Missouri State sets enrollment records in number, academic quality

 A record 21,688 students are enrolled this fall in the Missouri State University System, and the incoming class on the Springfield campus has the highest average ACT score ever: 24.2. This fall’s total is 281 students more than last year’s total of 21,407. The enrollment figure includes 19,925 students on the Springfield campus and 1,834 on the West Plains Campus. Some 71 students are enrolled on both campuses; these students were only counted once in the system total. The individual enrollment numbers establish a new record for each campus. In addition, several other enrollment records were set this fall: The enrollment of new transfer students (1,311) is a new record; enrollment of students seeking graduate degrees is 2,879, a new record and an increase of 131 (4.8 percent) over last year; and enrollment of minority students is 1,377, a record high and a 6.3 percent increase over last year.

IDEA Commons expands partnership with community, region
By purchasing five properties from the City of Springfield, Missouri State University accelerated its development of the IDEA Commons in the city’s downtown area. IDEA Commons is Missouri State’s vision and commitment to create a new type of urban research park that is blended with residential, retail and culture, and supported by various university programs. This unique project will bring together Innovation, Design, Entrepreneurship and Arts (IDEA), by expanding on the success of the Jordan Valley Innovation Center and the expanding presence of the art and design department in Brick City. IDEA Commons is a geographic area in downtown Springfield that will include locations for spin-off commercialization of technologies and university programs that will create an environment to generate creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship for the benefit of the Springfield region. IDEA Commons is an example of how the university continues to be engaged in the community’s livability and economic success.

Missouri State scholarship funds tuition, fees, books for low-income Missourians

Beginning this fall, more low-income students from across the state qualified for a tuition, fees and books need-based scholarship at Missouri State University. The income cap for the Missouri State Promise Scholarship, which was awarded for the first time in the fall of 2007, increased from 100 percent to 150 percent of the national poverty level for freshmen and transfer students entering the university in the fall of 2008.

Missouri State receives ‘Best in the Midwest’ designation

Missouri State University was selected for inclusion in The Princeton Review’s 2009 online list of “Best Colleges: Region by Region.” Missouri State is one of 159 schools on the site receiving the Best in the Midwest designation and has been included on this list since its inception six years ago. Selection is based on a qualitative evaluation of academic excellence and responses from student surveys. Missouri State also has been included in the Princeton Review “Colleges with a Conscience” list.

McQuearys donate lead gift for Greenwood science addition

The Greenwood Laboratory School will have a new science addition, thanks to a lead gift from the McQueary Family of Springfield. Greenwood Laboratory School is a department in the College of Education at Missouri State University. In recognition of the gift, the addition will be named for Bill and Shirley McQueary and Fred and Ramona McQueary. The addition will include two classrooms with lab space, one for chemistry and physics and the other for biology. The plan is for the two rooms to be equipped so that high-quality science education can be provided electronically to other schools in southwest Missouri.

Missouri State offers four new programs to assist returning students

Missouri State University launched four new programs to assist students who want to continue their education. All four programs began this fall. Three of the new incentive programs assist students who have either “stopped out” of a degree program, or who have graduated from college and now would like to sample a graduate course. All three programs provide a financial incentive for students who elect to return to college to finish their degrees or who want to explore their options for advanced graduate study. The fourth program provides financial assistance to City of Springfield employees who are participating in the City’s education reimbursement program.

Eagles play inaugural concert in JQH Arena on Nov. 13
The Eagles, considered by many to be America’s greatest rock band, played the inaugural concert in the new JQH Arena at Missouri State University Nov. 13. Tickets to the event sold out 75 minutes after going on sale to the public. It was not only the first concert in JQH Arena, but also the first major public event. The university took possession of the facility Oct. 24, with the home opening Bears basketball game on Nov. 22 and the Lady Bears’ home opener the following day.

Nietzel serves on leadership and global competitiveness commission

Missouri State University President Michael T. Nietzel was selected to serve on the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Commission on Presidential Leadership and Global Competitiveness. Composed of 12 AASCU presidents and chancellors, the commission works to assess and project the impact of global economic, political and technological changes on America’s public universities. The commission will recommend initiatives to presidents and chancellors that will strengthen the success of their institutions in ensuring graduates are globally competitive.

