West Plains Campus

Operation 50K

This month’s Spotlight is dedicated to the students, faculty and staff of Missouri State-West Plains for their Operation 50K project!  This year-long initiative challenged the campus community to donate 50,000 hours of service to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the West Plains campus, celebrate its public affairs mission, and as a way to express their thanks to the area communities who have given their support to MSU-West Plains over the years.

“We knew this would be a big challenge,” Chancellor Drew Bennett stated, “but we thought out of the box and invited students, faculty, staff, their families, our advisory board members and their families, and others throughout the community with ties to the university to participate.”  With students providing the largest percentage of hours, the campus exceeded their goal by officially logging in 56,531 hours.  Calculated at minimum wage, this totaled $423,982 of volunteer labor to the community and its civic causes.  West Plains SGA President, Dakota Bates, who gave the initiative its name, thanked all the students for their hard work and dedication that made this dream a reality.

For their contribution, dedication and exemplifying all three pillars of the public affairs mission, we honor the entire West Plains campus as July’s Public Affairs Spotlight!