Clifton "Clif" M. Smart III has served as the 11th president of Missouri State University
since June 27, 2011.
Under Smart’s leadership, the university has:
Set new records in numbers of graduates, graduate employment rates, and overall enrollment
Enhanced diversity of faculty, staff, and students
Maintained affordability for students
Significantly upgraded campus facilities
Developed new bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs
Achieved a Silver STARS rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability
in Higher Education
Set records in state appropriations, private gifts and grant funding
In recent years, Smart has served as the president of the Council on Public Higher
Education in Missouri, on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, on the Mercy Health
Springfield Communities Board of Directors, on the Board of Directors for the Hawthorn
Foundation, and on the Board of Directors for Missouri Partnership. He has also served
on boards and committees for the Missouri Department of Higher Education, Springfield
Area Chamber of Commerce, CoxHealth, Arc of the Ozarks, Springfield Innovations, Inc.,
Isabel’s House, First Baptist Church and numerous other professional and community
organizations.
Smart has lived in Springfield, Missouri for more than two decades. Before his presidency,
Smart served as the university’s general counsel. Before coming to Missouri State
University, Smart had a private legal practice in Springfield.
Smart and his wife, Gail, have two sons: Murray, who along with his wife, Amy, both
graduated in 2012 from Southwest Baptist University and live in Rogers, Arkansas with
their daughters Addy, Emery and Miriam and sons Parker, Leeland, and Cannon; and Jim,
who recently graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School.
Accomplishments
Achieved record undergraduate enrollment for the Missouri State System and the Springfield
campus, becoming the number one choice for Missouri high school students taking the
ACT.
Achieved record graduate, underrepresented and international enrollment.
Recognized as a doctoral granting university by the State of Missouri, the Missouri
Coordinating Board of Higher Education and the Higher Learning Commission.
Reorganized the academic structure of the university to better promote interdisciplinary
work and reduce inefficiency and administrative costs while promoting student success.
Collaborated with the University of Missouri to offer engineering and pharmacy programs
in Springfield to address workforce shortages.
Doubled the number of terminal degree programs offered, adding Master of Fine Arts
programs and Doctor of Occupational Therapy, Psychology and Defense and Strategic
Studies programs.
Achieved record state funding including a separate appropriation to catch Missouri
State up as a result of record enrollment growth.
Completed the largest two comprehensive campaigns in university history ($274 million
and $167 million).
Raised over $160 million in federal, state, and private money in the last two years
to renovate and expand science and health care facilities.
Achieved record external funding and record endowment valuation.
Continued the development of IDEA Commons including Brick City, the Plaster Center
for Free Enterprise (eFactory), and the Roy Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center,
becoming the leading entity involved in economic development in the region while reinvigorating
an abandoned industrial area of Springfield.
Created twelve balanced budgets, refinanced debt to save millions of dollars of interest,
and reduced the indebtedness of the University.
Increased the diversity of faculty and staff, including establishing a successful
mentoring program for underrepresented and international faculty (the Bear Bridge
program).
Improved support for underrepresented students, including building new gathering spaces,
creating a bias response team and a new mentoring program for first year students
(the Bears
Lead program) and partnering with access organizations to provide scholarship and
support services for participating students.
Facilitated the relocation of the national headquarters of SAAB (the Student African
American Brotherhood) to campus.
Began programs for developmentally disabled students to attend college at both campuses
(Bear Power and ASCEND programs)
Maintained affordability for students by raising tuition and fees by less than inflation
while reducing the number of hours required to graduate from 126 to 120.
Upgraded campus facilities including building the Magers Health and Wellness Center,
the Davis-Harrington Welcome Center, Allison North and South Stadiums, the Foster
Family Recreation Center, the O’Reilly Clinical Health Sciences Center, and the John
Goodman Amphitheater, and extensively renovated Ellis, Glass, Hill, Kampeter, and
Pummill Halls as well as Plaster Stadium.
Partnered with Springfield Public School System to build an agricultural magnet school
for grades four through six at the Darr College of Agriculture.
Entered into a public-private partnership to successfully build and open the first
new residence hall in over thirty years.
Met all state performance standards every year they were in place.
Successfully led the university through the pandemic with no layoffs, reopening as
a residential campus in the fall of 2020.
Developed the electronic publication “Inside Missouri State” containing my column
“Clif’s Notes” which is published weekly to broadly communicate to the university
community.
Established widely followed social media accounts.
Missouri Council on Public Higher Education (past chair and past vice-chair)
Missouri Valley Conference Presidents Council (past chair and current expansion committee
chair)
Missouri Valley Football Conference Presidents Council (chair)
