Presidential Updates

Clif’s Notes for April 5, 2022

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I am excited to introduce you to Beth Cunningham, our new Lady Bears basketball coach.

Coach Cunningham has an impressive 20-year collegiate coaching resume. Most recently she was an assistant coach at Duke University.

Before that, she was the associate head coach at Notre Dame during one of the best winning stretches in NCAA history that included:

  • A 244-19 record.
  • Seven 30-win seasons in a row.
  • Six conference titles.
  • Five NCAA Final Four appearances.
  • And the 2018 National Championship.

She also had a successful run as head coach at VCU (where she is the all-time leader in women’s coaching wins) and as a player at Notre Dame. There, she led the program to its first NCAA Women’s Final Four appearance her senior year and departed as the all-time leading scorer in Fighting Irish women’s basketball history.

Coach Cunningham knows how to win. She was our number one choice for this job, and I am very pleased that she agreed to lead our program.

I hope you will join me in welcoming Coach Cunningham, her husband Dan, and their four children to the Missouri State community.

Exciting events on campus

We have several great events on campus this week.

Shaun Tomson will speak at this year’s public affair convocation at 3:30 p.m. this Wednesday in the PSU Theater.

Tomson, author of “The Code” — this year’s Common Reader, will share his life experiences in and out of the surfing world. He will offer how the simple message — I Will — can be a model to face life’s challenges and help you achieve your goals.

I hope you will plan to attend. No ticket is required, and the event is free and open to the public.

Read more about Tomson

That evening, at 6:30 p.m., we will host a book reading, signing and reception with award-winning, internationally bestselling author Laura McHugh at the C Minor Recital Hall in Ellis Hall.

McHugh’s novels have won numerous national and international awards. They have also been translated into multiple languages and optioned for film. McHugh lives in Columbia, Missouri, with her family.

Early on Wednesday, at 9 a.m., we will dedicate the Darr Agriculture Academy, the agricultural sciences SPS magnet school that will be located on our campus at the Darr Ag Center.

The building will serve approximately 150 elementary students at SPS and provide a meaningful partnership between MSU and SPS.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for March 29, 2022

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Municipal elections are next Tuesday.

In the Springfield Public Schools (SPS) district and many surrounding areas, school board elections will be on the ballot.

School board members connect their local communities to the public schools. Who we elect to school boards has a direct impact on the curriculum taught, student achievement and outcomes, composition of the faculty and staff, and facility and financial management of our public schools.

In short, school board elections are very important. I hope you will take time to research the candidates for the school district you live in and vote next Tuesday.

Review candidates

In SPS, we have five candidates running for two spots on the seven-member board.

The Springfield Daily Citizen interviewed and published articles about each candidate:

The Daily Citizen also published a Q&A series titled “Which Springfield school board candidates do you align with?” that provides information about each candidate’s stance on several critical issues, including:

  • COVID mitigation.
  • MAP and ACT scores.
  • Staggered start times.
  • Teacher staffing issues.
  • And more.

The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce has announced its endorsement of two candidates. The Springfield NEA has also announced its endorsement of two candidates.

Vote April 5

Please take a look at the materials linked above and other information you have at your disposal. Educate yourself and vote next Tuesday.

The Davis-Harrington Welcome Center will once again serve as a central polling location for the April election. If you are registered to vote anywhere in Greene County, you can vote in the Welcome Center or at your regular polling location.

The Welcome Center will be open for voting 6 a.m. – 7 p.m. April 5.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Feb. 15, 2022

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Last fall, the Board of Governors approved an agreement to allow the Springfield Daily Citizen to locate on our campus.

The Daily Citizen is a new online news outlet offering a unique blend of in-depth stories and a daily slice of Springfield life.

It is a nonprofit, independent news organization founded by former Mayor Thomas J. Carlson and headed by David Stoeffler. As a local nonprofit, the Daily Citizen is free from corporate ownership.

How it’s structured

In addition to eight staff members involved in the news operation, the Daily Citizen has created a network of well-known local writers and photographers.

It also is partnering with other organizations — KSMU Ozarks Public Radio, Ozarks Alive and others — to create a daily go-to source for news and community information.

A primary focus is regular in-depth reports that delve into issues Springfield-area citizens care most about. This includes a broad range of subjects – the economy, education, health, poverty and children’s issues – and other topics identified through local efforts such as the biennial Community Focus Report for Springfield and Greene County.

In addition, the Daily Citizen will cover leading daily news events and provide a variety of columns and features on arts/culture, outdoors/recreation, sports, and stories about the people who make the area special.

The website will include a comprehensive Springfield events calendar, plus will publish free death notices submitted by area funeral homes.

Evolution of journalism

The overall coverage is not designed to duplicate the work of other local media, but primarily to fill the gaps left as for-profit media have reduced staff, coverage and publication schedules.

Across the U.S., more than 30,000 journalists have lost jobs since 2008, a trend that has been mirrored in Springfield.

