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Clif’s Notes for April 3, 2018

April 3, 2018 by Clif Smart

Today is election day. I encourage all faculty, staff and students to vote.

In Greene County, we have only two propositions on the ballot that involve the same issue.

Proposition A is a 20-year renewal of a $0.05 tax first passed in 1998. It is used to fund technical and healthcare program operations at Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC). Proposition B is an additional $0.05 property tax with a 20-year sunset that would be used to fund new technical and healthcare programs, including the construction of a Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Technology at OTC.

These propositions are very important to our friends at OTC. The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce (along with many other business and community groups in Greene County) supports both of these propositions.

You can find more information about these propositions on the OTC informational website.

As the state of Missouri’s public affairs institution, it is important that we become educated on these issues and vote today.

Progress on the budget

Last week we made progress on our legislative priorities.

The House passed a budget that restores the $6.4 million cut recommended by Governor Greitens. The budget will now go to the Senate, and we have already begun advocating with leadership in the Senate. You can find more information about the status of the budget in my blog post from last Tuesday.

The legislature also passed the program approval bill. This bill eliminates the prohibitions on Missouri State’s ability to offer new doctorate degrees and replaces them with a statewide framework that includes a pathway for Missouri State to expand its professional doctorate degree offerings. You can find more information about this bill in my blog post from last Wednesday.

Set aside time for the Public Affairs Conference

This year’s Public Affairs Conference starts on April 9. The conference theme is Sustainability in Practice: Consensus and Consequences. Participants will explore best practices for a sustainable future.

The featured speaker is Dr. Robert Ballard, the explorer who discovered the wreckage of the Titanic in 1985. His presentation titled “The personal account of how the Titanic was found and a look into the future,” is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts.

The full schedule is available on the Public Affairs Conference webpage. All sessions of the conference, including the presentation by Ballard, 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 March 28, 2017

March 28, 2017 by Clif Smart

The Board of Governors met last week. I want to highlight several of the board’s important discussions and action items.

Update on recent board meeting

In the Programs and Planning Committee meeting, the board discussed scholarship programs, diversity recruitment initiatives and college access programs. The board also participated in a diversity development session that included an overview of diversity and inclusion at Missouri State, a gallery walk and a presentation by Dr. Jake Simmons on “Diverse Student Experiences at PWIs (Predominantly White Institutions).”

At the regular meeting, the board received a presentation from two alums — Bryce Turnbull and Mark Grogan, both employed with the Cerner Corporation — about how they have made their Missouri Statement. The board also approved Terry “Bo” Pace as the recipient of an Honorary Associate degree on the West Plains campus.

The board approved a Master of Science program in Early Childhood Special Education and awarded a contract to renovate the bathrooms in Shannon Tower. The board elected new officers and selected a new executive committee, contingent on the Senate’s confirmation of Govs. Frazier and Silvey as new members.

Direction on the budget

The board discussed the university’s budget at the Finance and Facilities Committee meeting. Several preliminary decisions about the university’s budget were made:

The board instructed administration to move forward with a strategy that would raise in-state undergraduate tuition and fees on the Springfield campus by only 2.1 percent, the amount of inflation in 2016, for the upcoming fiscal year. This will be in addition to the 0.7 percent increase approved by the board in February for inflation in 2015. We will work to finalize a fee resolution in line with this instruction to present to the board in April. We anticipate that tuition and fee increases will increase university revenue by $3.4 million.
The board instructed administration to move forward with $2.8 million in proposed expense reductions in non-academic areas and in the provost’s area. These reductions leave approximately $1.3 million in cuts that must still be made to properly budget for the anticipated reduction in state appropriation. Unfortunately, some of these reductions will have to come from academic areas.

There are many financial decisions to be made before we start the next fiscal year. I would encourage all members of the university community to provide input as the final budget is developed and decisions are made about what additional expenses should be cut.

You can participate in these decisions by:

Contacting your representative on the Executive Budget Committee
Attending the university-wide Budget Town Hall Meeting at 1:30 to 3 p.m. on April 10 in the PSU Theatre

Focus on democracy

This year’s Public Affairs Conference starts on April 4. The theme for the conference is Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Perspectives on Self-Government. Participants will explore our rights and responsibilities as citizens in a modern democracy.

The featured speaker for this year’s conference is Doris Kearns Goodwin, a world-renowned presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Her presentation, titled How did we get here? An historical perspective on our wild 2016 election, will shine a spotlight on the changes in our political systems over the past 150 years.

This session is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on April 4 in Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts.

You also won’t want to miss the presentation by J.D. Vance, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling book “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.” This session is scheduled for noon on April 7 in the PSU Theatre.

The full schedule is available on the Public Affairs Conference webpage. All sessions of the conference, including the presentations by Doris Kearns Goodwin and J.D. Vance, are free and open to the public. No registration or tickets are required to attend.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for March 29, 2016

March 29, 2016 by Clif Smart

This year’s Public Affairs Conference starts on Tuesday, April 5. The theme for the conference is Building Healthy Communities: Body, Mind and Spirit. Participants will explore what it means to build healthy communities from a holistic perspective.

