Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes Vol. 2, No. 5

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Clif's Notes

In this issue of Clif’s Notes, I review the major actions taken by the Board of Governors on Dec. 14 and also describe staffing changes intended to help us achieve our diversity goals.

Board of Governors meeting summary

At its December meeting, the Board of Governors took several actions. I want to summarize them here.

Carrington Hall2 percent raise

The Board officially approved the 2 percent, mid-year, across-the-board raise. That raise will go into effect Jan. 1, 2013, for staff and Feb. 1, 2013, for faculty. The details of that raise, including who qualified for it, were included in the Oct. 31, 2012, edition of Clif’s Notes.

Financial audit

BKD presented the annual audit of the University. BKD reported that the audit was clean with no qualifications. BKD also commended the University for its strong financial position.

Citizen Scholars

The Board also honored the six Citizen Scholars for 2012-13. Once again, it is an outstanding group of students, who are featured below in the “Telling the story” section.

Board presentationSustainability discussion

In recent months, the Board has expressed a desire to revitalize and reinvent both its organizational structure and its regular meetings. Toward that end, the Board will now have five full meetings and two retreats per year. The Executive Committee will play a larger role, meeting monthly to handle more routine matters, which will be ratified at full Board meetings.

For the regular meetings, the Board will now focus a major portion of its time on one topic. This will allow the Board to have more thoughtful, meaningful discussion on a “big idea” that will affect the future of the University.

The topic for the first in-depth discussion last Friday was sustainability. Background materials were sent in advance, and the Board heard about 30 minutes of presentations by students, administrators, academicians and City Utilities. That was followed by about 45 minutes of discussion by the Board. The presentations were very well-done, and the discussion was very good and extremely helpful. With the guidance we received from the discussion, we will develop sustainability plans for the future and report back to the Board. I will communicate a summary of the sustainability discussion, as well as our plans for the future, in an upcoming issue of Clif’s Notes.

For the February meeting in West Plains, the discussion topic will be the expansion of academic programs on that campus. For the May meeting in Springfield, the topic will be marketing since the marketing research will be available and fresh at that time.

I believe these changes will allow the Board and the campuses to focus on some significant issues and make better use of Board members’ time and talent. This is becoming a nationwide trend, so we are in the forefront of it.

Juan Meraz with studentsDiversity staffing

I wanted to make you aware of some staffing changes we have made in an effort to achieve our diversity goals:

  • Charlotte Hardin will now assist the Professional Education Unit as we work to improve diversity in our education programs. Charlotte is a Springfield native and has worked in a number of roles in student affairs for the past 28 years. In her new role, she will work closely with Dr. Chris Craig, who heads the PEU.
  • Juan Meraz will become the assistant vice president for diversity and inclusion. Juan had been serving as head of diversity outreach and recruitment.
  • Francine Pratt will soon begin working part-time in the office of multicultural programs. She will work with various student development and community initiatives housed within the Multicultural Resource Center.

These changes are effective Jan. 1, 2013. We believe they will strengthen our diversity efforts and help us move toward our goals more quickly.

Students outside in winterThank you and happy holidays

I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to the break. My break to-do list includes seeing the movies “Lincoln” and “Les Miserables,” reading the latest John Grisham novel, traveling a little and spending time with family as I recharge for the spring semester. I hope you have a list that will recharge you, too.

2012 has been a good year for Missouri State University, thanks to your good work. Gail and I wish you a safe and joyous holiday season and a happy new year.

Clif Smart

–Clif

Telling the Missouri State story

Leader. Person of high moral character. Role model.

These are just a few of the descriptions faculty nominators used for this year’s Citizen Scholars. Recognized by the Board of Governors during the December meeting, these students were selected for their dedication to the public affairs mission of the university through course work, activities and service-learning opportunities.

Six students receive the Citizen Scholar Award for their dedication to the public affairs mission. From left are: Lauren Bansbach, Amber Carr, Bethany Forrester, Anthony Hendrix, Casteel Kirk and Scott Turk.

2012 Citizen Scholars

  • Lauren Bansbach, a senior biology major from St. Louis
  • Amber Carr, a senior broadcast journalism major from West Plains
  • Bethany Forrester, a senior civil engineering major from Springfield
  • Anthony Hendrix, a junior biology major from Neosho
  • Casteel Kirk, a senior agriculture education major from Urbana
  • Scott Turk, a senior socio-political major from Springfield

More detailed information is available from the Citizen Scholar Award website.

Our Citizen Scholars are great examples of what it means to live the public affairs mission. They make you proud to be associated with Missouri State University.

I hope all faculty members will consider nominating their outstanding students for next year’s award.