To help fill the coverage void, more than 300 nonprofit news outlets have been created across the country. The Daily Citizen staffing, coverage and long-term plan is more ambitious than most similar nonprofits.

The Daily Citizen will launch their full website and begin distributing news content in the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you are interested in subscribing, you can go to the Springfield Daily Citizen website and submit your email address.

Visit the Springfield Daily Citizen

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for May 18, 2021

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This week is Staff Appreciation Week. If you haven’t already seen it on social media, please take a look at the below video message we prepared to thank our staff at MSU for their hard work.

Enjoy Staff Appreciation Week events

We will honor our staff this week at two events. Both events will take place on Friday in BearFest Village — the greenspace behind (to the west of) Carrington Hall.

First, at 11:30 a.m., we will host a Staff Appreciation Picnic.

We were not able to have our annual staff awards luncheon and ceremony in January this year.

The Staff Appreciation Picnic is designed to take the place of that ceremony, and we will honor staff at this event in a much less formal, decentralized way.

Second, after the picnic, at 1:30 p.m., we will host a Float into Summer ice cream social. As we did two years ago, we will close the university from 3 to 5 p.m. May 21 after the ice cream social.

Issues related to essential personnel, time reporting and compensation for this closure are addressed in section 2.15 of the Employee Handbook. Supervisors will work with their staff on how to coordinate coverage if coverage is required.

I hope you will plan to attend both of these events.

Recognizing great contributions

During its regular meeting last week, the board approved this year’s slate of inductees into the Wall of Fame. This year’s inductees are:

  • Anson Elliott
  • Mike Jungers
  • James Moyer
  • Thomas Plymate
  • Mark Stillwell

As in years past, we will have an induction ceremony honoring these individuals during Homecoming week. Due to the pandemic, we were not able to have this ceremony last year, so we will also recognize the 2020 inductees at this year’s ceremony.

Read the news release

The board also recognized the recipients of the Missouri State Foundation Awards in Teaching and Service.

Margaret Weaver and Kyler Sherman-Wilkins were selected for this year’s teaching award, and David Romano was selected for the service award.

The board also approved this year’s recipients of the Excellence in Public Affairs Award:

  • Tara Benson
  • David Hall
  • Judith Martinez
  • Gary Meints
  • Caryn Saxon
  • Travis Schilla

Read the news release

The board also approved commendations for Cameron Wickham (outgoing chair of Faculty Senate), Ryan Reed (outgoing chair of Staff Senate), Tara Orr (outgoing student body president) and Blake Haynes (outgoing student body vice president).

I offer sincerest of congratulations to all of these award and commendation recipients. The university and the Springfield community are better because of your leadership and service.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!

Clif’s Notes for Oct. 27, 2020

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Election Day is one week from today.

This is an extraordinarily important election. Many say it is the most important election in modern history.

I hope all members of our university community will put the public affairs mission into practice and vote. Regardless of your political beliefs, we have many important decisions on the ballot, and I encourage you to make your voice heard by voting in this election.

Vote on campus

JQH Arena will be a central polling location for this election, meaning any voter registered in Greene County can vote there on Election Day regardless of their assigned polling location. We collaborated with Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller to move the polling location from the Welcome Center to JQH Arena to allow social distancing while voting and waiting in line.

If you are registered to vote in Missouri, you can find your designated polling location on the Secretary of State’s webpage. You can also learn about other voting options (such as absentee voting, voting by mail, etc.) through the Secretary of State’s “How to Vote” webpage or through resources provided by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Notaries are available at select times in Plaster Student Union and Glass Hall to assist with remote voting.

Learn about candidates, issues

There are many important decisions on next week’s ballot. We will vote for President and Vice President of the United States. We will also vote for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer and Attorney General. Representatives in the federal and state legislature are also on the ballot, along with candidates for several county offices.

We will also vote on two important ballot issues. The first would establish term limits for additional statewide offices. The other would ban lobbyist gifts, reduce campaign contribution limits and change the redistricting process.

Many of the candidates on this year’s ballot have Missouri State University or other higher education connections. Moreover, the decisions we make in this election will undoubtedly impact the university and our students, faculty and staff.

I encourage you to preview next week’s ballot online and research the candidates and issues.

Be civil, be heard

Because this election is so important, many of us have strong views on which candidates and ballot issues should win. This will result in some folks in our campus community feeling very disappointed with the results of the election, regardless of which candidates and issues receive the most votes.

Please keep the three pillars of the public affairs mission in mind as you make your voice heard before and after the election. As ethical leaders, we should all be prepared to articulate our values. However, we should also recognize and respect multiple perspectives and cultures.

Be attentive and acknowledge others. Be inclusive, listen and respect other views. Speak with courage, but act with compassion. Give and accept constructive feedback. Understand your environment, and take responsibility for mistakes and actions. Be civil and be heard.

Paws to the Polls

MSU operates a nonpartisan campus voting initiative called Paws to the Polls. You can find more information about this election and how you can vote through their pamphlet and website.

Topics covered include:

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!