Gift to establish first professorship at West Plains campus
The promise of an annual gift for the next five years from the Philanthropic Women for Education organization will lead to a professorship in the William and Virginia Darr Honors Program at Missouri State University-West Plains. This is the first professorship to be established at the West Plains campus. The annual contribution will be used to augment the salary of the professorship while university officials use the next five years to search for a donor or organization to fully endow the position.

Highlights from Fiscal Year 2008

(July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008)

Missouri State, Danforth Center collaborate on grape plant research

Leaders from Missouri State University and the St. Louis-based Donald Danforth Plant Science Center have found ways to genetically enhance grape plants for resistance to fungal diseases and are unlocking the health benefits of the polyphenols found in grapes, thanks to research funding from the Missouri Life Sciences Trust Fund. The research teams studied the Norton and Cabernet Sauvignon grape varieties and found that the Norton variety is highly resistant to fungal diseases. The team is now utilizing this research to enhance Norton plants for resistance to fungal diseases. Laboratory testing has revealed that resveratrol can be beneficial to human health and has anti-cancer, antiviral, anti-aging and anti-inflammatory effects.

Missouri State holds 2008 Community Caravan

Highlighting the interdependence and saying “thank you” for past support were the two major goals for the first Missouri State University Community Caravan, which visited eight areas in southwest Missouri in the first three weeks of April. Approximately 1,000 people attended one of the events. The theme of the 2008 Caravan was “What the Public Affairs Mission Means to You.” During the Caravan, university officials held civic/economic impact events, school visits, media contacts, visits with individual donors and alumni, and an evening event for prospective students and their parents.

Missouri State implements first of task force recommendations

Missouri State University invested about $300,000 during 2007-08 to begin implementing the recommendations of the Emergency Response Task Force. Over the next 3-5 years, the university expects to invest additional amounts to improve campus security. The first year implementation include the following: mass notification system, telephone system generator, Cheek Hall generator (for computer system), interface with the Greene County communications system, radio back-up controller cards, survey of classroom and laboratory door lock needs, emergency phones, back-up generator for the safety office, and education and training for university students, faculty and staff. 

Missouri State partners with Unidym, Foster-Miller

Missouri State University’s Roy Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center added two companies – California-based Unidym and Massachusetts-based Foster-Miller, Inc. – to its prestigious team of senior corporate affiliates. Both companies are leasing space at JVIC, which is located in downtown Springfield. The additions of Unidym and Foster-Miller give the students, faculty and staff at Missouri State more opportunities to work side-by-side with corporate partners on large-scale, groundbreaking scientific projects.

Missouri State receives President’s Honor Roll for Service

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) named Missouri State University to the President’s Higher Education Community Honor Roll with Distinction for exemplary service efforts and service to disadvantaged youth. This is the second time the university has received the award.

Missouri State recognized for efforts with Relay for Life

Missouri State University was given top honors for efforts with Relay For Life at the High Plains Summit in Dallas, Texas. Faculty adviser Jerri Lynn Kyle was present to accept the top award for amount raised at a school of Missouri State’s size in the High Plains Region, which includes 11 states. Overall, Missouri State placed 8^th in the nation.

Gordon McCann pledges collection to Missouri State
Springfield native Gordon McCann announced that he “can find no better place” for his collection of “music and folklife material” than the special collections and archives department of the Duane G. Meyer Library on the campus of Missouri State University. McCann’s collection includes more than 2,000 recorded fiddle tunes (65,000 including variations) and more than 3,000 hours of fiddle music McCann recorded at jam sessions, music parties, concerts and dances. In addition, McCann has more than 200 notebooks full of tunes, transcriptions and biographical info on the musicians. The transcriptions include the musicians’ conversations about where and from whom they learned the tunes.

Greenwood “Celebrates a Century” during 2007-08
Missouri State University’s Greenwood Laboratory School commemorated 100 years of providing outstanding educational experiences with a year-long celebration. The only kindergarten through 12^th grade Laboratory School in the State of Missouri, Greenwood was established as a “training school” in 1907. It was first located at Pickwick School, serving grades one through 12. A product of John Dewey’s “Progressive Education,” Greenwood was named in honor of Dr. J.M. Greenwood, superintendent of schools in Kansas City in 1910.

