As you may know, Administrative Council (AC) meets every Tuesday from 9-11 a.m. As a university committee, AC includes the central administrators who work to develop and implement the goals and priorities of Missouri State University.

Many topics are discussed and decisions made during these Tuesday meetings. Since arriving, I’ve gotten the sense that AC meetings seem a little mysterious to those who don’t attend on a regular basis, even though participants share the information discussed with their divisions and colleges.

One of my personal goals as Missouri State president is to be as transparent as possible regarding university-impacting discussions and decisions. I also believe there are a lot of creative and critical thinkers across the university. I’d like to harness this power as we work to elevate the operations of Missouri State.

With that in mind, I’ve launched the University Council (UC). UC includes AC members and deans, but it also includes staff and faculty from across the university, totaling 60 members. The purpose of UC is to:

• Enhance communication across our campus.
• Provide vital information to stakeholders.
• Collaboratively address challenges facing our university.
• Create a sense of “our” university.

The UC will meet for two hours each month, replacing the AC meeting for that week. The role and responsibilities of members include:

• Attend “most” of the UC meetings.
• Submit agenda items (presentations, discussions, etc.).
• Submit announcements.
• Participate actively.
• Disseminate information.

During UC meetings, there will be presentations to update members on operations across the university. There will also be discussions and problem solving as we address challenges the university is facing.

Our goal is to have members serve on the council for one to two years, then they’ll roll off and someone new from their group will replace them. The plan is to keep the insights and discussions fresh.

Update on first meeting

We held our first meeting on Nov. 5. The agenda included the assignment of the book “Broken Windows, Broken Business” for later discussion, a presentation of “Financial Holds” on student accounts and discussions on upcoming changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Admissions Wow Factor.

It was a good meeting with a lot of great input – exactly what I was hoping for.  You should be hearing updates from your respective UC members soon.

Thanks for checking in. It’s a great day to be a Bear!

Biff