Budget and “Equity Funding” Compromise

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I am writing to provide some details about the $3,001,000 in “equity funding” that was allocated to seven four-year public institutions for next year (fiscal year 2013).

Compromise needed to meet deadline

In order to pass the budget by the constitutionally-mandated deadline, which is today (Friday, May 11), the House and Senate had to compromise on a proposal that would have added $2 million to the budget of Southeast Missouri State University. 

In the end, the compromise that was approved consisted of approving an equity pool to $3,001,000, which was allocated to seven public institutions based on their relative funding per student. The amounts for the seven ranged from $55,000 to $886,000.

With this compromise made, the entire $24 billion budget passed.

Reasons for excluding Missouri State

There were three reasons given for Missouri State University not being included in the proposal. 

  • The University of Missouri and Missouri State were identified as the two statewide universities, so they were separated from the other institutions.
  • Missouri State had benefited from the $2 million allocated last year to the University of Missouri-Kansas City for the Doctor of Pharmacy degree in a year where other institutions did not receive similar funding.
  • The inequity in funding for Missouri State was too significant for the pool of money that was available.

I was obviously disappointed in this decision. We were aware of the negotiations as they were occurring and aggressively lobbied our delegation to be included.

Committee to examine equity funding

While we were not awarded any additional appropriations, we were successful in having an amendment added to the bill that establishes a joint legislative committee to examine the question of equity funding for all institutions. Our legislative delegation has assured us that Missouri State will be a significant part of that discussion next year. This will be our first legislative priority next year.

You should know that several members of our area legislative delegation strongly voiced their concern that Missouri State was not included in the equity allocation. That is the primary reason the amendment was added. 

The data speaks for itself — Missouri State is relatively under-funded (third lowest) compared to the other institutions, and Missouri State will be included in any discussion about addressing that inequity.

Missouri State funded at same level as last year

On a positive note, the legislature has passed a budget which funds Missouri State at the same level as last year. Now we wait to see what withholding the Governor will make. We will know that within 45 days.

Clif’s Notes Vol. 1, No. 15

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Clif's Notes

The primary purpose of this issue of Clif’s Notes is to provide an update on the budget for fiscal year 2013.

Executive Budget Committee

The Executive Budget Committee met on Wednesday, May 2, to hear a budget update and to discuss options for fiscal year 2013. The group agreed on the major decision points, which are described below. The committee members also agreed that there was no need to meet again until early in the fall semester when we have more complete information to guide our decisions.

Carrington Hall

State appropriations

One of the major considerations is the level of state appropriations. The final decision on that will not be available until mid- to late June. I will tell you where the discussion stands at this moment.

First, a little history. As you recall, in late fall, we were advised that there would likely be a 5 percent reduction in state appropriations for fiscal year 2013. In January when the governor announced his budget, the reduction was 12.5 percent. In February, the governor amended his budget recommendation so that the reduction was 7.78 percent. This is what we have based our budget model on since that time.

As the budget has moved through the Missouri General Assembly, first the House, and then the Senate, reduced that cut so that the higher education budget would be the same for fiscal year 2013 as it is for this year — i.e., no reduction. It now appears that will be the Missouri General Assembly’s final decision.

The next step, as required by state law, is for the governor to ensure the proposed budget is balanced and decide what, if any, holdbacks he needs to make. We are hopeful he will make that decision by mid-June.

There are so many factors that must be considered and so many events to occur before mid-June that it is hard to predict what the governor will do. Most “experts” think that he will withhold at least some amount, perhaps 4 to 5 percent, but no one knows for sure.

Students with instructor

Dollars and sense

This subhead is correct — let me try to make some sense out of the dollars for you so you know what we are talking about.

  • Based on the current total funding for higher education in Missouri, each percent of state appropriations is equal to about $800,000 for Missouri State. So, a 12.5 percent reduction is right at $10 million (12.5 x $800,000) compared to $6,224,000 for a 7.78 percent reduction (7.78 x $800,000). Ultimately, the range of reduction in state appropriations for Missouri State will be between $0 and $6,224,000.
  • Another number you need to know is that every 1 percent across-the-board increase in salary and benefits for all Missouri State full-time employees (faculty and staff) amounts to about $1.4 million. So, to determine the cost for an across-the-board raise, you would multiply $1.4 million times the percentage increase — i.e., a 2 percent raise would cost $2.8 million, a 3 percent raise would cost $4.2 million and so on.
  • The total state appropriations for this year, fiscal year 2012, is $79,417,892.
  • The total income from student tuition and fees for this year is budgeted at $111,942,509.
  • The amount of income we lost because of the drop in enrollment from 2010-11 to 2011-12 was about $1 million. (Remember, all of our budget models are based on the assumption that the fall 2012 enrollment will grow back to the fall 2010 level or higher.)
  • The total Educational and General (E&G) budget is about $186 million. When you add the auxiliary units (residence halls, bookstore, Taylor Health Center, etc.), the total University budget reaches about $260 million.

