Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes for Aug. 29, 2017

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This is the second year of our Implementing the Vision long-range plan.

Over the summer, Administrative Council and Academic Leadership Council, in communication with the Board of Governors, developed the university-wide focus areas and action plan for the coming year. Those documents are now final and posted online.

Identifying focus areas

Last year we identified two focus areas:

  1. Increasing the number of graduates while maintaining academic rigor and quality
  2. Enhancing campus diversity and inclusion

This year’s focus areas continue with these two items and add “Funding” as a third focal point. This aligns with our work to develop a sustainable financial model in an era of declining state support (which I summarized in a prior note).

Highlights of the plan

Our action plan contains particular action items the university intends to work on this academic year. The action items are organized under the six areas set forth in the long-range plan. Highlights include:

  • Continue to grow enrollment of domestic students and sustain enrollment of international students
  • Strategically unbundle programs into stackable, micro-credentials and create nondegree training programs designed to provide participants with unique employment-applicable skills in strategic areas
  • Expand and enhance transition support for new students
  • Expand co-requisite course offerings
  • Initiate structured scheduling pilot programs
  • Collaborate with Faculty Senate to evaluate the reduction of the minimum number of hours required to graduate from 125 to 120
  • Initiate long-term strategies to decrease the student-to-faculty ratio
  • Increase the percentage of underrepresented faculty, staff and students
  • Enhance faculty and staff cultural competency through training and development initiatives and activities
  • Continue cultural consciousness/competency development for faculty, staff, administrators, students and the community to improve campus climate
  • Implement college and unit level diversity and inclusion initiatives consistent with the Inclusive Excellence Strategic Plan
  • Develop and implement the Bear POWER program, a two year program for students ages 18 to 26 with intellectual disabilities
  • Increase efficiency by enhancing the university’s procurement policies and practices, negotiating favorable contractual terms, and evaluating opportunities to centralize and consolidate support staff services
  • Evaluate and revise the tuition, fee and scholarship policies
  • Evaluate opportunities to enhance campus facilities through public private partnerships
  • Increase compensation for faculty and staff

Working together, I believe we can make progress on these action items and continue to build on the university’s success.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Feb. 14, 2017

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Clif's Notes

We started the academic year with our first annual Action Plan under the 2016-2021 Long-Range Plan. We identified two focus areas—increasing the number of graduates while maintaining academic rigor and quality and enhancing campus diversity and inclusion. We also established measurable goals to hold the university accountable.

Staying focused despite challenges

As we work on the budget for next year, it is important that we remain committed to our focus areas. This is consistent with the guiding principles I highlighted in last week’s note. One of those principles says:

  • Protecting the core mission of the university—academic achievement, scholarship and student success—is paramount. Budgetary decisions should be consistent with the mission and strategic plan of the university, with a primary focus on preserving strong academic programs, increasing the number of graduates at all levels, and enhancing diversity and inclusion.

Our work to increase the number of graduates while maintaining academic rigor and quality and enhancing campus diversity and inclusion must continue despite funding challenges.

Leaders identified to advance effortsCarrington Hall

In addition to college and department level groups that are working on retention and graduation initiatives, several university-wide groups are working to ensure that we continue to move forward on our focus areas. Frank Einhellig and I have assigned administrators to lead particular efforts:

  • Wes Pratt is leading our efforts with regard to improving the transition for underrepresented, first-generation and Pell-eligible incoming and new students.
  • Rachelle Darabi is leading our efforts with regard to enhanced advising for such students.
  • Steve Foucart is leading our efforts with regard to financial incentives designed to encourage retention.
  • Kelly Wood is leading our efforts with regard to first-year experiences.
  • Dee Siscoe is leading our efforts with regard to living-learning communities.
  • Kathy Davis is leading our efforts with regard to retaining and guiding students who have not declared a major.
  • John Catau is leading our efforts with regard to structured schedules.

I met with each of these administrators last week to encourage them to press on with their work. Earlier this week I met with our senior administrative and academic leadership teams to track our progress on the items set forth in the Action Plan.

I want to thank all of our faculty and staff for their work on the focus areas. Together we will continue to move the university forward.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Nov. 1, 2016

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Clif's Notes

As you know, the university has identified two focus areas for the 2016-21 long-range plan:

  • Increasing the number of graduates while maintaining academic rigor and quality
  • Enhancing campus diversity and inclusion

Keeping ourselves accountable19273 MSU Spring 10 am Commencement. diverse

At the October Board of Governors Programs and Planning Committee meeting, we worked with the board to finalize specific measurable goals. These goals will be used to hold the university accountable and to ensure that progress is made in these focus areas. The goals, along with historical data, are reflected in the tables below.

