HLC Archives - Presidential Updates

2016 State of the University address

September 19, 2016 by Clif Smart

Clif Smart and Frank Einhellig will present the State of the University address at 12:15 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016, in the Plaster Student Union theater. You can also watch the live stream below.

Asking questions

During the speech, President Smart and Provost Einhellig will accept questions online:

Supplemental information

Broadcast information

For those who cannot attend in person, the speech will be recorded for replay at 7 p.m. on Sept. 28 on KSMU 91.1, 88.7 in Mountain Grove, 90.3 in West Plains, 98.9 in Joplin, 103.7 in Neosho, and KSMS 90.5 in Branson.

The speech will be televised on Ozarks Public Television at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 2.

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2015 State of the University Address ‘Our Passion for Excellence’

October 1, 2015 by Clif Smart

Clif Smart and Frank Einhellig presented the State of the University Address at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015.

Supplemental information

Broadcast information

For those who could not attend in person, the speech was recorded for replay at 7 p.m. on Oct. 1 on KSMU 91.1, 88.7 in Mountain Grove, 90.3 in West Plains, 98.9 in Joplin, 103.7 in Neosho, and KSMS 90.5 in Branson.

The speech will be televised on Ozarks Public Television at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 4.

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Clif’s Notes for Sept. 29, 2015

September 29, 2015 by Clif Smart

The next few weeks are important and busy ones for Missouri State. I hope you’ll get involved.

Campus encouraged to get involved in HLC visit, State of the University address and Denim Day

HLC accreditation visit

Missouri State University has been continuously accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) since 1915. The HLC accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in the 19 states of the North Central region of the United States.

Accreditation with the HLC is critical to our work at Missouri State. Accreditation allows the University to award degrees, participate in financial aid programs and engage in other educational activities.

A team of HLC peer reviewers will be on the Springfield campus Oct. 5 and 6 to conduct a site visit as part of Missouri State’s reaffirmation of accreditation process. I encourage each of you to participate.

The Assurance Argument is the major document we submit for reaccreditation. You can review the executive summary for Missouri State’s Assurance Argument or the entire Assurance Argument on the University’s accreditation webpage.

Please also feel free to participate in the open forum meetings with the HLC team:

Open forum discussion for Criteria 1 and 2 from 10:10 to 11 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 5 in the PSU Theater
Open forum discussion for Criteria 3 and 4 from 1:25 to 2:15 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 5 in the PSU Theater
Open forum discussion for Criterion 5 from 9 to 9:50 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6 in the PSU Theater
Drop in session from 2:30 to 3:20 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 5 in PSU 308
Drop in session from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6 in PSU 308

State of the University address

Please join me for this year’s State of the University address from 12:30-1:45 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1 in the PSU Theater. You can also livestream the address.

The address will be titled “Our Passion for Excellence.” Dr. Einhellig and I will make brief remarks about the achievements Missouri State has realized over the past year and plans for the coming year.

How to participate

In efforts to increase audience participation, our protocol for questions and answers will be a bit different this year than in year’s past.

First, you can tweet questions using the hashtag #msuchat.
Second, you may post a question on the livestream webpage.
Third, you can write your questions on notecards available in the PSU Theater during the speech.

The questions submitted in these three ways will be answered twice during the address, once at the end of my remarks and again at the end of Dr. Einhellig’s remarks. Additionally, questions may be asked in person at the end of the address with an open microphone.

Slides and a video of the presentation will be available on the office of the president webpage after the address.

Staff Senate Denim Day

Please consider participating in the Staff Senate’s fundraising to support breast cancer research. The week-long drive culminates with the Lee National Denim Day, one of the largest single-day fundraisers for breast cancer, a disease that impacts countless lives every year. There are at least 18 known survivors on our campus.

Donate then wear denim on Oct. 2

All employees are invited to donate $5.00 to the cause and wear denim and their BearWear on Friday, Oct. 2 Collection coordinators are in different buildings and are available to accept your donation.