Studying in a groupOptions and opportunities

With that background, the Executive Budget Committee has endorsed the following plan:

  • Concurred that the fiscal year 2013 budget that has been prepared based on the 7.78 percent reduction should be recommended to the Board of Governors on June 22
  • Agreed to wait until early fall to make recommendations on any adjustments to the fiscal year 2013 budget in order for the committee to have more complete information
  • Committed to use the first additional $1 million in additional funds to replace one-time monies currently planned for the fiscal year 2013 budget, should the ultimate reduction in state appropriations be less than expected
  • Agreed that any additional monies received should be banked until later in the fall to allow the committee to have more precise information about the governor’s decision on state appropriations, fall enrollment, health care costs, etc., allowing us to make a more informed decision on expenses

As has been the case from the beginning, I will keep you informed about our progress on the budget.

I do want to take this opportunity to publicly thank the Executive Budget Committee members for their work this year. They took their responsibility seriously, they surfaced good ideas, and they made every administrative proposal better with their discussion. They represented all of you very well.

GraduatesClosing out the semester

The days remaining in this school year are dwindling quickly. I hope the remainder of the semester is productive for you. I also hope you will attend one or more of our three commencements on Friday, May 18, to help our graduates celebrate their significant accomplishment. After all, our graduates are the evidence of our work.

So you know, a couple of days after commencement, Gail and I will travel to China for 10 days. We will participate in commencement ceremonies at Liaoning Normal University, help host three alumni events in three cities (the first-ever for Missouri State) and work on developing additional educational agreements with Chinese institutions.

Conclusion

It has been a great privilege to serve as your interim president for the past year. I want to thank you for your support, your cooperation, your positive attitude, your good ideas and your helpful feedback. As I said many times since June 27, there is no limit to what we can accomplish if we don’t care who gets the credit. You have helped me prove that this year. Thank you.

Clif Smart

–Clif

Telling the Missouri State story

One of the new initiatives this year was the alternative spring break for students. If you have not seen it already, I urge you to watch the video that documented one of those alternative breaks. It is worth five minutes of your time.

[youTubeVideo url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh_06C-1hyE” width=”540″ height=”333″]

Clif’s Notes Vol. 1, No. 13

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Clif's Notes

In this issue of Clif’s Notes, I want to update you on the budget for both fiscal year 2012 and fiscal year 2013, review major outcomes of the Board of Governors retreat, designate additional leave days for staff and highlight recent private investments in Missouri State University.

Budget updatesStudents in lecture

First, for the fiscal year 2013 budget, not much has changed since the last issue of Clif’s Notes. The Missouri General Assembly is on spring break until March 19 at which time the full House will discuss the budget.

There have been some amendments made to fully restore the higher education budget to this year’s level. It is unclear how likely those amendments are to prevail. For now, we need to continue to plan for the 7.78 percent reduction discussed in the Feb. 14 issue of Clif’s Notes. 

Proposal process

For the current year (fiscal year 2012), you have heard that Governor Nixon has released about $2.3 million to higher education. For Missouri State, that means $200,000. I want to explain how we intend to allocate those one-time funds.

Of the total, $150,000 will be for academic-related projects and $50,000 will be for non-academic projects. Our intent is to make these dollars available through a grant process, with the money available to spend through June 30, 2013.

Soon, Provost Frank Einhellig will distribute more detailed instructions and a timeline for the academic proposal process, and I will do the same for non-academic. I can tell you this much:

  • Academic — Frank has agreed to match the $150,000 with $150,000 from his reserve for a total pool of $300,000; the priority for proposals will be for initiatives that continue to enhance enrollment; proposals for summer school 2012 may be included.
  • Non-Academic — I will match the $50,000 with $50,000 from the president’s reserve for a total of $100,000; this will account for two-thirds of any proposal; the unit making the proposal must commit to funding the other third (i.e., if a proposal is $30,000, the grant will cover $20,000, and the unit will be expected to cover the other $10,000). The deadline for submitting non-academic proposals is March 30.

We look forward to seeing the proposals that come forward during this process.

Board of Governors mid-year retreatStudent in front of Carrington Hall

The Board of Governors met for its mid-year retreat March 1-2 in St. Louis in conjunction with the men’s Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament, which has become a tradition in recent years.

