football Archives - Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes for July 28, 2020

July 28, 2020 by Clif Smart

Last week I presented a draft masking policy for you to review and asked you to send me your feedback.

I received considerable feedback. Some individuals believe the policy is too lenient. Others believe the policy is too strict.

In response to the feedback I received, we have implemented a change to the draft policy.

The policy you reviewed last week did not permit faculty to wear plastic shields instead of a mask when teaching. The policy now permits faculty to wear face shields provided they are able to maintain at least six feet of distance from all students.

As a result of the feedback, I have also asked our general counsel to prepare an alternative masking policy for the board to consider at their August meeting. This alternative would require masks to be worn more broadly throughout campus.

I will seek your input on this matter again at our next town hall meeting (set for 10 a.m. — noon Aug. 5). As I have promised, we will continue to update policy recommendations based on input and current conditions.

Testing policy

We have also completed our draft COVID-19 testing policy. This policy makes testing available on campus for individuals with coronavirus symptoms who have been assessed by a physician.

It also sets out a protocol for COVID-19 testing for certain campus arrivals and through random sampling.

To remove all financial barriers, faculty, staff and students will not be charged for COVID-19 testing administered by the university.

I encourage all of you to review the policy at your convenience and send me your feedback.

Facing this together

Last week you received an email from me about our decision to transition all future SOAR sessions to a virtual format. The email noted that several SOAR leaders recently tested positive following an off-campus gathering among themselves where masking was not observed. The majority of our SOAR leaders are now under quarantine.

I want to make something very clear: I do not blame our SOAR leaders. I appreciate their willingness to wear masks during our on-campus SOAR sessions, and I recognize the difficulty they (and all of our students) face in social distancing and wearing masks as they maneuver their lives on and off-campus.

As we approach the beginning of the fall semester, it is important for all of us to recognize that our students need a campus experience that involves social contact with others. We must do all that we can to provide this experience in a safe way that observes applicable health and safety protocols.

We must also recognize that students will inevitably socialize with one another off-campus, and we must be ready to adapt our operations to address virus spikes and outbreaks throughout the semester.

This situation is also an important reminder for all students, faculty and staff of how important it is to follow guidelines to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Wash your hands. Socially distance. Wear a mask.

If you feel sick, seek medical assistance and get tested. If you test positive or were in close contact with someone with COVID-19, follow instructions on isolation and quarantine.

Our ability to remain open for the semester and hopefully return to “normal” in the spring is going to be greatly impacted by everyone’s cooperation in masking.

Fall sports update

Last week I met virtually with the presidents and athletic directors of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) to discuss our plans for fall sports. The MVC universities collectively decided to play only conference games and to delay the start of play to Sept. 18 for all our fall sports except football.

Football is decided by a separate conference — the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). Given the complexities surrounding football scheduling, the MVFC universities decided not to alter the football schedule at this time.

This decision will be re-evaluated closer to the start of football season in light of current information about the spread of the virus. We will coordinate with the NCAA and other football leagues.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Jan. 21, 2020

January 21, 2020 by Clif Smart

Last week we announced Bobby Petrino as our new head football coach.

Bobby previously served as head coach at the University of Arkansas, Western Kentucky University and University of Louisville. He has a career record of 119-56 in 14 seasons. He directed college teams to 11 bowl games and six AP top-25 finishes. He also coached Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson. He is considered one of the best offensive coaches in the history of the sport.

A successful football program is important to the profile of a major public university. It also connects the university to its community. The Board of Governors and I believed we needed to make a bold hire that had a real opportunity to change the trajectory of a program which has struggled for almost three decades.

Compliance with NCAA rules and graduation rates of student athletes are equally important to success on the field. Coach Petrino has a strong record in this area as well.

Eight years ago, Coach Petrino made a series of poor decisions that resulted in his dismissal from the University of Arkansas. He has learned from that experience and people who have known him a long time say he is a changed man. He acknowledges these decisions were his responsibility, has apologized to the state of Arkansas for his failures and worked to heal the hurt within his family.

The Bears season begins with a road game at the University of Oklahoma on Sept. 5 followed by our home opener on Sept. 12 against the University of Montana.

I hope you are as excited as I am about the future of the Bears football program and will welcome Bobby and Becky Petrino to the Missouri State University family!

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Sept. 4, 2018

September 4, 2018 by Clif Smart

Home football games and tailgating at Bearfest Village are fall traditions for our students, faculty and staff. This year, our first home football game is in the evening Sept. 6 (this Thursday) against the Lincoln University Blue Tigers.

Kickoff is at 6:05 p.m., and tailgating will start as early as 3 p.m. You can get in the football spirit before Thursday night at the fifth annual Rally in the Valley at 6 p.m. tonight in Plaster Stadium.

Minimizing disruptions

We recognize Thursday night games present disruptions on campus. This will be our only weeknight home football game this year. We have taken a number of steps to minimize disruptions. These steps include:

Subject to supervisory approval, all faculty and staff will be released from work at 4 p.m. on Sept. 6. Staff scheduled to work from 4 – 5 p.m. will be paid for that hour even though they will be released from work. Talk to your supervisor if you have not yet been told whether you will be released at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
All parking lots will be open all day Sept. 6 with only two exceptions — Lot 4 and part of Lot 22 will be closed starting at 1 p.m.

