Chapter 5: Missouri State University as a Connected Organization

Strengths, Challenges, and Recommendations

Strengths

• The public-affairs focus, which includes an emphasis upon service, is clearly articulated in the University’s mission statements, including those at the unit levels.
• Many students, faculty, and staff participate in service activities, often on a volunteer basis.
• Missouri State University has a well-established service-learning program.
• The acquisition of Ozarks Public Television station, KOZK, joining National Public Radio station, KSMU, provides additional opportunities for Missouri State to connect with and to serve its constituents.
• The University collaborates with external constituents, including other educational institutions. This collaboration often conserves resources and eases the transfer process.
• Internal constituents have many opportunities to voice their ideas about the University and its programs.
• External constituents respond positively to the University’s work.

Challenges

• Faculty and department heads have expressed a lack of understanding of and involvement in certain budget decisions. This situation, however, has already begun to be improved during the current budget cycle under President Nietzel’s leadership.
• All persons at the University (from the administration to the faculty, staff, and students) need to make additional efforts to ensure that the entire university community is better informed about and better understands decisions and policies. The success of information transfer (not only up and down between levels, but laterally among levels, as well) depends on how people in all positions of the network choose to participate in information transfer.
• Within the current administrative structure, the creation and implementation of interdisciplinary studies programs, courses, and research can be difficult.

Recommendations

Using existing systems, the University needs to improve communication at all levels.