Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes for March 22, 2022

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Last week President Biden signed legislation that funds the federal budget for the current fiscal year. It includes more than $56 million for Missouri State University.

  • $50 million for the renovation of and addition to Temple Hall.
  • $3 million for a faculty endowment in health and life sciences on the Springfield campus.
  • $2.5 million for a hospital simulation lab on the West Plains campus.
  • $525,000 for equipment and technology upgrades to support STEM research and teaching on the West Plains campus.

The budget also includes more than $28 million for projects with university partners at the Roy D. Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center.

Transforming our STEM facilities

The funding included in this budget will provide substantial support for the first phase of the Center for Transformational Education for Life, Physical, and Health Sciences. We will construct an addition to Temple Hall and renovate existing space in the building, transforming it into the Ozarks Health and Life Science Center.

The university is currently working with Gov. Mike Parson, Sen. Lincoln Hough, and other lawmakers to obtain state funding for the remaining costs to renovate and construct an addition to Temple Hall. Parson included these funds in his budget recommendations.

The General Assembly will complete its work on the state budget in early May.

An incredible advocate for MSU

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt led the effort to secure the federal appropriations for MSU. He was the driving force behind getting this done for Missouri State.

Blunt has been a leading advocate for MSU and for southwest Missouri. This campus would look a lot different without his work. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude, and I hope you will join me in thanking him for his work this year and throughout his career.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for March 1, 2022

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We hosted our federal government relations team for meetings on campus last week.

They updated us on the status of the budget for the current fiscal year. We anticipate the federal budget to be passed before the current continuing resolution expires March 11.

We continue to advocate that the budget include funding for life, physical, and health science facilities and equipment on our Springfield and West Plains campuses.

We also conducted several meetings to discuss a variety of campus plans and projects with an eye toward developing priorities for next fiscal year.

Our team met with leadership at IDEA Commons and the office of research administration. They also met with Tom Peters to discuss our coordination of the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

They met with academic leadership in the Darr College of Agriculture and the College of Education.

Finally, they met with academic leadership in the College of Natural and Applied Sciences and the McQueary College of Health and Human Services to discuss the next phase of opportunities in life, physical and health sciences at Missouri State University.

Thanking a long-time MSU supporter

Sen. Roy Blunt has been our lead advocate in Washington, D.C., for many years. I had the opportunity last week to publicly express my and the university’s gratitude for his work.

The Missouri Times honored Sen. Blunt with the Statesman of the Year recognition. Because of my relationship with Sen. Blunt, I was one of only five individuals selected to speak at the awards banquet.

I focused on Sen. Blunt’s work to secure funding for projects that have enhanced MSU and the State of Missouri. I also discussed Sen. Blunt’s leadership in putting MSU on an international stage by selecting our Chorale to perform at the 2017 Presidential Inauguration.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Nov. 16, 2021

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The Board of Governors Executive Committee will meet Wednesday afternoon.

The committee will vote on a resolution to award a $2.7 million contract to John Adams Construction Company for the welding lab renovation at the Broadway Building on the West Plains campus. In addition to submitting the lowest and best bid, John Adams Construction Company is a local general contractor based out of West Plains.

We are excited to partner with a local company to complete this transformative project for the university and the West Plains community.

The committee will also vote on two resolutions for projects on the Springfield campus. The first resolution awards a contract to MTS Contracting, Inc. for repairs to the exterior of Woods House and Wells House on the Springfield campus.

The second resolution hires Clark Huesemann LC as the consultant for infill work at the Roy Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center Brewer Science Innovation Annex.

Finally, the committee will vote on two critical procurement contracts.

The first is a contract for reinsurance — or stop loss coverage — for the university’s employee group medical plan.

The second is a contract to purchase $2.3 million in equipment needed to expand capacity of the district chilled water system to more reliably serve the campus and allow for the connection of Kampeter Hall to the system.

Open enrollment: Select the right benefit options for you

We are over halfway through November. That means you only have two weeks left to complete open enrollment for your employee benefits.

Open enrollment is the annual period during which you can elect, decline or make changes to your medical, dental, vision and cafeteria/flexible spending plans for the coming calendar year.

The open enrollment deadline is Dec. 1.

You can find more information about open enrollment, including instructions for how to complete open enrollment online or over the phone, on the open enrollment webpage.

Save $360 on health insurance premiums

You also only have two weeks left to save up to $360 on your annual health insurance premiums.

This year’s wellness incentive includes the following vaccination combination:

  • COVID-19 vaccination qualifies for $20 per month discount.
  • Flu vaccination qualifies for $10 per month discount.

Both vaccinations must be completed prior to Dec. 1 to qualify.

Employees who did not complete their vaccination at Magers Health and Wellness Center must contact Magers to submit their vaccination information before Dec. 1 to qualify for the discount.

Thanksgiving break next week

We will not publish Inside Missouri State next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

I hope you take a well-deserved break and find time to relax and recharge before we march forward to the end of the fall semester.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Oct. 19, 2021

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In April I told you about our plans to construct an addition to and renovation of Temple Hall. Today I am pleased to report that we are making progress on those plans.

Last week the Board of Governors approved a $4.1 million contract with BNIM to design the first two phases of the project. The first phase envisions a 65,000 to 90,000 square foot addition that will house research laboratories.