Tent Theatre becomes region’s first equity company

The department of theatre and dance at Missouri State University signed a contract with Actor’s Equity for last summer’s Tent Theatre productions, making Tent Theatre the first equity company in southwest Missouri. The contract gives students greater professional opportunities and allows more professional actors to be in Tent Theatre productions.

Academics

In supporting the university’s mission of developing educated persons, the office of the provost administers the teaching, research and service functions of Missouri State by providing educational and service programs — undergraduate, graduate, outreach, credit and non-credit — to meet the needs and interests of students and citizens. Several significant accomplishments in academics were achieved last year.

Missouri State introduces degree in IT service management

Missouri State University and IBM announced that the university will offer the first Bachelor of Science in IT service management in the United States. The new degree program, created in collaboration with IBM’s IT Service Curriculum, will be conferred by the computer information systems department in the College of Business Administration. The new curriculum addresses the expansion of the services sector, which now represents more than 75 percent of the U.S. economy and is continuing to grow. Graduates of Missouri State’s ITSM program will be marketable for jobs across a range of industries such as financial services, healthcare and retail, as consultants, architects, IT managers, project managers, IT specialists and marketing/sales leads.

Academic programs earn accreditation

Several programs at Missouri State received accreditation during the past year. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accepted Missouri State University School of Social Work’s progress report. The acceptance indicates that the program will continue its accreditation.

The Board of Directors of The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business – International (AACSB) announced that Missouri State University’s College of Business Administration (COBA) has achieved reaffirmation of accreditation of its business administration and accounting programs. There are currently only 169 business programs worldwide that have earned this prestigious level of accreditation from AACSB. COBA currently enrolls approximately 4,600 students, making it the largest AASCB-accredited program in Missouri, as well as in the surrounding six state region.

The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) notified Missouri State that the university’s accreditation has been extended to allow the university to offer the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. The DPT is a clinical degree and is the preferred degree for new physical therapists, and is the second stand-alone doctorate offered by Missouri State University. Missouri State is one of only two public universities in Missouri to offer the DPT.

On the West Plains campus, the Associate of Applied Science in Respiratory Therapy program received initial accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs and is training its third cohort of respiratory therapists. The program is filled to capacity due to demand.

Missouri State forges partnerships with Crowder, Southwest Baptist

Crowder College and Missouri State University agreed to create an educational partnership in order to provide opportunities for current and potential students in the Neosho area by bringing additional course offerings from Missouri State University to Crowder College. This cooperative effort will offer classes in elementary education and in general business. A similar agreement was made with Southwest Baptist University (SBU)  to collaborate for the purpose of making the Missouri State accelerated master’s in accountancy available to SBU students. Accelerated master’s options provide a transition that enables outstanding students to be admitted into graduate programs and to enroll for a limited amount of graduate course work in their junior or senior year. It also allows students to have greater efficiencies in their pursuit of educational goals that extend into graduate degrees. There are currently accelerated master’s options in 12 graduate programs at Missouri State, and several disciplines are developing this option. 

Three professors receive Fulbright Scholarships

Three Missouri State University professors– Drs. Christina Biava, Etta Madden and Dennis Hickey – were awarded prestigious Fulbright Scholar grants to lecture overseas. Biava will teach applied linguistics and language teacher training courses in the Department of Letters and Languages at National Pedagogical University, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Madden will serve as a senior lecturer in American literature in the Department of Modern Philology, Foreign Languages and Literature at the University of Catania in Italy. Hickey lectured on American politics and American foreign policy at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.

Marketing professor studies obesity in children
Dr. Diana Haytko, associate professor of marketing, is part of a team of researchers who received a grant from the French government to study marketing geared toward children and its link to childhood obesity. The three-year project will utilize both qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys of children around the world.