Name	Location
Tammy Dixon	Carrington 311
Kimberly Dixon	Stores and Maintenance 102
Suzanne Moskalski	Craig Hall 375
Jennifer Meyer	Hill Hall 109
Emily Furtak	Meyer Library 215
Lisa Searles	Morris Center for Continuing Education 200
Cindy Elliot	McQueary 204
Denise Baumann	Hammons House 101
Brenda O’Connell	Hammons Student Center 32
Terrill Harvey	Baker Bookstore

Or, if you prefer, you may contact Kelly Bridges, Denim Day Committee chair, at kkbridges@missouristate.edu.

Attend luncheon on Oct. 28

Among the fundraising events is a University-wide luncheon on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in the Plaster Student Union Ballroom.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes Vol. 2, No. 9

April 16, 2013 by Clif Smart

In this issue of Clif’s Notes, I provide an update on the legislative session, announce the Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame, share information on the Higher Learning Commission and provide information about a new pricing structure for Lady Bear tickets.

Update from Jefferson City

There is about a month left in the 2013 session of the Missouri General Assembly. I wanted to give you an update on the status of the operating budget and other issues in Jefferson City.

Operating budget

As you recall, for fiscal year 2014, the Governor recommended $34 million in additional funding for higher education allocated based on success in achieving the five performance measures. For Missouri State, that amounted to an increase of about 4.3 percent or $3,335,974, for a total state appropriation of $81,885,437.

In the House version of the budget, the increase was reduced to $20 million and it was allocated “across-the-board” at slightly more than 2 percent for an increase of $1,795,498 for Missouri State and a total state appropriation of $80,344,961.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has adopted the Governor’s recommendation on the operating budget. That version should go to the Senate floor in the near future.

As is the case every year, there will be a conference committee to discuss the differences and come to a final recommendation for both the House and Senate to finally approve. If there is an increase in our appropriations, our commitment is to use most of the additional money to improve the compensation for our faculty and staff.

Additional funding

The Senate Appropriations Committee added in two additional funding pieces that affect Missouri State.

First, $1,325,000 in on-going funding was added to support the new Occupational Therapy program on the Springfield campus ($825,000), as well as expansion and improvement of various health programs on the West Plains campus ($500,000).

Second, $150,000 was added for Missouri State-West Plains and Three Rivers Community College to provide an “education training center” in Willow Springs. The two institutions are working with the City of Willow Springs and the Missouri Department of Higher Education to develop a plan to provide both general education (West Plains) and technical programs (Three Rivers) to that community.

Again, both of these items would go to the conference committee since they are only in the Senate version of the budget.

Bonding for capital projects

It has been more than a dozen years since there was a statewide capital funding appropriation for higher education. Because of that, along with the current low interest rates and other factors, there has been significant discussion about bonding capital projects. That discussion continues, but there is not agreement on the total amount, the process or if it should focus on new construction or maintenance and repair. We continue to be involved in these discussions, and we are hopeful there will be some funding support for capital projects.

Other legislation

We are tracking a number of other pieces of legislation, from the higher education funding formula, to allowing weapons on campus, to additional benefits for military veterans and more. We also are monitoring tax credit reform, income tax reductions and the discussion on Medicaid expansion since all of these could impact the general revenue of the State and ultimately impact higher education.

The 2013 session of the Missouri General Assembly concludes on Friday, May 17. I will continue to update you on significant developments.

Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame

The ninth annual Public Affairs Conference was another great success. I congratulate Dr. Gilbert Brown, conference chair, and his team for highlighting Inclusive Excellence as the theme. I hope you were able to attend several of the events.

At the Conference, we announced that Missouri State has created the Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame. This will be a signature event and yet another step in both the maturing of the statewide mission and expanding the understanding of the mission statewide. I invite you to learn more about the award and consider nominating a deserving individual. The deadline for nominations is Aug. 31, with the inaugural class to be inducted in the spring of 2014.

Finally, the Distinction in Public Affairs Student Presentations this year were outstanding. We have featured some of those below in the Telling our Story section.

Higher Learning Commission update

We continue to prepare for the Higher Learning Commission accreditation, with our report due in the spring of 2015 and the site team visit to campus in the fall of 2015.

Toward that end, several of us attended the annual meeting of the Higher Learning Commission in Chicago April 5-9. Those attending from Missouri State University included Frank Einhellig, Steve Foucart, Joye Norris, Don Simpson, Lynn Cline, Keri Franklin, Tammy Jahnke and me. It was a great opportunity for everyone to learn more about the newly adopted criteria for accreditation along with the new open pathway.

