policy Archives - Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes for May 12, 2020

May 12, 2020 by Clif Smart

In March the university implemented a temporary hiring freeze policy and a temporary work and compensation policy. I want to update you on decisions we have made regarding these policies.

Details on the hiring freeze

We have a total of 99 open positions funded from the operating budget that were temporarily frozen.

Some of these positions are critical to the university’s operations and must be filled. Others must remain vacant to free up resources as we budget for the financial impact of the coronavirus.

Last week I authorized cost center heads to fill 15 positions immediately. With respect to the remaining positions:

16 positions will continue to be frozen through June 30, 2020. At that time, we will evaluate the university’s financial situation and determine whether to fill these positions for FY2021. The annual salary and fringe benefits for these positions total $800,000.
68 positions will continue to be frozen through at least June 30, 2021. The annual salary and fringe benefits for these positions total $4.9 million.

Our leadership team will discuss the hiring freeze with the Board of Governors on May 14-15. A decision will be made thereafter whether to lift or extend the hiring freeze for vacated positions going forward.

Extending the work and compensation policy

Last week I approved changes to the temporary work and compensation policy. These changes will allow supervisors to gradually return employees to campus during the summer as I discussed in last week’s Clif’s Notes.

The policy has been extended through July 31. This allows supervisors to determine when particular employees should return to campus.

This also means individuals on 2/3 pay may stay in that category through July 31, or for as long as they remain assigned to this category.

Mark your calendar for Virtual Town Hall

At 10:30 a.m. May 20, we will host a Virtual Town Hall meeting. You can find information about how to participate online. Please come prepared to ask questions you have about the hiring freeze, the temporary work and compensation policy, or any other matter.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Sept. 10, 2019

September 10, 2019 by Clif Smart

Our mission is to educate students to be global citizen scholars committed to public affairs.

We integrate this mission into academic work in the classroom, research, creating a welcoming campus and providing extracurricular activities for students. We also demonstrate our commitment to this mission by hosting a wide array of speakers and events on campus.

Over the past few years the university has been privileged to rent campus facilities to actors, reporters, authors, politicians, activists, scientists, musicians and many others. These presentations often draw large crowds of supporters. Sometimes they also draw substantial opposition.

The First Amendment prohibits us from choosing who to rent to based on the specific cause or viewpoint of the group. Regardless of who we rent to, it is the university’s responsibility to make certain these events do not disrupt academic classes and other university activities.

To this end, the Board of Governors approved a Facility Rental Policy at its August retreat. This policy identifies several factors the university will evaluate when determining whether to rent a facility to an outside group and how to manage the rental to avoid campus disruption.

The policy makes clear that the university reserves the right to deny rental of a facility or offer alternate dates for a facility rental to avoid interference with classes and other campus activities. The policy also states that we will not make facility rental decisions based on the identity or viewpoint of the presenter.

As Missouri State’s profile continues to grow, outside interest in renting our facilities will increase. This a good thing — high level events on campus allow us to put the public affairs mission into practice, receive additional revenue and showcase our university to a larger audience. The new Facility Rental Policy will help us responsibly manage these requests and events.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for June 18, 2019

June 18, 2019 by Clif Smart

This Friday the Board of Governors will vote on proposed changes to the faculty handbooks on the Springfield and West Plains campuses and changes to the employee handbook that applies to all faculty and staff.

Changes to the employee handbook include:

An expansion of the tuition and fee waiver benefit to apply to an employee’s dependent grandchildren
An expansion of the funeral leave benefit to include additional extended family members
Clarifications regarding university closings and cancellations, 1,000-hour employment, employees’ personal information, resignation and retirement, leave without pay, service award processes, emeritus status, and appeals processes for disciplinary matters.

Changes to the Springfield faculty handbook include:

Allowing a faculty member to request an extension of their tenure probationary period to accommodate medical conditions or important family issues
Clarifications regarding sabbatical and developmental leave and dismissal from the university
Updated language related to sexual harassment

Changes to the West Plains faculty handbook include:

Changes to teaching load/work load provisions that (1) increase the teaching load for full-time ranked faculty in West Plains to 30 credit hours, (2) allow existing faculty to opt in or out of the new teaching load and (3) establish financial incentives for existing faculty that opt in to the new teaching load.
New provisions regarding evaluation of non-ranked faculty
Supplemental language regarding faculty promotion

People are our most important resource at Missouri State. The work we have done this year to provide across-the-board pay increases and expand benefit usage and availability reflects the value the board and our administration places on faculty and staff.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for April 12, 2016

April 12, 2016 by Clif Smart

We value free speech at Missouri State University.

Free speech protected by state, federal laws

We are committed to providing an environment where issues can be openly discussed and explored. The freedom to exchange views is essential to the mission of the University. You can learn more about speech activities on our campus by reviewing the University’s Expressive Activity Policy.