Ozarks Writing Project instituted

The National Writing Project (NWP) has awarded a grant to Dr. Keri Franklin, assistant professor of English, to fund an NWP site, one of more than 200 housed at universities in the United States. The core work of the site will be the Summer Invitational Institute with approximately 20 teachers from K-university and across content areas meeting on the campus of Missouri State for a four-week Summer Institute.

Teachers recognized for classroom excellence

Dr. Mark Richter, professor of chemistry, was selected as the recipient of the 2007 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Missouri Professor of the Year. In addition, Dr. Daniel Beckman, biology professor; and Cathy Proffitt-Boys, assistant professor of technology at Missouri State University-West Plains, were honored by Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt with the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Faculty and Staff

During the year, several faculty members received national recognition or participated in activities on a national/international level.

Dr. Benjamin Goss, assistant professor of management; and Dr. Colby Jubenville, associate professor of sport management at Middle Tennessee State University, founded and launched a new online, open-access resource – The Journal of Sport Administration and Supervision. Dr. Earle Doman, vice president for student affairs, was selected as the award recipient for the James J. Rhatigan Outstanding Dean Award. Only 20 people have received this award to date. Juan Meraz, instructor of computer information systems, was elected president of the Academy of International Business U.S. Midwest Chapter. Dr. Lynn Robbins, professor of biology, received $21,640 from Burns and McDonnell Engineering to fund his project, “Shut-Eye Creek Wind Energy Project,” which will be used by the company to help reduce the wind turbines’ interference with the migratory patterns of Missouri bats. Dr. Julie Masterson, professor of communication sciences and disorders; and her research partner, Dr. Ken Apel, professor of communication sciences and disorders at Florida State University, developed a software program that tests children on spelling and then performs a series of complex analyses on the results to determine what aspects of spelling each child needs to work on. Dr. Paul Deal, assistant director of the Learning Diagnostic Clinic and assistant professor of psychology, received an award from the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations for his project, “AFOSI Research Project: Agent Retention and Performance.” Dr. Carol J. Miller, distinguished professor of finance and general business; and Dr. Susan J. Crain, associate professor of finance and general business, received the Excellence in Research Award from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. Missouri State University’s office of disability services and its director, Katheryne Staeger-Wilson, each received the Inclusive Business of the Year Award from the Southwest Center for Independent Living (SCIL) during its annual meeting and banquet. Dr. Richard Gebken, assistant professor of construction management at Missouri State University, received national recognition as the 2008 recipient of the Outstanding Junior Faculty Award from the National Association of Home Builders. This award recognizes up and coming faculty in construction management programs around the country. Dr. Holly Jones, assistant director of the Center for Archaeological Research, received a grant from the Pawnee Watershed Joint District No. 81 for her work at the Horsethief Reservoir near Jetmore, Kan. Jones directed excavations at the reservoir, which is considered an important stratified prehistoric site. Dr. Bernard McCarthy, director of the Community and Social Issues Institute, was appointed as a constituent member of the U.S. State Department Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) and to the advisory board of the Turkish Institute for Security and Democracy (TISD). As a constituent member, McCarthy will provide Missouri State with access to numerous non-public security notices and updates on safety overseas. Dr. David Lutz, professor of psychology; and Kimberly Stagner, academic adviser for the College of Business Advisement Center, each received an Outstanding Advising Certificate of Merit from the National Academic Advising Association. Again in 2007-08, two faculty members and two staff members were presented with Excellence in Community Service awards. The two faculty members honored were David Dixon, psychology; and Eissa Lewis, psychology. The two staff members were Anna Brashers, secretary for the Center for Business and Economic Development; and Jim Matthews, educational consultant for the Southwest Regional Professional Development Center.

Students

• David Vinyard, a May 2007 chemistry graduate in the Honors College, became the first-ever Rhodes Scholarship finalist from Missouri State University. Thirty-two scholarships are assigned annually to the United States of America.

• Missouri State Ad Team’s “Go Green. Go Public.” campaign won a national competition and will see their hard work broadcast throughout the United States in the form of a $15 million national public service campaign. The 19-member team presented its campaign to the American Public Transportation Association. Teams from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Pittsburgh were finalists and also made presentations.