Frank and Tammy made the presentation “Program Review: Policy, Review Cycle and Assessment of the Process – Lessons Learned,” which covered the Missouri State academic program review process from 2000 to the present. Review the information in the presentation.

Mission statement

The first criteria for accreditation is: “The institution’s mission is clear and articulated publicly; it guides the institution’s operations.” Our mission is clearly documented in all publications including catalogs and on our website, and I continue to be impressed by the number of students, faculty and staff who can recite most or all of it. It is:

Missouri State University is a public, comprehensive metropolitan system with a statewide mission in public affairs, whose purpose is to develop educated persons. The University’s identity is distinguished by its public affairs mission, which entails a campus-wide commitment to foster expertise and responsibility in ethical leadership, cultural competence and community engagement.

Sometimes, I shorten the mission statement to this:

Our goal is to develop educated persons. Our mission is public affairs.

Regardless of which you use, it is important for lots of reasons, including the HLC accreditation, that the mission is widely known and understood. It also will be important that we show that it guides our operations.

Tasks completed

Missouri State’s Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Steering Committee has accomplished three specific tasks during this past academic year. It has started to identify evidence that shows that Missouri State meets the HLC assumed practices, the HLC criteria and the concerns noted in the 2006 team report from HLC. Drafts of each of these works in progress are posted on the committee’s website.

As the Steering Committee has been working on this, the Assessment Council and assessment director have been working on Missouri State University’s Quality Improvement Project (QIP). This project will be collecting evidence of student learning as it relates to our public affairs mission. The results of this evaluation along with an assessment of the process will be available early in fall of 2013. Starting in fall of 2013, the Steering Committee will be completing the list of evidence.

New leader for Lady Bears

On April 10, we announced that Kellie Harper would be the new Lady Bears basketball coach. Kellie comes with great credentials, both on and off the court as you can see from the news release. We expect great things from her and her team in the coming years. I hope you soon will have a chance to meet and welcome Kellie and her husband, Jon.

In conjunction, we are reinventing the ticket pricing for Lady Bears games. There will be plenty of publicity on this in the coming weeks, but I wanted you to know that we have drastically reduced the price of season tickets in the lower bowl of JQH Arena. The vast majority of the lower level season seats will be $120 without a seat assessment. With the half-price faculty and staff discount, that means you can see 18 home Lady Bears games next year for $60. If you want to sit in the end zone, your price will be $40 (half of $80).

I ask that you take a serious look at purchasing a season ticket. Athletics can be another rallying point for our campus as we have seen during the March Madness at all levels in both men’s and women’s tournaments. It is another piece of making Missouri State the kind of institution we want it to be. Given that, I would ask that you support the student-athletes who compete for the Lady Bears and all of our teams. They deserve our support. Thanks for your consideration.

Conclusion

The clock is ticking on this semester. We have about a month to go and lots to accomplish in those four weeks. As always, I hope all of us can finish strong so we feel good about our accomplishments for 2012-13. Thanks for all you do.

—Clif

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The Public Affairs Conference kicked off Tuesday, April 9, with presentations from some of our own — a group of 46 civic-minded undergraduate students to be exact.

These presentations were part of the students’ year-long involvement in the Distinction in Public Affairs program. Asked to identify and research a solution to a social issue on our campus or in the Springfield community, the groups put our public affairs mission to good work. The presentations included:

Stepping Outside the Zone shared students’ perspectives on what it’s like to step out of their zone.
Autism Speaks, Missouri State Still Listens* focused on raising autism awareness on campus by contributing to the Light It Up Blue campaign.
Filling in Nutritional Gaps sought to better the health and nutrition of homeless youth by educating them about eating healthy on a budget.
Putting our Best Foot Forward raised money for Isabel’s House Crisis Nursery by setting up an informational booth outside a local Wal-Mart. They also developed a great brochure for the organization.
Try This, Not That: Missouri State Style integrated health and nutrition resources on campus and in the community into an interactive program to address the dreaded MSU 22.
Eyes Open: Suicide Prevention in College developed a powerful suicide awareness video for college students. I encourage you to take a moment and watch it.
What’s Good MSU? A Positive Spin on Anonymous Twitter Accounts explored how the effect of positive communication on social media can change a student’s view of campus life. You can follow their efforts on Twitter.

