MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS
MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY
JULY 30, 2009
1. Roll Call
Present- Ms. Elizabeth Bradbury, Governor
Mr. Gordon Elliott, Governor
Mr. Brian Hammons, Vice-Chair of the Board
Mr. Orvin Kimbrough, Governor
Ms. Mary Sheid, Governor
Ms. Cathy Smith, Governor
Ms. Phyllis Washington, Governor
Mr. John Winston, Governor
Absent - Mr. Michael Duggan, Chair of the Board
Also
Present- Michael Nietzel, President
Paul Kincaid, Chief of Staff
Nila Hayes, Chief Financial Officer
Clifton Smart, General Counsel
Belinda McCarthy, Provost
Ken McClure, Vice President for Administrative and Information Services
June McHaney, Director of Internal Audit
Helen Reid, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services
Brent Dunn, Vice President for University Advancement
Drew Bennett, Chancellor of the West Plains Campus
Jim Baker, Vice President for Research and Development
John McAlear, Secretary of the Board
2. Presiding --- The presiding officer for the meeting was Mr. Brian Hammons, Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors. He called the meeting to order at 12:10 p.m. in the Community Building, 201 North Street, Stockton, Missouri.
3. AGB (Association of Governing Boards) Conference Summary --- Ms. Elizabeth Bradbury reported on the sessions she attended at the April 2009 AGB Annual Conference. She remarked that one session she attended stressed that an institution’s governing board needs to ensure that the institution is matching its resources with its strategic plan. Mr. Gordon Elliott indicated that he was amazed at the differences in the governing boards across the nation. He sees the need to use cost data in future program decisions.
4. Update of Springfield Campus Long-Range Plan --- Dr. Michael Nietzel, assisted by members of administrative council, provided an update on the Springfield Campus’s Long-Range Plan by reviewing progress on each of its five goals:
Democratizing Society
Enrollment management initiatives have included adding staff for student recruiting, increasing online enrollment, expanding dual credit offerings, establishing college-specific goals, and relocating the evening college from Carrington. Our selective admission decision is working…the quality of our student body has increased dramatically. We have greatly expanded the number of different scholarship programs and financial aid incentives. Our retention rates have held steady at about 73%, but in comparison, retention rates of our benchmark institutions and the national average have decreased, so our steady rate may be better than would appear.
Incubating New Ideas
We have budgeted $700,000 annually to the Provost for Futures/research projects. We now need to analyze the first three years of this funding. Our annual external funds have risen to an average of about $22 million per year…our new goal is to average $25 million per year. We have added five master’s degrees programs since 2005, plus added the Doctorate in Physical Therapy. The number of graduate certificate programs has grown from nine to 18 since 2005.
Imagining Missouri’s Future
In examining our curriculum, new program review policies were established by the Provost in 2007. When available, we seek professional accreditation reviews…not all universities have that policy. To improve our educational offerings and research projects, we have several new collaborations and partnerships with other institutions. We have created a new unit, Student Development and Public Affairs, with a mission to enrich Missouri State University’s academic environment by fostering student, faculty, and staff success through interconnected programs and services to advance the public affairs mission. We are greatly expanding our International Programs and our new Study Away voucher program will start this Fall.
Making Missouri’s Future
We have had successes in each of our themes: 1) Business and Economic Development – the initial planning for the IDEA Commons and the emergence of the Missouri Innovation Academy; 2) Creative Arts – new space for Art and Design in Brick City and Tent Theatre obtaining Actor Equity status; 3) Health – initial year funding for “Caring for Missourians” and developing the PharmD program with UMKC; 4) Professional Education – Greenwood labs have expanded and new “Extended Campus” cohorts are being added; 5) Science & Environment – the opening of JVIC and the establishment of our Cooperative Engineering Program; and 6) Human Dimension – new M.S. degrees in Applied Anthropology and Criminology.
