductions were offset with several cost-saving measures, including:

  • Freezing 68 open positions through June 30, 2021.
  • Eliminating online course incentive payments for faculty.
  • Delaying the opening of the new residence hall.
  • Reducing allocations for travel, classroom repairs, academic equipment and the president’s enhancement fund.
  • Spending $4 million of university reserves.

The budget does not include across-the-board pay reductions, furloughs, layoffs or similar personnel actions. These decisions have been delayed until we know more about fall enrollment and how much state funding Gov. Parson will withhold.

Re-opening plans

I briefed the board on our plans to reopen in the fall. My remarks to the board were consistent with what I discussed at the town hall meeting and in my Clif’s Notes since the town hall meeting.

New plans, policies and directives continue to be developed.

If you have questions related to your specific situation, I would encourage you to talk to your department head or supervisor. Dr. Frank Einhellig and I will continue to update you through our campus-wide communications as central decisions are made.

Campus climate discussion

The board also had a long discussion about race relations and campus climate. All members of our board are well aware of current events and the national conversation on racism.

I updated them on campus incidents and the ongoing conversation among members of the campus community. I shared incidents I learned about through tweets under the #blackatmostate hashtag.

We discussed the university’s plans to address racism on campus before the fall semester and throughout the coming academic year. Our leadership team will discuss and further develop these plans at our retreat later this week.

Professional Building updates

The board awarded the consulting contract to Hood-Rich Architecture for renovations to the Professional Building. Hood-Rich will assess space in the Professional Building and determine how to convert it into appropriately sized classrooms equipped with up-to-date technology and state of the art research facilities.

As part of the planned renovation, the Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic will be updated, advisement and student collaboration spaces will be created, and many mechanical, life safety, electrical and plumbing systems will be replaced.

Design will occur throughout the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters. The first phase of construction is scheduled to begin next summer.

The contract with Hood-Rich is funded entirely with private gifts.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Filed Under: Clif's Notes, Smart Tagged With: budget, Coronavirus, diversity, facilities

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