December 12, 2014

MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY

DECEMBER 12, 2014

 1.                  Roll Call

Present-     Mr. Stephen Bough, Governor

Mr. Joe Carmichael, Governor

Mr. Caleb Doyle, Student Governor

Ms. Virginia Fry, Governor

Dr. Peter Hofherr, Governor

Mr. Stephen B. Hoven, Vice Chair

Mr. Orvin Kimbrough, Governor (by conference call)

Ms. Beverly Miller, Chair

Mr. Kendall Seal, Governor

Ms. Carrie Tergin, Governor

                  Also

Present-     Clifton Smart III, President

                  Drew Bennett, Chancellor of the West Plains Campus

                  Frank Einhellig, Provost

Dee Siscoe, Vice President for Student Affairs

Ken McClure, Vice President for Administrative and Information Services

Jim Baker, Vice President for Research, Economic Development, and International Programs

Kenneth Coopwood, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion

Stephen Foucart, Chief Financial Officer

Donna Christian, Director of Internal Audit & Compliance

Brent Dunn, Vice President for University Advancement

                  Rachael Dockery, General Counsel

            John McAlear, Secretary of the Board

 2.                     Presiding --- The presiding officer for the meeting was Ms. Beverly Miller, Chair of the Board of Governors.  She called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. in the Traywick Parliamentary Room in the Plaster Student Union on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. 

 3.                  Approval of Minutes:

a.      Board of Governors Meeting --- Ms. Miller mentioned that the first item of business was the approval of the minutes for the open and closed meetings of October 17, 2014.  Dr. Hofherr so moved, receiving the second of Ms. Fry.

Motion passed 9-0.

 4.                  Consent Agenda --- Ms. Miller noted that the next item of business on the agenda was the approval of the Consent Agenda for this meeting.  The items included in the Consent Agenda are:

President

Approval of FY2015 Employment Agreement for Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach (Human Resources No. 1476-14).

Approval of revisions to G1.03 Officers of the University; G5.02 Expressive Activity; and G7.02-6 Benefits Policies (Board Policies No. 94-14).          

West Plains Campus

Approval of Activity Report dated December 12, 2014 (West Plains Campus Activity Report No. 109-14).

Approval of actions concerning West Plains Campus academic employees (West Plains Campus Personnel No. 372-14).

Approval of actions concerning West Plains Campus non-academic employees (West Plains Campus Personnel No. 373-14).

Springfield Campus Purchases/Contracts

Approval of Procurement Activity Report for the period October 1, 2014, through November 24, 2014 (Purchasing Activity Report No. 413-14).

Facilities and Equipment

Approval of Activity Report for the month of September 2014 (Activity Report No. 262-14).

Approval of Activity Report for the month of October 2014 (Activity Report No. 263-14).

The outside plant wiring contract for Computer Services-Networking and Telecommunications Unit (Bids & Quotations No. 1480-14); L & B Services, LLC, the lowest and best submitted proposal. Total expenditures for projects completed under this contract shall not exceed $150,000 during the one-year contract period ending on October 31, 2015. Included in the contract is the option to renew for four additional, consecutive one-year periods.

Net installations at the Betty and Bobby Allison Recreation Fields (Bids & Quotations No. 1481-14); Anchor Fence Corporation, lowest bid of $99,900 for the base bid plus alternates 1, 2, and 3; total project budget set at $144,650.

Human Resources Items

Actions concerning academic employees (Human Resources No. 1477-14).

Actions concerning non-academic employees (Human Resources No. 1478-14).

Dr. Hofherr made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda, receiving a second from Mr. Hoven.

Motion passed 9-0.

 5.                  President’s Report --- President Clif Smart began his report by welcoming everyone to the December Commencement weekend. He stated that later today, we will graduate 1,577 students in two ceremonies at JQH Arena.