Additionally, we are obligated to comply with state and federal laws on campus expressive activity. As a public university, Missouri State University has very limited ability to regulate expressive activities on the outdoor areas of campus. The University’s legal ability to regulate speech in such areas is generally limited to time, place and manner restrictions. These restrictions are set forth in the Expressive Activity Policy.

As you know, expressive activities on campus include a spectrum of topics. Students advocate for their student organizations and activities. Members of the public distribute literature about subjects important to them. Individuals seek signatures on petitions for ballot initiatives. Students and others make their voices heard with regard to the way the University is administered and state and federal policy matters.

What to do when you face unwelcome speech

Unfortunately, not everyone uses their speech rights responsibly. From time to time people, such a “Brother Jed” and others, come to our campus to offer strongly worded messages in an effort to antagonize students, faculty and staff about their appearance, behaviors and way of life.

Given the legal limitations on the University’s ability to regulate expressive activities, I recommend that our students, faculty and staff take certain actions when they encounter such situations:

If you do not like the things someone is saying, I encourage you to keep walking and not engage with the speaker. You are, of course, well within your rights to stop and engage in the expressive banter; however, if you do so, you are almost certain to continue to hear comments that you will find offensive.
If a speaker has crossed the line from making offensive comments to threatening or harassing an individual or group of bystanders, you should report the incident immediately to the administration. You may do so by contacting the University’s office of safety and transportation at (417) 836-5509. Other means of reporting complaints to University administration are set forth in the Student Complaint Procedures Policy.
If you believe it is safe to do so, you may make a video or audio recording of the activities. This recording could be useful in determining whether the speaker’s remarks were legally protected speech or illegal threats or harassment.
If you encounter bias-related situations or concerns that you believe can be remediated with voluntary interventions, I recommend submitting a Bias Incident Report for review by the University’s Bias Response Team.

As always, we remain vigilant to ensure constitutional rights to free speech on our campus while protecting our students, faculty and staff from illegal threats and harassment.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes Vol. 1, No. 12

February 14, 2012 by Clif Smart

In this issue of Clif’s Notes, I want to update you on the budget for fiscal year 2013 and share with you the new Academic Administrators Return to Faculty Policy.

Fiscal year 2013 budget

I am sure you heard about Governor Nixon amending his budget recommendation for fiscal year 2013 by adding $40 million back into the overall higher education budget. The funding is part of a lawsuit settlement from which Missouri benefits.

That means the overall reduction for higher education is now proposed to be $66 million (7.78 percent) rather than the original $106 million (12.5 percent). For Missouri State, that means the reduction is $5,988,547 rather than $9,620,332, a difference of $3,631,785.

Based on this new information, we are adjusting our initial plans:

First, and most importantly, with a 7.78 percent reduction in state appropriations, we believe we can keep the increase in tuition and fees for undergraduate resident students to 3.1 percent or less, which will not require Missouri State to request a waiver.
Second, in an attempt to further protect the quality of our academic programs, we are reducing the amount colleges have to reallocate for fiscal year 2013 by $490,869.
And third, since we are reducing the reallocation target for colleges, we are encouraging colleges to consider using as few one-time funds as possible to cover the reallocation.

Here, in admittedly simplified terms, is the summary I shared with the Executive Budget Committee at its Feb. 10 meeting:

Decreased appropriations and cost increases

Decrease of 7.78% in state appropriations (at 12.5% was $9,620,332.90, difference of $3,631,785.73)	$ 5,988,547.17
Faculty promotions	231,000.00
Mid-year raise with 32.5% fringe benefits	1,923,292.22
Increase in benefits from 32.5% to 33.8%	1,110,046.03
Employee and student fee waiver increase	1,042,608.65
Bad debt increase	600,000.00
Other expense increases	843,592.98
Total	$11,739,087.05

Increases in revenue and expense reduction

Tuition increase (was $6,047,377.94 with 6.2% in resident undergraduate increase, difference of $1,923,869.04)	$ 4,123,508.90
College of Business Administration fee (80% of total)	1,120,000.00
Cost center reductions (salary and benefits identified above)	3,033,338.25
Additional non-academic/provost cost center reductions (was $700,000, difference of $490,869.32)	209,130.68
Reduction in President’s Enhancement Fund	2,000,000.00
Additional transfer from auxiliaries	750,000.00
Facilities and administration revenue from indirect costs generated by grants and sponsored programs — vice president’s percentage only	400,000.00
West Plains contribution	100,000.00
Reduced maintenance and repair and classroom upgrades (was $1,225,000)	0.00
Total	$11,735,977.83

You can tell there are many details yet to be worked out, but this provides a summary that I hope is helpful.