Jillian Michaels

The featured speaker for this year’s conference is Jillian Michaels, best known for her appearances on NBC’s Biggest Loser.

Her presentation titled How To Build an Exceptional Life will address the importance of attitude and action as tools that can change lives.

This session is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 5 in JQH Arena.

Robert Putnam

You also won’t want to miss the presentation by Robert Putnam, bestselling author and professor of public policy at Harvard University, titled Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis.

His presentation will address the opportunity gap that has emerged over the last 25 years in America.

This session is scheduled for noon on Friday, April 8 in Juanita K. Hall for the Performing Arts.

Employees may use up to two hours of work time to attend

Because this conference is intended to stimulate thinking about a variety of interesting topics, 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.

The full schedule is available on the Public Affairs Conference webpage. All sessions of the conference, including the presentations by Jillian Michaels and Robert Putnam, are free and open to the public. No registration or tickets are required to attend.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Employees encouraged to attend Public Affairs Conference

April 13, 2015 by Clif Smart

Missouri State University’s 2015 Public Affairs Conference will be held April 14-17. This year’s theme is “The Ethical Citizen: Can you make a difference?”

Again this year, the conference will bring to campus prominent people from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds; from public, private and academic arenas; and around the world. Please visit the Public Affairs Conference website for updated schedule, artist, panelist and speaker information, and detailed panel descriptions.

Employees may use up to two hours of work time to attend conference

The ability to track attendance at conference sessions through My Learning Connection is available. In order to evaluate attendance and, therefore, improve future conferences, please register online through My Learning Connection. You can locate the sessions by searching under “category” and selecting the “Public Affairs Conference” option.

For further information please contact Dr. Kurt Heinlein, provost fellow for public affairs and conference chair, at 6-5200 or kurtheinlein@missouristate.edu.

I look forward to seeing you at many of the conference sessions. Thank you.

Clif’s Notes Vol. 3, No. 11

April 16, 2014 by Clif Smart

In this issue of Clif’s Notes, I provide an update on the legislative session, report on our plan for resurfacing parking lots this summer with environmentally-friendly material and review some recent events.

Legislative update

The 2014 session of the Missouri General Assembly is progressing. The budget must be completed by May 9, which is one week before the last day of the session (May 16). Much remains to be finalized, but I wanted to report on the three major items we are tracking.

Current year (fiscal year 2014)

For this year, lottery revenues, which help fund the higher education operating budget, are below what had been budgeted. In fact, the shortfall was about $44 million. The legislature approved $22 million in a supplemental appropriation to help cover half of the shortfall.

On April 10, Governor Jay Nixon announced the holdbacks necessary to cover the remaining $22 million. That included $3.2 million for the public four-year universities. For Missouri State, that means $353,017 will be withheld from the remaining monthly payments from the state. We plan to cover this one-time shortfall with central reserve funds so that no cost center budget will be impacted by this withholding.

For next year (fiscal year 2015)

On the operating budget, the House recommended a 3 percent increase, and the Senate Appropriations Committee has recommended a 5 percent increase. Provided the full Senate supports the committee recommendation, those will be the positions when the two chambers go into the conference committee. As you recall, we held undergraduate in-state tuition flat based on the assumption that the increase would be 5 percent or higher.

On capital, a revenue bonding initiative is moving forward. It involves a statutory bill that enables the bonding, plus a bonding bill with specific renovation, maintenance and repair projects to be funded. Included for Missouri State are projects totaling more than $20 million:

$7,581,818 — Ellis Hall
$11,016,237 — Hill Hall
$220,000 — sprinkler system and fire alarm panel repairs and maintenance on the West Plains campus
$1,547,890 — Post Office Building at the West Plains campus.

Finally, a variety of tax reduction bills are in various stages of passage. They have the potential to impact the revenue increases previously referenced, so we continue to engage our legislators on this subject as well.

Again, much remains to be completed, and I will continue to provide updates for you.

Parking lot project

Every summer we repair, reseal and re-stripe parking lots. Like most others in Springfield, we have always used a coal tar-based asphalt sealer in the resealing process as no other comparable products were available. This has caused concerns within our campus community and our city because of the potential negative environmental effects of coal tar.

This summer, we will spend approximately $180,000 to repair/seal/re-stripe more than a dozen parking lots around campus. To accomplish this, we will be trying a different product — an asphalt emulsion sealer — rather than the coal tar based asphalt sealer we have used in the past.

We have been and will continue to evaluate the performance of asphalt emulsion based sealers to see if they are a viable substitute for the coal tar sealants. If this new sealant performs well, it will replace the coal tar sealants going forward. I will keep you apprised of our results on this and other projects as we continue to advance our sustainability agenda.

Review of recent events

We have had a number of high-profile events lately, so I want to provide updates on those.

