Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes for Oct. 26, 2021

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The Board of Governors met two weeks ago. Last week I told you about their approval of a $4.1 million contract to design the renovation of and addition to Temple Hall.

The board took several other important actions during their committee and regular meetings.

Natalie McNish named internal auditor

The Risk Management and Audit Committee interviewed finalists for the position of internal auditor. I am pleased to report that after those interviews the board hired Natalie McNish.

Natalie began working for the State of Missouri in the State Auditor’s office in 2006. She has worked in the university’s office of internal audit and risk management since 2017, serving as the interim director since December of last year.

The board and I look forward to continuing to work with Natalie, and I hope you will join me in congratulating her.

Update on graduate programs

In the Programs and Planning Committee, the board received a presentation about graduate education at MSU.

The presentation focused on our dramatic growth of graduate degree programs, enrollment and awards.

The board discussed next steps in MSU’s Graduate College, including efforts to emerge as a state leader in professional doctoral programs.

Welcoming an emerging news organization

The board approved an agreement with the Springfield Daily Citizen. The Springfield Daily Citizen is a nonprofit news organization emerging in our community.

The Daily Citizen will provide consistent in-depth public affairs journalism published online.

Under the agreement, the Daily Citizen will be located on campus in Freudenberger House at no cost.

Naming Bronze Bear and Government Excellence awards

The board approved a resolution to award the Bronze Bear Award to Tim and Judy Reynolds and the Government Excellence Award to Clay Goddard.

Tim and Judy Reynolds attended MSU, and Judy worked for the university for many years. They have financially supported numerous programs and initiatives at Missouri State.

Most recently, they were responsible for a significant gift to support scholarships for students in the College of Arts and Letters, resulting in the board naming the college the Judith Enyeart Reynolds College of Arts and Letters.

Clay Goddard, a two-time alumnus of Missouri State University, invested his entire career in public service with the City of Springfield and the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.

As the director of health during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, he provided extraordinary leadership to protect our community, mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.

The Bronze Bear Award and the Government Excellence Award will be presented at our commencement ceremonies this December.

Showcasing points of pride for MSU

I provided updates to the board on COVID-19 and enrollment and showed them the new What’s New At MSU Video.

Frank Einhellig presented the new Mind’s Eye publication and highlights from the fall 2021 Bears Care survey.

Elizabeth Walker, this year’s public affairs fellow, presented a report on the Public Affairs Conference.

The board also received presentations on the student emergency fund and on MarCom’s award-winning success in supporting university advancement with video, writing, design and events.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Sept. 14, 2021

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The Public Affairs Conference is the week after next (Sept. 27-30).

The conference theme is Bridging the Divide. Participants will explore our country’s most pressing issues, consider views that diverge from their own personal opinions and discuss opportunities to find common ground.

Enjoy an evening with John Quiñones

The featured speaker is John Quiñones. Quiñones is an ABC News correspondent, author, and creator and host of What Would You Do?

His recent work focuses on how ordinary people behave when facing various choices and ethical dilemmas.

Quiñones’ presentation is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28 in Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts. The presentation is free, and you do not need tickets to attend.

The MSU Foundation will host a VIP reception with Quiñones before his speech.

Tickets for the VIP reception are $100 and include:

  • Photo opportunity with Quiñones and autograph.
  • Cocktails, beverages and hors d’oeuvres.
  • Special reserved seating at the keynote speech.

Buy tickets

Access the schedule

The full schedule is available on the Public Affairs Conference webpage.

Highlights include:

Plan to attend

All sessions of the conference are free and open to the public. No registration or tickets are required to attend.

Some of the sessions will be live and others will be virtual. Check the conference webpage for details.

As in prior years, employees may use up to two hours of their work time, in coordination with their supervisors, to attend the conference. I encourage you to attend, and I encourage supervisors to facilitate attendance by individuals in your offices or divisions.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Sept. 22, 2020

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As I mentioned last week, two of the things we will focus on this year are completing our strategic enrollment management plan and developing the university’s next long-range plan and visioning guide.

SEM planning

We began developing our strategic enrollment management (SEM) plan last year. Unfortunately, the pandemic intervened and we had to stop working on the plan.

We have resumed our work on the SEM plan, and a final draft will be presented to the Board of Governors in December.

When we paused our process last year, we had finalized guiding principles and enrollment goals. We were in the process of developing specific strategies and tactics.

As we resume our planning process, we will narrow and reassess our goals to focus more directly on measurable success in enrollment, both recruitment and retention. We will develop strategies and tactics prepared to address the challenges identified before the pandemic but also to address the new challenges that have recently emerged.