Join the festivities

Please make time to join the festivities on Thursday. A variety of campus groups will have tents at Bearfest Village, including Staff Senate, Traditions Council, International Programs and more.

For our students, we will be giving away 500 free t-shirts and free Chick-fil-A on “the Cliff” (the outdoor terrace on the east side of the stadium) on a first-come, first-serve basis.

For our faculty and staff, game and season tickets are half price. You can buy your tickets at any box office (the JQH Arena and Plaster Stadium box offices will open at 10 a.m. on game day).

Check out the full schedule for football and other athletic programs on the athletic department’s new website.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Aug. 30, 2016

August 30, 2016 by Clif Smart

The beginning of the fall semester is an exciting time at Missouri State. I hope you will read Inside Missouri State each week to stay informed about events and other happenings on campus.

Looking forward to a wonderful fall

We have many important events planned in the next several months, including:

Ozarks Celebration Festival on Sept. 9 – 11
Public Affairs Week on Sept. 12 – 19
Hunger Banquet at 5 p.m. on Sept. 12 in the PSU Ballroom
Civic Engagement Conference 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sept. 14 in the PSU Ballroom
Fall Showcase on Sept. 24
Homecoming activities on Oct. 10 – 15
Family Weekend on Oct. 28 – 30
Public Affairs Convocation featuring Sonia Nazario at 7 p.m. on Nov. 1 at Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts
Veterans Day Taps Cascade at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 11 on the South Mall
President’s Holiday Open House at 2 p.m. on Dec. 6 in the PSU Ballroom

Support your Football Bears Sept. 1

Home football games and tailgating at Bearfest Village are fall traditions for our students, faculty and staff. This year our first home football game is on Labor Day weekend. To allow students to attend the game and be part of Bearfest Village, we decided to schedule the game for the night of Thursday, Sept. 1.

We recognize Thursday night games present disruptions on campus. We have taken a number of steps to minimize these disruptions. These steps include:

Subject to supervisory approval, most faculty and staff will be released from work at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1. Staff scheduled to work between 4 and 5 p.m. will be paid for the time they are regularly scheduled to work during that period even though they may have been released from work. Talk to your supervisor if you have not yet been told whether you will be released at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
All parking lots will be open all day on Thursday, Sept. 1 with only two exceptions — Lot 4 and part of Lot 22 will be closed starting at 6 a.m.

Please make time to join the festivities on Sept. 1. A variety of campus groups will have tents at Bearfest Village, including Staff Senate, Athletic Boosters, International Programs and more. Faculty and staff are encouraged to purchase tickets to eat at the alumni tent ($10 in advance and $15 at the door.

RSVP for the tailgate

After the tailgate, cheer on our Bears to victory against Southwestern College, and take in the halftime show by the Pride Marching Band. All employees get their tickets to the game for half price.

Check out the full schedule for football and other athletic programs on the athletic department’s new website.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes Vol. 4, No. 7

December 17, 2014 by Clif Smart

In this issue of Clif’s Notes, I highlight the University’s achievement of its performance-based funding measures, provide information about the hiring of Coach Stec as our new head football coach, recap items discussed at the December Board of Governors meeting, summarize the CBHE’s coordinated planning process, and provide information about the University’s new weekly newsletter called Inside Missouri State.

State performance measures

This is the third year of Missouri’s performance-based funding model. In the past two years, Missouri State met all five of its performance measures at both campuses. We recently received confirmation that we have once again met all five of our performance measures for fiscal year 2014 on the Springfield and West Plains campuses. This means that if the General Assembly funds the performance-based funding model during the upcoming legislative session, we will receive the maximum available increase to our operating appropriation

Meeting these performance measures requires everyone at the University to work hard and achieve positive results. Thanks to everyone who helped Missouri State realize this significant success.

Head football coach

On Sunday, December 14, Missouri State hired Dave Steckel as its new head football coach. Coach Stec (he prefers to be called “Stec”) has spent the last 14 seasons with the University of Missouri, completing his tenure as associate head coach and defensive coordinator. He was the only defensive coach among the five finalists for the 2014 Frank Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach.

We have a five-year agreement with Coach Stec with a base salary of $270,000. Though this salary is $120,000 higher than the prior head football coach’s salary, no new University funds will be committed to the athletics department for Coach Stec’s salary. Sixty thousand dollars will come from salary savings due to the elimination of a position in the athletics department through attrition. The other $60,000 will be raised through private contributions from donors. You can find more information about Coach Stec in the official press release.

This is an exciting time for Missouri State’s football program. Please join me in welcoming Coach Stec to our University.

Board of Governors actions

The Board met on Friday, December 12. I want to summarize four topics that were addressed at the meeting.

