TO:                  Campus Community

FROM:            Belinda McCarthy, Provost

DATE:             October 17, 2006

RE:                  Message to the Missouri State Community

There are a great many projects and initiatives underway right now at our university.   I would like to take a few moments and share some of my thoughts with you about what we have been working on and where we are going.

1)  The revision of the Faculty Handbook, the decentralization of the university budget to the colleges, the new compensation plan, the new long range plan, benchmarking and the use of accountability measures  - all of these are exciting initiatives.  In many ways, how we handle them and what we accomplish will remake the university.

 2) These new policies and procedures, and the culture which we create as we develop them, will allow us to respond to external factors that have been impacting higher education for more than a decade.  If we handle these challenges wisely, we will not only achieve necessary adjustments, but we can utilize the change process to better achieve our goals.

3)  The same challenges with which we wrestle are confronting universities across the nation. They are worthy of our most serious consideration and efforts – how we handle them will determine our ability to hold true to that which is best about our tradition and history while incorporating elements of a newer vision.

4)   Our best asset in addressing these challenges is our willingness to communicate and work together, and to engage members of the community in a meaningful dialogue on these issues as we work to implement each new endeavor. 

5)   The initiation of implementation inevitably brings about whole new waves of understandings of the issues that need to be addressed – this is where “the rubber meets the road.”  These new understandings need to be incorporated as meaningful inputs into our processes.

6)   In developing new policies, administrators need to use the same approach that faculty are being encouraged to utilize when it comes to scholarship – to write up their efforts and submit them to “peer review.”  By proposing initiatives and processes and soliciting input, we can seek new ideas, improve existing ones, discover “holes” in our thinking and refine processes so that the problems that confront us  - in budget management, performance review, sabbatical decision-making, grants administration, etc., will ultimately be minimized.  It is not an easy process or a very “pretty” one, but engaged discussion and dialogue on the policies and procedures of this institution are irreplaceable means of moving us all forward – together.

7)  An effective organization must be a learning community, promoting a culture of leadership.  We all have to accept our roles as leaders and learners, recognizing that the university will best move forward when individual interests and university mission are aligned.  That means that we all must work to learn the challenges and responsibilities facing the university and the options we face going forward.  We also need to learn how to draw the very best from each of the members of this community, recognizing areas of strength and developing ways to maximize the impact and growth of each individual’s efforts.

8)  To accomplish the above approach to managing the changes that are underway on this campus (in budget management, policies and procedures, priorities and initiatives) requires that communication be ongoing, open to participation and transparent.  I am working with the deans and department heads to develop means to achieve this on a continuous basis. This effort will become a meaningful focus of discussion at all meetings of administrators.

9) In addition:

a.  I will use my faculty lunches to continue to meet the faculty, learn about issues of concern and the differing interpretations of draft policies (as well as where the best restaurants and hiking trails may be found).

b.  I will use my meetings with the departments to learn more about the challenges and opportunities you face as colleagues within a discipline as well as individuals on a campus.

c.  I will meet with Faculty Senate, Faculty Concerns Committee, Graduate Council and Staff Assembly (and other organizations and committees of the university) routinely or as requested, for Q&A as well as to invite input into new or current initiatives. 

d.  I will be participating in College Dean and Provost Forums each term.   Beginning next spring, each college will host one forum each term, with the focus of discussion on any and everything of interest to that faculty.

e.  We have put together a faculty task force to brainstorm on the establishment of a Faculty Leadership Institute.  It is my understanding that COAL had a similar program at one time for its faculty.  Our goal now is to determine what format should be used to promote opportunities to learn about and participate in efforts to address the challenges confronting Missouri State University.

f.   I hope to use the Provost’s office web page as a means of providing clear information to all members of the university community.  Likewise, I would like to have an internal newsletter or regular email to the faculty that provides information and solicits input on particular topics.  These two objectives will take a bit of time, and the early efforts will no doubt require revision to maximize ultimate utility and effectiveness.  I hope to assemble a small group of faculty and administrators to advise me on how to best achieve these goals.  I would hope to have something in place by early next spring.

I found my work over the summer with the members of the Faculty Handbook committee to be extremely helpful as I attempted to learn this campus.  The dialogue that ensued, allowing me to share my experiences and vision for academic affairs while learning about the existing policies and procedures of the institution, as well as their history, provided a productive exchange that left me extremely impressed with the thoughtfulness of the people of Missouri State University and the strength, intelligence, optimism and ethics with which they approached their task. These same traits and values have been evident in all of my experiences with the faculty and staff on this campus.  For that reason, I am even more enthused and encouraged about the opportunities and future that await this great university, knowing I can both enjoy my work with my colleagues here and be extremely proud of the opportunity you have given me to serve as your provost.