As we narrow the focus of our SEM goals, we will also reduce the number of SEM councils involved in finalizing the plan. If you are involved with the SEM steering committee or one of the remaining SEM councils, please re-engage as we complete the plan.

All members of the university community will work together to implement the SEM plan. I look forward to presenting the final plan to you later this year.

Long-range planning

I hope you are as excited as I am to map our future through the 2021-26 long-range plan. We will develop that plan throughout this year and present it to the board for approval this summer.

Dr. Shawn Wahl and Suzanne Shaw will lead a steering committee for the long-range plan. The steering committee roster will be finalized in the coming weeks and a webpage with updates about the planning process will be published.

We want everyone in the university community to provide input and be part of the planning process. You will have multiple opportunities throughout this year to participate in focus groups, town halls and virtual exploration sessions.

Your first opportunity to engage is an interactive presentation titled Future Visioning Webinar. This presentation is scheduled from 1 – 2 p.m. Sept. 28. Additional details can be found online.

Your vision for MSU

We will also develop our 2021-2026 visioning guide. The visioning guide assists the university in planning our facilities for future growth and development. You can see the current visioning guide online.

Throughout this year, we will analyze our space needs, poll the campus community, and interview critical space stakeholders as we develop our next visioning guide. I hope you will engage in this important process, too.

Public Affairs Conference

The public affairs conference is next week.

The conference theme is The Power of Voice. We are surrounded by voices all offering different information, ideas, opinions and points of view.

This year’s conference will explore how these voices impact us, how we can use our voices, and how we can find ways to respectfully agree and disagree.

This year’s conference will feature four plenary speakers:

This year’s conference is virtual, and individual Zoom links for each session are available on the conference website. Session start times have been scheduled to align with start times for most classes on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

All sessions of the conference are free and open to the public. No registration is required to participate.

As in prior years, employees may use up to two hours of their work time, in coordination with their supervisors, to attend the conference. I encourage you to attend, and I encourage supervisors to facilitate attendance by individuals in your offices or divisions.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

 

Clif’s Notes for Sept. 24, 2019

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The public affairs conference is next week.

The conference theme is “The 21st Century Digital World.” Participants will explore how digital technology has influenced all aspects of our lives.

The featured speaker is Bobby Bones. Bones is an award-winning radio broadcaster and vice-president and creative director of iHeartCountry. His show broadcasts to almost 140 stations and is the No. 1 country morning show with millions of weekly listeners. Bones’ keynote presentation is scheduled for Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Juanita K. Hammons Hall.

The full schedule is available on the Public Affairs Conference webpage. Highlights include:

All sessions of the conference, including the keynote presentation by Bobby Bones, are free and open to the public. No registration or tickets are required to attend.

As in prior years, employees may use up to two hours of their work time, in coordination with their supervisors, to attend the conference. I encourage you to attend, and I encourage supervisors to facilitate attendance by individuals in your offices or divisions.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for April 10, 2018

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As I mentioned last week, this week is the annual Public Affairs Conference. I hope you will take some time to look at the schedule and attend some of the sessions.

Dr. Robert Ballard, this year’s featured speaker, will give his presentation tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Juanita K. Hammons Hall. Ballard is the explorer who discovered the wreckage of the Titanic in 1985. His presentation will give his personal account of that experience. No registration or tickets are required to attend.

Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame

On Friday evening we will induct this year’s class into the Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees are Jean Carnahan, Peter Herschend, Lane McConnell, General John J. Pershing and Phyllis Washington.

Jean Carnahan was Missouri’s first lady and our first female U.S. Senator. She has been a life-long advocate for children and families.

Peter Herschend is co-founder and co-owner of Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation (formerly Silver Dollar City, Inc). An education champion, Herschend has been instrumental in promoting higher standards for Missouri’s public education system for more than two decades.

Lane McConnell founded the Farmers Market of the Ozarks. The market is home to more than 110 farmers and was named the number six farmers market in the country in 2015.

Gen. John J. Pershing, a native of Laclede, Missouri, led a distinguished military career culminating with his rank as General of the Armies. He is most recognized for his leadership during World War I.

Phyllis Washington is a former vice president of the Missouri State University Board of Governors. She began her career as an educator in 1968 in Kansas City. After just a few years as a teacher, she was named principal of E.F. Swinney Applied Learning Magnet, one of the first magnet schools in the Kansas City school district’s court-ordered desegregation plan.

The Public Affairs Hall of Fame induction ceremony is one of my favorite events of the year. It’s not too late to purchase tickets. I hope to see you there.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!