Review the complete list of the students and presentations.

Public affairs as expressed by students

It was inspiring to hear how our students are integrating the public affairs mission into their lives as students and as citizens of our community. I’ll leave you with some of their thoughts on the experience:

“I feel so much more connected to Missouri State and all it has to offer. This experience makes me proud to be a Bear and connected to our public affairs mission.” – Chelsey Stepp, media production major, What’s Good MSU?

“One of the greatest parts of our project was the strong response we received from the Greek community at Missouri State… Their hard work was such an important aspect of our project, and with their help, we were able to share our message about autism awareness to over 55,000 people.” – Ashley Bennington, marketing major, Autism Speaks

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Clif’s Notes Vol. 2, No. 6

January 16, 2013 by Clif Smart

In this issue of Clif’s Notes, I share information about our two new Board of Governors members, provide a progress report on our Higher Learning Commission accreditation, outline the action steps on sustainability, highlight the recently completed Our Promise campaign, announce Earle Doman’s retirement and give the charge for a task force on women’s athletics.

Two new Board members named

Two Missouri State alumni have been named as the new members of the Board of Governors. Carrie Tergin and Joe Carmichael were named to the Board on Jan. 9 by Governor Jay Nixon. They will come before the Missouri Senate for confirmation by early February.

Carrie Tegin

Carrie Tergin, a lifelong resident of Jefferson City, will represent the 3rd Congressional District. She earned her business management degree from Missouri State University. Ms. Tergin is the third generation managing her family’s business, Carrie’s Hallmark Shop in downtown Jefferson City. She was elected to the City Council of Jefferson City in 2008 and still serves on the council, and she is involved in a number of civic and professional organizations.

Joe Carmichael

Joe Carmichael, an attorney, is president and law firm manager for Carmichael & Neal, PC, in Springfield. He is from the 7th Congressional District. He received his bachelor’s degree from Missouri State with majors in French and business, and his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Arkansas. Of particular interest, he was an associate professor in the Missouri State School of Business from 1976-79.

In case you are interested, the Board of Governors members are listed on both the Missouri State University website and the governor’s website.

I believe both Ms. Tergin and Mr. Carmichael will be excellent Board members, and we look forward to working with them. One more time, I want to express my appreciation for the years of service by out-going Board members Elizabeth Bradbury and John Winston.

Work on HLC report continues

As you are aware, Missouri State University is accredited by the North Central Association (NCA) of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) . We submit annual financial and enrollment reports to the HLC, and Missouri State participates in the “open pathway” for reaffirmation of accreditation. Our site visit will be in the 2015-16 academic year.

The open pathway requires the University to conduct a Quality Initiative Project (QIP). Our project — to evaluate student-learning outcomes related to public affairs — has been approved by a faculty review team trained by the HLC. The University’s Assessment Council is responsible for the QIP on our campus.

Faculty and staff may submit artifacts according to the guidelines posted for academic or co-curricular projects. If you have questions about the QIP, please contact our new assessment director, Dr. Keri Franklin.

The steering committee began meeting last semester and will be posting regular updates. I will provide regular updates, and we will provide updates to our Board of Governors as well.

Our Promise campaign exceeds goal

On Friday, Jan. 11, we celebrated the successful completion of the comprehensive fundraising campaign: Our Promise: The Campaign for Missouri State University. In the seven years of the campaign, more than 73,000 donors contributed a total of $167 million for scholarships, programs, capital projects and other University needs. You may remember the original goal was $125 million, which was revised to $150 million.

For more details about the campaign, as well as the two final gifts we announced, I invite you to read the news release.

This is a significant milestone, especially given the economic climate of the past several years. It speaks to the strong feelings our alumni and friends — and many of you — have for the University. The campaign will have a positive impact for many years to come as it benefits students, faculty and staff in a multitude of ways.

