Chapter 5: SMSU as a Connected Organization

Creating a Culture of Service

As described in the Chapter 4 section, “Creating the Capacity for Lifelong Learning,” Missouri State provides tools enabling each student and faculty or staff member to make service a part of his or her life. For example, the Greek community and many other student organizations provide a system of involvement and encourage service activities among their members. The Campus Volunteer Center coordinates many volunteer activities. The Citizenship and Service-Learning (CASL) program integrates service activities with learning in the classroom.

The University understands that its public affairs mission includes tools and activities in addition to those officially sponsored by CASL and other campus groups. Faculty encourage students to engage in a life of service not only with assigned coursework through CASL modules but also by modeling the behavior of service in their professional lives and by making connections between the subject content of their courses and the needs of society as a whole. Data on student, faculty and staff volunteer hours is published on the Missouri State Web site.

Within the community, Missouri State creates a culture of service by modeling through numerous activities and organizations. These include

• The Ozarks Celebration Festival – As described in Chapter 4, this festival sponsored by the Ozark Studies Institute brings regional artisans to campus for two days of activities. The festival also allows numerous members of the campus community the opportunity to serve as volunteers.
• Ozarks Public Television—As described in Chapter 4, Ozarks Public Television (OPTV) provides PBS programming and instructional television services to 454,000 households in southwest Missouri and the adjoining three states. Strong local community commitment, support, and involvement provides a volunteer staff of more than 1,000, augmenting station operations in a variety of tasks. Volunteers provide support in production, administrative, and fundraising tasks, including operation of two televised auctions which raise more than $200,000.
• KSMU—As described in Chapter 4, KSMU seeks to inform, to entertain, and “to encourage the exploration of ideas and their application to citizenship.” KSMU fulfills that vision by serving approximately 40,000 listeners with national and community oriented programming each day.

Not only the University as a whole, but also units within the University have mission statements and planning documents that illustrate a commitment to service.

• Major Philanthropic Events—The Board of Governors has sanctioned four major philanthropic events promoted on campus each year among faculty, staff, and students:
  • A United Way fund drive
  • Regular blood drives for the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks and the American Red Cross
  • Relay for Life (a Student Government Association fundraiser for the American Cancer Society) 
  • Denim Days (sponsored by the Staff Senate)
• Campus Volunteer Center (CVC)—The CVC, housed in the Student Employment Services Office, is “a clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities to assist Missouri State students, faculty, and staff as well as community members in becoming active participants in the Springfield community.” One of the programs administered by the CVC is the Student Community Action Team (SCAT), a program promoting civic responsibility among college students through service that addresses priorities of the community.
• Student Organizations—Many of the University’s nearly 300 student organizations engage in a variety of service activities. In addition to the organizations that are specifically designated as “service” organizations, many of the other organizations sponsor one or more service activities each year. The service activities of the Greek organizations are summarized annually. For example, recently these organizations provided over 9,600 hours of community service and donated more than $88,000 to charities (from 2003-04 Greek Life Year-End Report).

Greek organizations provided over 9600 hours of community service and donated more than $88,000 to charities.

• The Office of Citizenship and Service-Learning (CASL)—One of the systems by which the University encourages students to develop a life of learning is service-learning. CASL acts as a liaison for long-term, reciprocal relationships between Missouri State and its community partners. CASL supports engagement with constituencies and communities in many activities including
  • Hosting over 250 partnerships with not-for-profit, government, or public benefit organizations
  • Administering a needs assessment each year for community partners in planning for service-learning student placements
  • Sponsoring an annual Faculty and Community Partner Luncheon to support engagement with the community
  • Co-sponsoring the annual Community Action Volunteer Fair with the Campus Volunteer Center and Kentwood Hall, the University’s public affairs residence hall
  • Recognizing faculty, students and community partners twice yearly at the CASL Recognition and Celebration Ceremony
  • Initiating the Service-Learning Faculty Fellowship Program, which was established in order to integrate service-learning more intentionally and thoughtfully into the Missouri State academic environment
  • Sponsoring the CASL Research Stipend, intended to support research that will advance the knowledge of service-learning and/or be of direct service to the community
  • Funding faculty through the CASL Travel Stipend, to support projects pertaining to service-learning.
• The University’s annual report on Performance Measures provides data relating to the number of service courses being offered; the number of participating faculty, students, and community partners; and the number of hours being volunteered by faculty, staff, and students to community projects.
• The University also sponsors events and publications that reach beyond the campus community. In April of 2005, for example, the First Annual Public Affairs Conference brought numerous scholars and artists to campus to celebrate and discuss the theme “Celebrating the Intellect.” Sessions were open to the public, and co-sponsor the Springfield News-Leader reported positively on the event and its outcomes.
• Sponsored by the University, the annually published Journal of Public Affairs  has explored a variety of issues that are related to responsible citizenship and America's democracy. The Journal’s target audience consists of scholars, public officials, and anyone interested in concerted engagement in society’s well-being.