President Smart next commented that, nationwide, students on public university campuses have exercised their speech rights to draw attention to bias, racial profiling, police violence and other diversity and equity issues regarding the recent deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. He added that Missouri State students have participated in this nationwide discussion in peaceful and positive ways and he commends our students for actively engaging in these nationwide discussions. He remarked that he believes discussions about race issues will continue at Missouri State and throughout America and that these discussions are good and they will serve to make Missouri State even better.  

He then asked Dr. Dee Siscoe, Vice President for Student Affairs, to present the Citizen Scholar resolution. Dr. Siscoe presented the resolution (Awards No. 59-14) approving the following students as Citizen Scholars for 2014-2015:  Jared Bajkowski, Jared Cates, Brittany Donnellan, Jordan McGee, Samantha Nichols, and Konnor Temple. Moved by Mr. Hoven and seconded by Mr. Bough. 

Motion passed 9-0.

Chair Bev Miller then introduced each of the Citizen Scholars with the members of the Programs & Planning Committee, Dr. Peter Hofherr, Mr. Steve Bough, Mr. Kendall Seal, and Mr. Caleb Doyle assisting with the presentations of award certificates.

President Smart next commented on materials for use this legislative session. Our primary goals this year are a capital appropriation for renovations to Ellis Hall in Springfield, Missouri Hall in West Plains, life safety improvements in West Plains, and Hill Hall in Springfield, as well as an increase to higher education appropriations through the performance model codified by the legislature last year. He indicated that our leadership team met with twenty members of our state delegation on Tuesday of this week and discussed these priorities. He then reviewed some charts with the Board that were also shared on Tuesday – when compared to other states, Missouri is 44th in State Funding for Higher Education per student. When State Funding and Tuition and Fees per FTE Student are combined, Missouri is 43rd at $13,358 per student with the United States average being $16,211. Looking specifically at Missouri State, our total is $11,199 per FTE student which would have us lower than the 50th state.

 6.                  Academic Affairs:

a.      Faculty Senate Report --- Dr. Stephen McIntyre, Chairperson of the Faculty Senate, asked Dr. Cindy Hail, Chair of the Honorary Doctorate Committee, to present the Faculty Senate’s recommendations to receive an Honorary Doctorate. Dr. Hail presented the following resolutions:

That the degree of Doctor of Public Affairs (A.P.D.) be conferred upon Mrs. Elise Crain in recognition of her extraordinary achievements in the area of public affairs (Awards No. 60-14).

That the degree of Doctor of Public Affairs (A.P.D.) be conferred upon Mr. Thomas Strong in recognition of his extraordinary achievements in the area of public affairs (Awards No. 61-14).

Moved by Ms. Tergin and seconded by Ms. Fry.

Motion passed 9-0.

 b.      Report from Provost --- Dr. Frank Einhellig, Provost, first introduced Dr. Julie Masterson, the newly named Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate College. Dr. Masterson was selected in a nationwide search and is from our own Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders. He next reported that the Springfield Campus met all five performance measures for this year’s appropriation process. Dr. Einhellig ended his report by stating that the Affordable College Foundation announced yesterday that Missouri State University was ranked the 25th best institution for online programs in the nation.  President Smart added that the West Plains Campus also met all five of their performance measures this year. Both campuses have met all five performance measures in each of the three years in which performance measures have been used.

7.         Student Affairs:

a.   Report from Student Body President --- Mr. Jordan McGee, Student Body President, summarized some of the SGA’s accomplishments this semester which included the partnership with Dickerson Park Zoo and the Bear Exhibit, sustainability proposals to increase LED lighting on campus, and the roll-out of the successful Zipcar program (car sharing) for those students needing the use of a vehicle on occasion. One of the items they will look into next semester is obtaining student opinions on an increased Taylor Health & Wellness Center student fee for an upgrading of the utilization of the Center.

8.         Staff Senate --- Mr. Scott Fiedler, Chairperson for the Staff Senate, reported on three special projects that the Senate is working on: 1) a comprehensive review of the Staff Handbook; 2) a proposed staff satisfaction survey – the last survey was in 2007; and 3) a possible Staff Salary Incentive Program (similar to the Professor Salary Incentive Program developed last year).