Sustainability action steps announced

As you recall, the Board of Governors had a significant discussion on sustainability at its December meeting. Coming out of that meeting, we have identified an action plan:

Appoint a Sustainability Advisory Committee
I have appointed a permanent Sustainability Advisory Committee, co-chaired by Vice President Ken McClure and Dean Tammy Jahnke, to oversee University sustainability initiatives. The committee includes students, faculty and staff, as well as members from the Springfield community. The committee’s initial meeting will be Feb. 5.
- The committee’s first assignment is to develop recommendations for new sustainability initiatives and for improving current initiatives. I would expect the recommendations to address issues from recycling, to efficiency, to construction and renovation of facilities, and beyond.
- Additionally, I have asked that the committee begin working on realistic strategies to increase our use of renewable energy, so the University becomes less dependent on coal over time, keeping in mind that recommendations for increasing the use of renewable energy must come with an estimated funding cost.
- Other topics for the committee will include promoting sustainability initiatives across our state and region, as well as researching what our peer universities and sister universities in Missouri are doing in this area.
I have asked for a report from the committee so that I can update the Board at its June meeting.
Create a revolving loan fund
I have directed Ken McClure and CFO Steve Foucart to work together to create a revolving loan fund to help pay for sustainability initiatives.
Evaluate need for energy efficiency audit
I have directed Ken McClure to evaluate the need for and scope of an energy efficiency audit.

I look forward to the results of these initiatives. I will keep the campus community informed by providing the same update in June that I provide to the Board.

Earle Doman announces retirement

After nearly 25 years at Missouri State University in two different stints, Dr. Earle Doman, vice president for student affairs, has announced his retirement effective May 1, 2013.

Earle’s first job after college was at Missouri State starting in 1976. He left in 1987 to work at Missouri Southern State University and then Arkansas Tech. He returned to Missouri State in 2000. Much has been accomplished under Earle’s leadership, and we owe him much. Missouri State is a better place because of his work. We will have several occasions to thank Earle prior to May 1.

I have appointed a search committee headed by Kyle Moats, director of athletics. We will begin a national search immediately, so we can have the new vice president in place before classes begin in fall 2013. Related, we will use this opportunity to review the student affairs unit to see if there are any organizational changes that would help us serve students better in the future.

Task force on women’s sports established

When it comes to intercollegiate athletics, Missouri State University operates under “Prong One” (proportionality) to comply with Title IX. Simply stated, that means that we commit to having the same proportion of male and female student-athletes as we have males and females in the undergraduate student body.

In recent years, the number of females in the student body has increased by several percentage points and the number of female student athletes has not kept pace. We have reached a point where we need to consider adding additional female sports for additional opportunities for women.

Therefore, I have created a task force to address this issue in two parts:

I have asked the group to evaluate our current 10 women’s sports to confirm that it is the best set of sports for Missouri State in 2013.
I have asked for recommendations about which, if any, women’s sports should be added to help move us back to proportionality to better comply with Prong One.

I will keep you informed about the work of and recommendations from this task force.

Conclusion

I hope you had a pleasant and restful holiday break. I welcome you back and look forward to working with you during another successful semester at Missouri State.

–Clif

Chinesa Rusch, a senior secondary education student at Missouri State University, had zero expectations going into the MTV “MADE” auditions last April.

“When I saw (the show) was coming to campus to hold auditions, I knew I wanted to give it a shot,” she said. “I figured I had nothing to lose — there was no way they were going to pick me — I still can’t believe that they did!”

Letting go of her inhibitions, Chinesa revealed her goals to MTV’s casting crew: She wanted to be “made” into a salsa dancer.

“Chinesa was selected for many reasons, but mostly because we liked her story,” said Elizabeth Phelps, a producer for MTV. “She seemed to have a true passion for dance and was ready to make some changes in her life.”

Chinesa said the experience was life-changing. She said it helped her to discover her true abilities, and despite the challenges throughout it, she said it was worth it in the end.

“The whole thing challenged my body and my mind,” said Chinesa. “The thing that scared me the most, though, was being forced to break out of my shell and talk to strangers.

“For the first time in my life, I like myself,” she continued. “I actually feel like I am worth something and that I can actually do something.”

Chinesa said she is proud of her accomplishments. She said she is now more involved than ever, and is excited about the growth she has made and who she has become.

Although she valued her personal journey, Chinesa said there was nothing more rewarding than representing MSU to the nation. She said she enjoyed being able to show viewers the amount of support at the University.

“I absolutely love MSU,” she said. “So much about me has been formed by my five years here, and I will always be proud to say that I am a Bear.

“I hope that I represented our University well and that people will see what an amazing, supportive community we have here.”