The primary purpose of the retreat was to update the Board on our progress in implementing the long-range plan, Our Promise. This was especially helpful to our new Board members. The Board also touched on several other items.

Presidential search

One of the main outcomes of the retreat was the Board’s decision to move forward with the presidential search. This was described to you in some detail in an email last week from Board Chair Gordon Elliott. In the near future, there will be a presidential search website that will contain all of the pertinent information as the process moves forward.

As you probably know, I will be a candidate for the position, so I will maintain some distance from the process, which I started by excusing myself at the retreat during that discussion.

Open forum

Another outcome of the retreat will be a campus open forum sometime later this spring. The purpose of the forum will be to gain campus input on recommendations to revise or eliminate several targets originally identified in the long-range plan. Prior to the forum, I will circulate the recommendations and the rationale for the changes. We will seek campus input both in writing and at the forum before finalizing and making the changes.

Scorecard

Finally, the Administrative Council and I will be working on preparing our scorecard to measure our progress on goals in the long-range plan. We will keep the main scorecard to 10 to 12 key indicators, with individual units continuing to measure a broader array of goals specific to their work.

The importance of private giftsThe Foundation for Missouri State University

On many occasions, I have spoken and written about the increased importance of private contributions given the budget challenges we are facing. Private support is critical to our ability to advance the University in many areas. That is why it was so gratifying to recently announce two significant gifts.

What started as a friendship with the staff in the Garnett Library at Missouri State University-West Plains ultimately led to a $4 million gift to support students with financial need who attend that campus. It is the largest single gift for student scholarships in the University’s history, and we very much appreciate the generosity of Lorene Thompson Brooks.

When JQH Arena was built, the budget did not allow for the completion of the Bears and Lady Bears office and locker room complex. A conscious decision was made to create “shell space” under the south lower bowl which could be completed when private gifts were available. That has now occurred, thanks to the generosity of Mr. Jim D. Morris. His leadership gift will be coupled with a gift from the McQueary Family and other donors to make that project a reality.

Speaking of the McQuearys, on April 20, we will officially open the new wing of the McQueary Family Health Sciences Hall. This new wing is a major asset for the health programs at Missouri State.

Private gifts also have assisted us in moving forward with the Gohn Hall project in West Plains, the Science Scholars’ Laboratory addition at Greenwood Laboratory School and the Robert W. Plaster Center for Free Enterprise and Business Development, the first phase of which will be completed in late fall of this year.

Two points: First, I want to offer my public congratulations and thanks to all who have made these gifts possible. In some cases, these commitments were the result of relationships built over many years. Second, please know that we continue to work with potential donors on other buildings and initiatives in support of our academic programs and our co-curricular programs. Every investment by a donor moves the University forward.

Additional leave daysStrong Hall exterior

As you know the president has the discretion to provide up to four additional days of leave for staff. For these two days, the University will close as it would for any holiday leave. The two additional leave days are as follows:

  • Friday, May 25, 2012 — this is the Friday before the Memorial Day holiday, thus providing a four-day weekend
  • Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012 — this is the day prior to the two-day Thanksgiving holiday, thus expanding this to a three-day holiday for staff

Closer to the end of the calendar year, we will address the possibility of granting additional leave days during the December/January mid-year holiday break.

Conclusion

I continue to be honored to serve as your interim president. I appreciate all you do to help Missouri State University succeed.

Clif Smart

–Clif

Telling the Missouri State story

Last week, Missouri State fraternities and sororities joined together to celebrate sisterhood and brotherhood in the Greek community through Greek Week. During Greek Week, pairs of fraternities and sororities compete against other pairs in a series of events, from philanthropy nights and service events to banners and relays. A VIP reception also honors scholastic achievement and excellence within the fraternity and sorority life community.

Gail and I attended the week’s signature events — the VIP reception and Greek Jam. At Greek Jam, about 50 students from each fraternity-sorority combination performed choreographed routines that they have been practicing since January and developing since last summer. This year’s Greek Jam winner was Sigma Kappa/Theta Chi/Alpha Phi Alpha; they were also the winners of overall Greek Week. Their winning performance can be watched below. They were fantastic as were the other groups. We were glad we were not judging.

[youTubeVideo url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf3Ton6KeTc” width=”560″ height=”316″]

Besides having a great time, these students made a difference in our community. As a whole, the fraternities and sororities raised $1,500 for Children’s Miracle Network and collected about 5,500 pounds of food for Ozarks Food Harvest. About 100 sorority and fraternity members also helped clean up Jordan Creek during a service event Saturday, March 10.

Well done. Thanks for inviting us to participate.