• The Missouri State University debate team finished one of its best seasons ever. The team placed third in both the National Debate Tournament and the Cross Examination Debate Association tournament with Missouri State debaters making history by capturing first place speaker awards at both tournaments. Martin Osborn and Clay Webb, both senior political science majors, debated in the semifinals round against a Wake Forest University team which went on to win the tournament. This is the best performance by a Missouri State team since 1973. Osborn won the first place speaker award, placing ahead of the 155 other debaters at the tournament. As a result, Missouri State will house the Tiffany Cup until next year’s tournament.
• During the 2007-08 academic year, Missouri State students engaged in academic service-learning or other forms of community service, with hours of service totaling more than 100,000. Some of the programs and notable achievements include: volunteer income tax assistance, Earth Team, Coalition for Healthy Communities, community research, Into the Streets, Hispanic Educational Access Initiative, tutoring at-risk boys, Mentoring for Success and Writing for Scholarships.

• The Missouri State Board of Governors recognized five students who exemplify the concept of a citizen scholar. The inaugural recipients of the Citizen Scholar Award include Joseph Driscoll, junior management major from Brandsville, Mo.; Hollie Elliott, senior agriculture communications major from Springfield, Mo.; Elizabeth Keller, counseling graduate student from Lincoln, Mo.; Robert G. Stange, business graduate student from Farmington, Mo.; and David Vinyard, chemistry graduate student from Stockton, Mo.

• Fifty West Plains students were enrolled in the William and Virginia Darr Honors Program for fall 2007, making it the largest class since the program started in 1998.
• In partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, five Missouri State University students, led by computer sciences Associate Professor Ken Vollmar, created a software program designed to assist the USDA-NRCS with digital media storage. The program, called PhotoStore, was nationally certified and has been released to NRCS offices for field use.

• The Missouri State University SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) team returned to Springfield as regional champions after participating in the SIFE USA regional competition in Atlanta, Ga. Another team of Missouri State University criminology students placed third in the crime scene investigation competition at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences annual conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.
•  Missouri State University student Anthony Saitta won first place at the joint meeting of the Missouri Valley and Missouri Branches of the American Society of Microbiology at William Jewel College in Liberty. Saitta, a graduate biology student from Ozark, won for his presentation, “Microbial Source Tracking Using Host Specific Bacteroides on the Wilson’s Creek Tributary in the James River Basin of Southwest Missouri.”

• A team of five Missouri State University logistics and supply chain management students placed third overall in the third annual Ohio State University Logistics Case Competition in Columbus, Ohio. The team competed against teams from Arkansas State University, University of Arkansas, University of Maryland, Michigan State University and Syracuse University.
• Two students at Missouri State University-West Plains were selected for the 2008 All-Missouri Two-Year College Academic Team. Lindsay Deaton was named to the second team, and Diane Phillips was named to the third team.

Special Activities

• Missouri State University granted honorary doctorates to Nancy Brown Dornan and Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh. They received the Doctor of Public Affairs and Doctor of Science, respectively.

• In recognition of its multi-generational involvement with Missouri State University, the McQueary Family of Springfield received the 2007 Bronze Bear Award. The McQueary Family was the eighth recipient of the award, which is presented to those who have exhibited “extraordinary achievement and/or outstanding support” for Missouri State.

• The fourth annual Public Affairs Conference, hosted by Missouri State University along with presenting sponsor the Springfield News-Leader, took place in April on the Springfield campus. Themed “Seeking Solutions: Conflict, Violence and the Courage to Change,” the event featured discussions offering perspectives from business, entertainment, education, politics, religion, health and other subject areas.

• Scholars from around the world, as well as students, members of the Springfield community and government officials from Missouri, China and Taiwan congregated at Missouri State University to assess the evolution of Taiwan and China’s democratization. Missouri State University also hosted the first International Conference on Inquisition Studies with scholars from universities around the world participating in a variety of panel sessions and book reviews.

• Missouri State University’s 2005 Mountain Grove Cellars Port won a Bronze Medal Award (Port Style) at the 2007 Indy International Wine Competition. This was  Missouri State’s first foray into international competition since it began producing wine at its Mountain Grove research campus in 2004.