First, Governor Hoven, next year’s Board chair, announced his committee assignments for 2015. Governors Carmichael, Fry, Hofherr and Hoven (ex officio) will serve on the Executive Committee. Governors Hofherr (chair), Doyle, Miller and Seal will serve on the Programs and Planning Committee. Governors Fry (chair), Carmichael, Hoven, Kimbrough and Tergin will serve on the Finance and Facilities Committee.

Second, the Board discussed the University’s broadcast services. Tammy Wiley, general manager of KSMU and Ozarks Public Television (OPT), gave a multimedia presentation to the Board. I have received positive feedback about the presentation and about the important services KSMU and OPT provide to our region.

Third, the Board approved Faculty Senate’s nominations of Elise Crain and Tom Strong for honorary Doctor of Public Affairs degrees to be award at the May 15, 2015, commencement ceremonies. Ms. Crain and Mr. Strong have served as significant volunteer leaders to the Missouri State community and to our region. Ms. Crain’s passion for education and children provided the foundation for her work as one of the founders and volunteers for the Ozark Care to Learn program, providing new clothing, shoes, hygiene kits and access to medical care for children. Mr. Strong’s notable volunteer leadership at Missouri State has included serving as president of the Alumni Association, co-founder and charter member of the basketball booster club, member of the Board of Governors, and president of the Missouri State University Foundation. Ms. Crain and Mr. Strong are very deserving of this honor, and I want to personally congratulate them.

Finally, the Board passed resolutions honoring Governors Miller, Kimbrough and Tergin for their service to the University. The terms for these governors expire at the end of the year, but each of them will continue to serve on the Board of Governors until resignation or until the Governor nominates a replacement and the Senate confirms the nomination.

A few days after the Board meeting, on Tuesday, December 16, the United States Senate confirmed Governor Bough as a Federal District Court Judge for the Western District of Missouri. Accordingly, Governor Bough has resigned from the Board of Governors.

I want to say thank you to Governors Bough, Miller, Kimbrough and Tergin. I have enjoyed working with each of you and you will be greatly missed.

CBHE’s coordinated planning process

Missouri’s Coordinating Board for Higher Education (CBHE) recently began a process to develop a new coordinated plan for the state’s higher education system titled Preparing Missourians to Succeed: A Blueprint for Higher Education. CBHE anticipates that the plan will focus on accessibility, affordability, quality and completion with regard to the state’s higher education system.

To facilitate the planning process, CBHE has appointed a steering committee and scheduled hearings throughout the state to receive testimony from higher education leaders, employers, business leaders and others. Dr. David Russell, commissioner of higher education, has appointed me to the steering committee, and I will actively participate in the hearings. Missouri State will have an opportunity to testify as part of this process during a June 2015 hearing scheduled to take place in Springfield.

Please feel free to send any comments you have about this process to my office.

Inside Missouri State

This will be the last issue of Clif’s Notes that you will receive directly from me. Beginning next semester, all faculty and staff will begin receiving a weekly employee newsletter called Inside Missouri State. The newsletter will come out on Tuesdays and is intended to replace most campus wide emails.

Inside Missouri State will become the primary means of communicating with employees on a University-wide level. It will incorporate regular communications that currently go out by individual offices, including:

Clif’s Notes
Provost Communiqué
Diversity Perspectives Newsletter
Employee Wellness Newsletter
Human Resources announcements

Inside Missouri State will also include:

Featured events
Information on University benefits and perks
Information about promotions, new hires, office name changes and retirement receptions
News about faculty and staff accomplishments
Featured blog posts

I hope you will take time each week to read Inside Missouri State. I also hope that you will help us reduce the number of campus wide emails by submitting items for campus distribution to University communications.

Information pertinent only to a certain college, department or division should continue to be sent by existing methods of communication. Notices that are required by law or policy to be sent to employees will continue to be sent by individual email.

Conclusion

I hope all of you have a good holiday break and come back to campus ready to accomplish big things in the spring semester. I plan to read; see the new movie “Unbroken,” which will be released on Christmas day; enjoy family and travel to Florida for a few days. I hope your days off are also filled with joy and happiness. Thanks for all you do for Missouri State University.

—Clif

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The Missouri State University Board of Governors designated six students as the 2014-15 Citizen Scholars at their meeting last week. These students were selected for their dedication to the public affairs mission of the University through course work, activities and service-learning opportunities.

2014-15 Citizen Scholars

Jared Bajkowski, a senior entrepreneurship major from Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Brittany Donnellan, a senior international business major with a Spanish minor from Springfield, Missouri
Jordan McGee, a senior economics and organizational communication major from Ellisville, Missouri
Samantha Nichols, a senior religious studies major with an Ozarks studies minor from Stilwell, Kansas
Konnor Temple, a senior international business major with minors in Mandarin Chinese and logistics and supply chain management from Springfield, Missouri
Jared Cates, a graduate student in the student affairs in higher education master’s program from West Plains, Missouri

Each student received a crystal globe in recognition of the award, and their names have been added to the Citizen Scholar wall in Plaster Student Union.

Please join me in recognizing the accomplishments of these remarkable Missouri State students.