Modeling Ethical and Effective Behavior
We have done a fairly good job in increasing the diversity among our student body while not much progress has been made among our faculty and staff. Our Internal Audit Department continues to perform internal audits each year and a new Ethics Hotline has been initiated. We have placed all scorecards and benchmarking comparisons on the internet for all to see. Maintenance and repair expenditures are incurred annually in life/safety areas. Capital investments include Siceluff Hall, JVIC addition, and JQH Arena. Pending the release of state funds, Hass-Hoover, Gohn-Wood House, Temple Hall, Kings Street Annex, Shepard Hall, and McDonald Arena are ready to move forward. Other capital improvements in process are the design work on the University Recreation Center and the design work on the William H. Darr Center Phase III. In Human Resources, we now have a merit pay system which has replaced the old, across-the-board pay increase. In the first three years of the plan, our mean annual increase in state appropriations equates to $2.4 million; the FY07 to FY09 average annual increase in tuition and fees is $4.2 million; our external grants and contracts have exceeded our goal and we are now aiming for $25 million per year; our new five-year comprehensive capital campaign will be at least $100 million; professorships and chairs have increased from 3 to 25 in this period; and our internal allocations from FY07 through FY10 have totaled $3.2 million.
5. Update of West Plains Campus Long-Range Plan --- Dr. Drew Bennett, Chancellor of the West Plains Campus, reminded everyone of the West Plains Campus’s mission – “Missouri State University-West Plains is a teaching and learning institution providing quality postsecondary educational opportunities to the communities we serve.” Two of its current goals are: 1) Purposeful Education…educate students for a lifetime of learning, citizenship, career development, and personal enrichment; and 2) Collaboration…as an integral entity of the Missouri State University System, develop programs and services in partnership within the System and with other educational institutions that increase and enhance student educational opportunities. He added that their two major facility needs, Gohn-Wood House and Hass-Hoover Hall, set back when capital dollars were held back this past year, are extremely important to provide quality programs and services to their students. Dr. Bennett expects that their head-count enrollment this Fall will top 2,000 students…an all-time record. Their service area is the 14th poorest congressional district in the United States. Two years ago, due to competition, we could not afford to raise tuition, however, we are in a position that fee increases would be possible in the near future, unless we are required to maintain flat tuition.
Dr. Bennett summarized that their long-range planning process will work in tandem with their Higher Learning Self-Study process in 2010-11. Their timetable has a long-range plan completed and approved in the summer of 2011 with the Higher Learning Commission site visit already set for November of 2013.
6. Annual Goals for 2009-10 Fiscal Year --- Dr. Nietzel next recommended the following seven goals for this year for the Board’s discussion and input:
- Enhance the Quality of, and Improve the Access to, Educational Programs – including areas such as capitalizing on our summer academies, improving the process of awarding scholarships, and fully implementing the three thematic elements of the Public Affairs mission.
- Develop and Implement a Strategic Marketing Plan – marketing our strong academic programs and the college life on campus and in Springfield.
- Improve Campus Facilities – including the new University Recreation Center and at least one IDEA Commons property.
- Make Significant Progress on the Comprehensive Campaign – including alumni outreach and new media communications.
- Identify and Make Selective Investments in Research and Scholarship – focusing on graduate education and improving our Graduate Assistantships.
- Focus on Financing the University – including reviews of our processes for possible improvements or eliminations and of our tuition policy.
- Develop and Begin the Process of Developing a New Long-Range Plan – having a committee in place by January 2010 with a goal of having a new long-range plan by July 1, 2011.
Ms. Phyllis Washington proposed that improving our diversity stands alone as a goal rather than being a subset of one of the seven goals. Mr. Elliott commented that he believed that strengthening our intercollegiate athletics program should be a separate goal. After discussion, the consensus of the Board was that improving our diversity should be an eighth goal and that improving our athletics program should not rise to the level of being a ninth goal. As in past years, it was decided that the Board would communicate in writing their support for the agreed upon goals
7. Board Committees --- Mr. Hammons indicated that the Academic Affairs and the Student Affairs Committees meets tomorrow, respectively, at 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., both in the Plaster Student Union. He indicated that if he is elected Chair in the Board meeting tomorrow, he proposes the following committee structure: Executive Committee – Governors Duggan, Elliott, Washington, and Hammons (ex-officio); Academic Affairs – Governors Bradbury (chair), Duggan, and Hammons; Student Affairs – Governors Smith (chair), Washington, and Sheid; and Finance – Governors Elliott (chair), Kimbrough, and Winston. He added that Ms. Sheid would continue serving as an ex-officio board member of the Missouri State University Foundation.
8. Date of Next Meeting --- The date of the next scheduled meeting was set for Friday, July 31, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. in the Traywick Parliamentary Room in the Plaster Student Union on the Campus of Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.
9. Adjournment--- Mr. Hammons adjourned the meeting at 4:30 p.m. on the motion of Mr. Winston, the second of Ms. Washington, and the unanimous vote of the Board.
John W. McAlear
Secretary