• For the 14^th year, Missouri State University and Drury University hosted the Expanding Your Horizons conference. The conference, part of a project supported by the National Science Foundation, encourages and fosters collaborations between various types of programs and organizations in Missouri, Kansas and northeast Oklahoma that will help girls pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

• The Missouri State University School of Accountancy again partnered with representatives from a dozen federal, state, local, private and not-for-profit agencies throughout the region to offer free tax preparation, e-filing and tax controversy assistance as part of the Across the Life Span (ATLS) and Volunteer Individual Tax Assistance (VITA) programs. The walk-in clinics were offered free to those with low incomes, older adults and citizens who speak English as a second language.

• Missouri State University celebrated five special months: National Hispanic Heritage Month, Native American Heritage Month, African American Heritage Month, Asian-Pacific Islander Month and Women’s History Month.

• Five former Missouri State University faculty and staff members were honored during the university’s annual Wall of Fame ceremony. The 2007 Wall of Fame Class included the late Dr. William Jack Bush, the late Gene Ellis, R. Todd Morriss, the late Olan Oatman and Dr. Orin Robinson. These honorees were recognized for their combined 144 years of full-time service.
• During the year, a wide variety of speakers visited campus including Glenn D. Frazier, who is featured in Ken Burn’s Frontline Films, “World War II Documentaries”; William Douglas Lansford, who also appears in the Ken Burn’s documentary; nationally syndicated talk show host and news anchor Jim Bohannon; best-selling author David Woodrell; and Dead Seas Scrolls scholar Dr. James C. VanderKam, professor of Hebrew Scriptures at the University of Notre Dame.
• The first annual Ozarks Studies Symposium was held in October at Missouri State-West Plains. The event celebrates the unique culture of the Ozarks by providing presentations and performances by representatives of the academic world and the public sector that address various aspects of life in the Ozarks.

Intercollegiate Athletics

Missouri State athletics teams won two league titles in 2007-08, both in the same sport. The men’s swimming team won the Sun Belt Conference championship in its second season competing in the SBC with what was the Bears’ sixth league title in nine years. The Missouri State women’s team won the Missouri Valley Conference championship for the fifth time in six seasons. Both Missouri State teams, coached by Jack Steck, were ranked among the nation’s top 15 mid-major programs at the end of the season. The Missouri State women beat host SIU by more than 170 points in the MVC meet while the Missouri State men got past Denver by 34 points in the SBC event.

 Coach Terry Allen’s football Bears made the best turnaround of any Bear team in the last 19 years when they climbed from a 2-9 season in 2006 to a winning 6-5 record in 2007. The Bears had the best team scoring output for an 11-game season in school history, and quarterback Cody Kirby was named Missouri Valley Football Conference Freshman of the Year, and tight end Clay Harbor received All-American recognition.

Missouri State basketball teams saw the end to their string of 22 consecutive seasons in which one or both reached postseason play. The men were 17-16 in their final season under coach Barry Hinson while the women were 11-19 in their first year under coach Nyla Milleson. The season was also the 32^nd and final year for Hammons Student Center as the home of Bears basketball in a stretch which saw more than five million fans come through the turnstiles to watch the two teams play.

Coach Melissa Stokes’s volleyball Bears drew an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, marking the fourth time in five years the team has gotten to NCAA play. Missouri State finished third in the MVC regular season race in what was the Bears’ ninth straight 20-win year. The softball Bears reached the finals of their conference tournament but lost in the championship game, while the baseball team also enjoyed a remarkable turnaround, turning in a nation-best 17-game improvement to go from a 23-34 mark in 2007 to a 40-17 record. The Bears were second in the MVC regular season and conference tourney and Tim Clubb was the MVC Pitcher of the Year.

Both Missouri State golf squads enjoyed improved campaigns, with senior women’s golfer Missy Linnens gaining selection as the Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year while distance Carrie Vestal won the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Senior Scholar Athlete Award.  Offensive center David Tillman capped his much-honored Bears’ football career with selection to receive the Virgil Cheek Athletic Achievement Award.