The second phase will renovate the existing building. Combined, the two phases will cost at least $60 million.

Design will occur this fall and continue through next year. Work is scheduled to begin on the project in fall 2022.

We are using university reserves to fund this design work. Meanwhile, we continue to advocate for funding for the project.

Advocating for federal funding

Sen. Roy Blunt was on campus to tour Temple Hall and meet with faculty last week. Sen. Blunt is leveraging the congressionally directed spending process in Washington, D.C. to advocate for federal appropriations to fund the project.

Our government relations team and I have worked closely with Sen. Blunt and his staff on this process.

Sen. Blunt has a strong affinity for Missouri State University. He is a proud alum of MSU, graduating with a master’s degree in history in 1972.

He was born and raised on a farm about 40 miles from the university. In more recent years, Sen. Blunt has lived just a few blocks north of campus and can regularly be found at various campus events and activities.

Sen. Blunt has actively supported many of our operations at Missouri State University. Many of the university’s grants and external contracts are thanks, in whole or in part, to Sen. Blunt’s work.

Beyond funding, he has worked tirelessly to promote our faculty, staff and students domestically and abroad. This work is exemplified by his decision, as chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, to invite the MSU Chorale to perform at the inaugural ceremony for the 45th president of the United States.

In addition to his strong support for MSU, Sen. Blunt has been a fierce advocate for higher education and the sciences.

Sen. Blunt is the top Republican on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that funds the Department of Education as well as Health and Human Services. In that role, he has prioritized funding for the National Institutes of Health.

Under Sen. Blunt’s leadership, NIH funding increased 43% — $12.85 billion — over the last six years. He also championed funding increases for STEM and computer science education, apprenticeship programs, TRIO, and the Pell Grant program, including support for year-round Pell.

I have had the pleasure of working with Sen. Blunt throughout my presidency. Whenever I have called upon Sen. Blunt for help, he has zealously and eagerly taken up our cause. I am glad to call him a friend.

Seeking state support

In addition to federal funding, we are advocating for state funding to support the project.

In September Gov. Mike Parson requested proposals for matching capital to fund transformational higher education projects. We submitted a request for funds to expand our STEM facilities on campus.

Like Sen. Blunt, Gov. Parson has loyally supported MSU and championed the cause of higher education and workforce development.

We are grateful to have partners like Gov. Parson, Sen. Lincoln Hough, and others in Jefferson City to advocate on our behalf. Our elected officials are well aware of our campus needs, and they work tirelessly to position Missouri State University for success as funding decisions are made.

Similar to the federal funding process, we will not know the fate of state appropriations for several months.

In the meantime, we will press forward with designing the Temple Hall project to ensure that it is shovel-ready as funding decisions are made.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Sept. 21, 2021

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The Board of Governors Executive Committee met last week.

David Hall and I provided an update on the status of COVID-19 on campus and in our community. We are in a much better position this semester than we were last fall and last spring in terms of case counts, positivity rate and all other relevant metrics.

The board applauded all of our efforts to advocate for vaccination and adhere to the masking policy.

Helping our students

The board approved our plan to distribute federal stimulus funds to our students.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) allocated $20.8 million to the Springfield campus and $1.8 million to the West Plains campus for distribution to our students. These funds are separate from the funds allocated to the university to offset lost revenue and certain COVID-related expenditures.

We distributed a small portion of the funds to students during the summer. The board approved a plan to distribute almost all of the remaining funds.

  • Currently enrolled domestic students will receive at least $1,000.
  • Pell-eligible students will receive additional funds.
  • International students may also apply to receive funds.

We plan to disperse these funds over the next six weeks.

Movement on the underpass project

The Executive Committee also hired Nabholz Construction Corporation, a construction management at risk firm, to perform professional management services for the Grand Street Underpass project.

The board set a $3.8 million budget for the project. The board can expand that budget to include a second phase if additional funding comes available through Congressionally directed spending.

We continue to work with Rep. Billy Long to advocate for this funding.

Advocating for MSU

The Missouri Coordinating Board of Higher Education (CBHE) also met last week.

The CBHE voted to advance our proposal to offer a Doctor of Occupational Therapy program to Phase II of the comprehensive review process. I want to give a special thanks to Drs. Frank Einhellig, Julie Masterson, Mark Smith, Letitia White-Minnis, Sapna Chakraborty and everyone else who have worked tirelessly on this proposal.

The CBHE approved a rule implementing changes to the Higher Education Student Funding Act (HESFA). Public universities will no longer be limited by law to inflation on tuition increases. The revised rule goes into effect and limits a university’s ability to charge course fees in certain situations. Based on the language in the rule and our conversations with staff at MDHEWD, we do not believe the new rule will impact our tuition and fee model.

The CBHE also approved budget recommendations that will be advanced to Gov. Mike Parson.

These recommendations include:

  • An inflationary increase for public university operating appropriations.
  • A deferred maintenance allocation for each university (calculated at 3% of each university’s core operating appropriation).
  • A $9 million appropriation increase for the Access Missouri financial assistance program and an $18 million appropriation increase for the A+ dual credit scholarship program.
  • Renewal of the Fast Track enabling legislation and removal of the clawback/forgivable loan provisions in the program.

We support these recommendations and will work with Gov. Parson’s office to advocate that they be included in his budget recommendations and policy priorities when legislative session begins in January.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!