9.         New Business:

a.  Board Committee Structure for Calendar Year 2015 – Mr. Steve Hoven, Chair-Elect, next moved that the 2015 Executive Committee be Dr. Peter Hofherr, Ms. Virginia Fry, Mr. Joe Carmichael. Seconded by Mr. Bough.

Motion passed 9-0.

Mr. Hoven then announced the 2015 membership of the Board’s committees: Finance and Facilities – Ms. Virginia Fry (Chair), Ms. Carrie Tergin, Mr. Joe Carmichael, Mr. Orvin Kimbrough, and himself; Programs and Planning – Dr. Peter Hofherr (Chair), Mr. Steve Bough, Ms. Bev Miller, Mr. Kendall Seal, and Mr. Caleb Doyle.

      Mr. Hoven next presented three separate resolutions to recognize the extraordinary service of Ms. Bev Miller, Ms. Carrie Tergin, and Mr. Orvin Kimbrough while serving on the Board of Governors for Missouri State University.

      Moved by Mr. Seal and seconded by Mr. Carmichael.

      Motion passed 9-0-3.

b.   Ozarks Public Broadcasting (OPB) Presentation --- Dr. Jim Baker, Vice President for Research, Economic Development, and International Programs, remarked that two points of pride of this region are KSMU Radio and Ozarks Public Television. He then introduced Ms. Tammy Wiley, General Manager of both KSMU and Ozarks Public Television, to provide information on both stations to the Board.

Ms. Wiley began by relaying the history of the two stations.  KSMU went on the air at Southwest Missouri State University in 1974. Ozarks Public Television went on the air in Springfield in 1975 as KOZK and was expanded into the Joplin area in 1986 as KOZJ. The stations were licensed to and operated by a community board of directors. The University acquired Ozarks Public Television in 2001, about the time that television stations across the nation were undergoing a multi-year conversion from analog to digital broadcasting. Public radio and public television have been a natural fit with the University’s public affairs mission. On a weekly basis, KSMU reaches 40,000 people and Ozarks Public Television reaches 132,000 households. In FY2014, Ozarks Public Broadcasting’s $3.3 million budget was funded 26% by the federal government, 15% by the University, and 50% by the community (contributions and underwriting). OPB’s three focused goals are closely aligned with the University’s overriding mission: 1) Public Affairs In Action – which includes the monthly Engaging the Community with Clif Smart on KSMU, Sense of Community on both OPT and KSMU, and local news and features; 2) Document, present, & preserve the unique history of our region – which includes Ozarks Watch video magazine on OPT and local documentary features on this region; and 3) Celebrate diversity by expanding, understanding, and building inclusive communities – including their Small World-Big Picture campaign which focuses on people living in the Ozarks who are from diverse backgrounds and their new series Passport to China with a follow-up series Passport to Latin America, to come.

During a lengthy follow-up discussion by the board, it was noted that the University touches more lives in the community and area through Ozarks Public Broadcasting than anything else we do and that we should strive to make sure that listeners make the connection to Missouri State University. It was also noted that for those living away from the Ozarks region, many of the local programs are archived on the OPB website. It was also noted that students are heavily involved at OPB.  They can work as interns and receive college credit.  Also, many students are hired to work at the stations in areas such as fundraising, production work, and student announcers on KSMU. Dr. Baker commented that in the current Missouri State vision project, two of the subcommittees are diversity and globalization. Public television and public radio are great vehicles to deal with these two topics and will be used.    

10.       Date of Next Meeting --- The date of the next regularly scheduled meeting was set for Friday, February 6, 2015, at 9:00 a.m. in Jefferson City, Missouri.

11.       Adjournment--- Ms. Miller adjourned the meeting at 10:55 a.m., on the motion of Dr. Hofherr, the second of Mr. Bough, and the unanimous vote of the Board.

John W. McAlear
Secretary