Intercollegiate Athletics – Missouri State-West Plains

The Lady Grizzlies (31-14) captured their ninth consecutive Region 16 Championship trophy when they won the annual Region 16 Tournament in Hillsboro, Mo., and advanced to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I Women’s National Volleyball Championship tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The Grizzlies fell to Three Rivers Community College 80-61 in the NJCAA Region 16 Basketball Championship Tournament championship game March 1 in Hillsboro, Mo. Although the championship eluded them, the Grizzlies set a new all-time record on the road (10-2; previous best was 10-3 in 01-02); were ranked in every NJCAA poll during the season, reaching as high as No. 10; recorded their third straight 20-win season; and tied the all-time single season school record of 27-5 during the 2007-08 season.

Lady Grizzly Luiza Jarocka was named a Distinguished Academic All-American by the NJCAA for maintaining a 3.84 grade point average during the past academic year. 

Two members of the Missouri State University-West Plains Lady Grizzly volleyball team were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Two-Year College Women’s Volleyball All-American team. Brittney Herzog was named to the first team, and Patricia Gandolfo was named to the second team. This is Gandolfo’s second AVCA All-American honor. She was named to the first team in 2006. Both were selected to the NJCAA Division I Women’s All-American team in November. Herzog was a first-team honoree, while Gandolfo was named to the second team.

Grizzly Head Volleyball Coach Trish Kissiar-Knight was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2008 during enshrinement ceremonies Feb. 10 at the University Plaza Convention Center in Springfield, Mo. Knight was one of 15 individuals and two teams inducted into the Hall this year.

Sponsored research programs

For the first time, Missouri State University topped the $22 million mark for sponsored programs. Numbers for Fiscal Year 2008 show that Missouri State’s external funding reached an all-time high of $22.4 million, more than doubling its FY 2003 total of $11 million in just five years. This year’s total was 11 percent higher than the FY 2007 amount of $21.7 million. Substantial funding increases were realized from the state (up 20 percent to $6.2 million) and businesses (up 32 percent to $1.7 million). Non-profit organizations showed a 62 percent decrease to $669,191, and international sources were down 88 percent to $32,620. The total also includes $85,523 in funding from counties and cities.

A sampling of research, education and service projects funded by external sources during Fiscal Year 2008 include:

• Regina Bowling, director of the Southwest Missouri Area Health Education Center; and Dr. Helen Reid, acting dean of the College of Health and Human Services, received $638,905 from the Missouri Foundation for Health to establish the Missouri Health Literacy Enhancement Center.

• Dr. Dale Law, executive director for the Viticulture and Enology Science and Technology Center (VESTA); Dr. Barry Gump and Dr. Stanley Howell, per course faculty at the West Plains Campus; and Dr. Karl Wilker, associate research professor of agriculture, received an award of $1,645,899 from the National Science Foundation to ensure that the VESTA Regional Center of Excellence is established and sustained in a manner that addresses the needs of the Mid-America region grape and wine industry.

• Dr. Suzy Cutbirth, director of the Southwest Regional Professional Development Center, received $450,000 from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to hire, house and supervise six full-time employees to work with the RPDC staff, state consultants and supervisors of instruction to improve the academic performance of students with disabilities and ensure regulatory compliance in districts and/or schools in southwest Missouri through consultation, support and the delivery of professional development initiatives as developed by the Division of Special Education.

• Dr. David Hough, dean of the College of Education, and Joan Armstrong-Tiehen, associate director of Project ACCESS, received $303,576 from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide professional development to Missouri educators and to assist parents with children who experience autism spectrum disorder. 

• Matthew Curry, assistant director of the Jordan Valley Innovation Center, and Rishi Patel, senior research scientist for the Center for Applied Sciences and Engineering (CASE), received $1,385,000 from the Office of Naval Research via Brewer Science to perform supporting research in the development of new materials and new processes by building a series of relatively easy-to-build MEMS devices to test the packaging materials and the new processes in real-world device fabrication.

• Dr. Steven Younger, CASE research professor, and Dr. Emmett Redd, professor of physics, astronomy and materials science, received $275,000 from the National Science Foundation to perform research and to create an optical fixed-weight learning neural network (OFWL-NN). This network will use optical computing hardware to operate at very high speed – about 10,000 times faster than a Pentium computer and about 10 times faster than the fastest supercomputer.