I have presented this plan to the Executive Budget Committee and the Administrative Council, and both groups gave unanimous approval for it. I plan to brief the Board of Governors on it at the Feb. 17 meeting. I believe we are now to a point where the various budget committees, working with the cost center administrators, should finalize their specific reallocation plans. Those plans will be reviewed by the chief financial officer and moved up the academic budget process. The goal is to have a firm plan in the next 45 to 60 days.

Special kudos to our student leaders

I want to give special recognition to our student leaders. On Feb. 7, the Student Government Association had a first reading of a resolution that supported the University and indicated the students’ willingness to support an increase in tuition and fees on undergraduate resident students of up to 6.5 percent to help cover the proposed 12.5 percent reduction in state appropriations. In short, the students chose quality over absolute price. I am providing a link to that resolution here. I thought you would want to be aware of this.

Reminders about the budget

Finally, let me provide four reminders.

First, there have not been any changes to the budget decisions I shared in the last Clif’s Notes. Please review those.
Second, remember that our budget model is predicated on recouping the 146 students we lost in the fall of 2011. And, if we are able to increase enrollment, that helps the budget even more. So, enrollment and retention remain a high priority.
Third, while it is great news that the reduction has been decreased from 12.5 percent to 7.78 percent, the $5.99 million reduction in state funding is real money and I don’t want to minimize the challenge we will have in filling that hole.
And fourth, please note that the $40 million added to the higher education budget is one-time money, which means we will have to revisit that issue next year. The hope is that the state’s economy will continue to improve so that the hole is filled with on-going funding. For now, the one-time $40 million helps bridge the gap for fiscal year 2013.

The legislative session continues through May 18 and I will keep you informed of other developments as the budget moves through the process. Thanks for your patience and understanding as we adjust to new information.

Academic Administrators Return to Faculty Policy

Committee reports

One of the first things I did as interim president was to ask Drs. Einhellig and Gallaway to appoint an ad-hoc committee to review and improve the Academic Administrators Return to Faculty Policy. That committee was led by Dr. Sue George and included members Drs. Richard Biagioni, Janice Greene, Terrel Gallaway, Tom Kane, and Kent Ragan. The committee completed its report in late November.

New policy

On Friday (Feb. 17), I will report to the Board of Governors that we will soon have a new administrative policy on Academic Administrators Return to Faculty. This policy adopts a significant number of the specific recommendations made in these reports, especially related to administrators returning to faculty.

The issue of administrators returning to faculty remains an important, sensitive topic. One of my first pledges to you was that we would address it. The key was to balance the University’s goal of attracting and retaining outstanding administrators with paying returning administrators appropriately upon their return to the faculty. Thanks to the ad-hoc committee reports and the insights of many, both faculty and administrators, I believe we have found that balance. I invite you to review the new policy and judge for yourself.

We will implement the policy beginning with appointment letters beginning in the fall 2012 and we will monitor it closely to ensure it is achieving the multiple goals we have for it. All of us should reserve the right to revisit the policy if we find adjustments need to be made. I anticipate that many of the principles adopted here will also be incorporated into the contract for the next University president.

I want to thank all of you who contributed to this policy. It is a better policy because of your involvement.

Conclusion

Please be assured that I appreciate all you do and I will continue to keep you informed.

–Clif

Telling the Missouri State story

M Jen Kienstra with Girl Scout Brownies issouri State undergraduate physics students assisted approximately 85 second and third graders Jan. 28 as the College of Natural and Applied Sciences hosted the Girl Scout Brownie Science Day. The students led demonstrations and assisted the Brownies as they completed science experiments, which earned them the new “Home Scientist” badge.

Jen Kienstra, a student in Becky Baker’s Physics 123 class, was one of the six students who helped to lead one of the science experiment stations called “Making Things Bubble.” Students at this station gave each girl supplies — vinegar and baking soda — and demonstrated how these two ingredients caused bubbles, or carbon dioxide, to form.

“After part one was completed, we began my absolute favorite experiment: We were going to make root beer from dry ice,” said Jen. “After the demonstration, we used a large bowl of dry ice and added water, sugar, vanilla and root beer flavoring. The mixture instantly began to bubble and produce more fog. They loved being able to see these things occur as well as being able to smell the root beer scent.”

Pawon Kahol with Girl Scout Brownies In order to complete the “Home Scientist” badge, girls participated in each of these activities:

Be a kitchen chemist — make ice cream and eat it, too
Create static electricity — work with balloons and bend a stream of water with the charge
Dive into density — eggs in salt water; distinguish between diet and sugared soda cans
Make something bubble up — reactions with carbon dioxide and mix carbon dioxide in root beer flavored water
Play with science — cornstarch and water

Girl Scout Brownie Science Day was held in Kemper Hall under the leadership of Becky Baker, instructor of physics, and Dr. Pawan Kahol, dean of the Graduate College.

“I would say that you have inspired a whole group of girls to have an interest in science,” said Stefanie McCall, the leadership program specialist at Girl Scouts of the Missouri heartland and one of the organizers of the event.