Degrees and certificates awarded annually (July 1-June 30)
Fiscal year Degrees and certificates
FY12 4,473
FY13 4,311
FY14 4,409
FY15 4,431
FY16 4,642
Goal FY21 4,900
Six-year graduation rate
Cohorts Graduation rate
2006 cohort in 2012 55%
2007 cohort in 2013 53%
2008 cohort in 2014 55%
2009 cohort in 2015 52%
2010 cohort in 2016 55%
Goal fall 2021 57%
First-year to Second-year retention rate (fall to fall)
Year Retention rate
2011-12 75%
2012-13 75%
2013-14 75%
2014-15 78%
2015-16 79%
Goal fall 2021 82%
Six-year graduation rate
Cohorts Pell-eligible First-generation Hispanic/Latino Black African-American Two or more races
2006 cohort in 2012 51% 47% 41% 40% 57%
2007 cohort in 2013 48% 46% 48% 44% 59%
2008 cohort in 2014 50% 46% 42% 32% 61%
2009 cohort in 2015 45% 44% 45% 35% 46%
2010 cohort in 2016 49% 48% 52% 33% 43%
Goal fall 2021 50% 50% 50% 50% 50%
First year to second year retention rate (fall to fall)
Year Pell-eligible First-generation Hispanic/Latino Black African-American Two or more races
2011-12 65% 71% 75% 74% 66%
2012-13 68% 65% 73% 66% 63%
2013-14 66% 61% 71% 71% 67%
2014-15 72% 73% 78% 69% 72%
2015-16 71% 72% 75% 74% 83%
Goal fall 2021 79% 79% 79% 79% 79%
Faculty and staff that are international or members of historically underrepresented groups
Year Percentage
Fall 2011 10.5%
Fall 2012 10.7%
Fall 2013 10.6%
Fall 2014 11.0%
Fall 2015 11.5%
Goal fall 2021 14%

Understanding the numbers18903 Fall scenes on campus. Bob Linder/ Missouri State

These goals are not intended to be static. The university will review these goals each year when it unveils its annual action plan. Should the university achieve a measurable goal, the university may set a new goal or refocus. Likewise, if achievement of a goal becomes improbable, the university will explain the reasons for not meeting the goal and establish a new goal or goals that the university has a realistic opportunity to achieve.

Work is underway to achieve these goals. Specific action items are listed in the 2016-17 Action Plan. Earlier this fall, over 50 representatives from Missouri State University participated in a statewide Complete College America 15 to Finish, which we hosted on our campus. Conversations are ongoing to implement the strategies discussed at this conference. We are hopeful that these strategies, along with the action items in the 2016-17 Action Plan, will result in progress toward our measurable goals.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

2016 State of the University address

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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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Clif’s Notes Sept. 6, 2016

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Clif's Notes

This is the first year of our new long-range plan entitled Implementing the Vision. As we discussed throughout the process of developing the long-range plan, the university will implement it with university-wide and unit-level action plans that will be updated annually.

Over the summer, Administrative Council and Academic Leadership Council began to develop the university-wide action plan for the coming year. A draft action plan was presented to the Board of Governors at its summer meeting, and the board made several suggestions. Since then, we have met with various groups and solicited additional suggestions from a number of units within the university.

The action plan is now final and posted online.

Identifying two focal pointsFemale students in graduation gowns

As part of the annual planning process, it became clear that certain critical goals established by the long-range plan were so closely tied to the university’s mission that they merited particular attention. So the university established two areas of focus for the 2016-21 timeframe:

  1. Increasing the number of graduates while maintaining academic rigor and quality
  2. Enhancing campus diversity and inclusion

The university will devote significant time and resources in the coming years to move the university forward in these two areas.

You will note that the majority of the items in the Action Plan relate to these two areas.

Making the metrics count

Missouri State student workers come together for a day of team building exercises at Springfield Lake in the North Pavilion Area. Photos by Kevin White/Missouri State

The university must be held accountable in successfully implementing its long-range plan. We are in the process of finalizing measurable goals (i.e., metrics) to ensure that progress is made in the areas of focus, as well as the six key areas.

You may have read about the university’s focus areas and measurable goals in a recent front-page story of the Springfield News Leader. However, the measurable goals are not yet finalized. They will be finalized in October after we receive official census data on the student body entering the university this fall. They will include specific numerical targets on:

  • The number of degrees and certificates awarded annually
  • Overall undergraduate graduation rate
  • Overall freshman to sophomore retention rate
  • Undergraduate graduation rates for Pell-eligible, first generation and underrepresented students
  • Freshman to sophomore retention rates for Pell-eligible, first generation and underrepresented students
  • Percentage of faculty and staff that are international or members of historically underrepresented populations

The university will evaluate progress in meeting these goals each year when it reviews its annual action plan.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!