• Allen Kunkel, associate vice president for economic development, received $142,559 from the Missouri Department of Economic Development to support the operation of Springfield Innovation, Inc. (formerly JVIC, Inc.) as one of only nine Missouri Innovation Centers. Springfield Innovation, Inc. is a non-profit organization that helps entrepreneurs bring new technologies to the marketplace.

• Dr. Laszlo Kovacs, research professor of agriculture; Dr. Wenping Qiu, associate research professor of agriculture; Dr. Richard Biagioni, professor of chemistry, and Dr. Paul Durham, director of the Center of Biomedical and Life Sciences, received an $897,955 award from the Missouri Life Sciences Research Board to develop new, high-value commercial products and to enhance disease resistance in grapevines. The commercial products will be related to identifying individual compounds or classes of compounds that confer the health benefits of grapes. That information will lead to the development of grape products, such as food supplements and herbal condiments, with scientifically proven dietary value. Disease resistance in grapevines will be accomplished through gene identification.

 Federal funding

 The bulk of the funding for FY 2008 came from federal sources, which show a 4 percent increase from last year for an approximate total of $13.1 million. Research and economic development received the most funding with approximately $12.5 million, much of which was awarded for the Roy Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center.

 Other projects approved for Federal Fiscal Year 2008 include:

  Highway 13 at Broadmoor Intersection (Darr Agricultural Center Entrance) $367,500

• Vitis Gene Discovery Program at Missouri State-Mountain Grove
   $452,000
• Distance Learning (including Gohn-Wood at West Plains)
  $810,588
• Upgrades for Academic Support Center at MSU-West Plains (Hass-Hoover)
   $195,000
• College Preparatory Pilot Program (Missouri Innovation Academy)
  $97,000
• Jordan Valley Innovation Center-Related Projects (Corporate Affiliate Projects)

 $15.2 million

Missouri State receives $2.9 million for viticulture education

Southwest Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt announced $2.927 million in National Science Foundation funding for Missouri State University’s Viticulture and Enology Science and Technology Alliance (VESTA). The grant to Missouri State will be used to provide education to community colleges in 12 states through online training courses about the grape and wine industry. The funding is one of the largest single grants ever received by the university.

Missouri State receives National Cancer Institute grant

Missouri State University received a three-year, $175,099 National Cancer Institute research grant. The funding will be used for a project led by Chemistry Professor Gary Meints to explore the dynamics of damaged DNA using solid-state NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) instruments.

Missouri State to participate in carbon sequestration partnership

Missouri State will participate in the Missouri Carbon Sequestration pilot project. Missouri Senator Christopher S. “Kit” Bond secured $2.46 million to assist with the shallow carbon sequestration pilot demonstration. The data gathered from this project will advance the research on the potential for sequestering carbon in Missouri, addressing a key environmental issue. If successful, the project also could result in millions of dollars in savings for customers of the participating electric utilities.

 Private Fund-Raising

 When the clock struck midnight on June 30, the Missouri State University Foundation’s gifts and commitments totaled a record $14,050,400. That amount surpasses the previous all-time high of $11,826,286 (set in 2005-06) by more than $2 million. Since 2005, the Foundation has averaged nearly $1 million per month, and in keeping with the university’s goals of increasing student access to higher education and maintaining quality faculty, the Foundation has added 40 new endowed funds (scholarships and faculty positions) this year. In addition, at a time when national numbers show a decrease in alumni giving, a university record of 8,000-plus Missouri State alumni donors contributed to their alma mater this past academic year.

 Highlights of gifts given to the university over the past year include the Guy Mace Endowed Professorship in Engineering, in support of the new Cooperative Engineering Program with the University of Missouri-Rolla; gifts from the Darr Family Foundation and Journagan Construction for the Darr Agricultural Center, which will create a paved entrance road, parking lots and an education center; and the John and Fredna Mahaffey Operation Promise Scholarship, which will provide up to $3,000 per year to veterans who have been physically injured in combat since Sept. 11, 2001.  Additionally, more than $5 million was given and pledged in support of JQH Arena during the year.