Public Affairs Conference

Approximately 3,425 people attended the 2014 Public Affairs Conference, with its theme Global Perspective: Why It Matters. Once again, the conference offered informative, inspirational and thought-provoking sessions for the University and local communities. I want to thank Dr. Kevin Evans, 2014 provost fellow for public affairs, for his outstanding leadership in planning the 10th annual conference.

Three plenary speakers drew large audiences and offered diverse viewpoints on global perspective.

Dr. Spencer Wells, National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence and director of the Genographic project, offered insight into the commonalities shared by all humans and supported the concept of “citizen science,” public participation and funding in scientific studies.
Best-selling author George Saunders provided humorous and poignant insights into the human condition, noting that Americans often view other cultures as strange, but he contended that American culture is just as strange.
Gonzalo Vargas, director of finance for Groupon Latin America and MSU alumnus, noted that awareness and adaptability are key factors to developing cultural understanding, and that cultural competence is essential for successful multicultural organizations.

Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame

More than 200 people attended the inaugural induction of the Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame. We honored President Harry Truman (represented by his grandson Clifton Truman Daniel), Senator John Danforth and Dr. Donald Suggs. It was an inspiring evening. By telling the stories of these three individuals, we were able to illustrate the meaning of the public affairs mission for the entire state of Missouri. Review a recap of the event.

This was an excellent start to a new annual tradition, and I want to thank the selection committee and the work group that made the event a success, as well as Strong-Garner-Bauer for sponsoring the event.

Remember, the deadline for nominations for the 2015 Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame is July 1, 2014. I hope you will consider submitting a nomination.

Student open forum

I was pleased to speak at the student open forum April 8. More than 100 students attended the event, which was hosted by the Student Government Association. Students had the opportunity to submit questions in advance through Facebook and other social media outlets, and questions were also taken from the audience.

Students were interested in learning more about my leadership style, issues I see facing higher education and plans for Missouri State. Additionally, they wanted to learn more about me as a person. Questions at the forum ranged from “Where do you see higher education in the state of Missouri in the next 5-10 years, and how does MSU fit into that vision?” to “What was your favorite tradition back when you were a student?”

It was a lively discussion and a great opportunity for me to interact with our students, which is, by the way, one of my favorite parts of the job.

HLC Town Hall meeting

We appreciate the good turnout we had for the HLC Town Hall meeting on April 4.

Our first goal was education on criteria, process and timeline. We are preparing for a comprehensive site visit in fall of 2015 — the specific date will be set this fall. A complete first draft of the assurance argument that clearly states how Missouri State University meets the HLC criteria and core components will be completed by early October. This argument is limited to 35,000 words and must be backed with evidence, i.e. data, policies, procedures, meeting minutes and reports. Drafts of the assurance argument will be posted for campus review in the coming year.

To those who were unable to attend, the draft reports and summary PowerPoint presentation are posted online. We received questions and comments on the following topics: transparency of process; assessment of students, faculty and administrators; advising and diversity. Should you have further feedback, please email the chair of the steering committee, Dr. Tammy Jahnke, dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences.

Conclusion

We are in the home stretch for the spring semester and the 2013-14 year. As usual, we end with a flurry of events and activities, many of which I hope you will attend. I hope all of you will make plans to attend one or more of the three commencements on Friday, May 16, as we honor this year’s spring graduates. The honorary doctorate recipients named by the Faculty Senate will give the addresses at two of the commencement ceremonies: James Tatum at 10 a.m. and John Rush at 5 p.m. Educator and former state representative Sara Lampe will give the 1:30 p.m. ceremony address.

Thank you for all you do for Missouri State University.

—Clif

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Connecting students with industry professionals is a key component of helping students and graduates establish their career paths.

In the hospitality and restaurant administration department, that means bringing in top caliber speakers from hospitality companies across the nation to share their passion for the industry and engage students. One way the department does this is through its Hospitality Industry Week held each spring and fall. This spring’s event included the 7th Annual HRA Board of Advisors Speaker Series, the Hospitality Recruiters’ Fair (which the department has hosted since 1992) and the Hospitality Interview Day.

Joyce keynote began the events

The kick-off event for the week was a presentation by Steve Joyce, president and CEO of Choice Hotels. Joyce shared his insight on developing a successful career and highlighted a number of important industry trends. A packed crowd of more than 300 students, faculty and professionals attended the event.

“We were truly honored to have Steve Joyce on our campus,” said Dr. Stephanie Hein, hospitality and restaurant administration department head. “It was an exceptional opportunity for our students to learn from an industry leader who is at the top of his game.”

Joyce was accompanied by four members of his executive team: C.A. Anderson, Steve Stoycos, Jim Tierney and Michael Murphy. All four participated on a panel discussion for hospitality seniors. Students guided the discussion by asking questions pertaining to leadership, career growth and challenges within the industry.

Opportunities develop well-prepared professionals

“We are pleased to provide high-profile learning and networking opportunities for our students,” said Hein. “The speaker series and recruiters’ fair are just a couple examples of how we work to develop well-prepared, professional graduates. We are receiving feedback from leading recruiters that our efforts are paying off and students are ultimately realizing the reward of multiple job offers.”

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