Chancellor Cheryl B. Schrader
State of the University
Sept. 9, 2013
Slide 1
Good afternoon! Thank you for making time to learn about your university. This is the third State of the University address I have given, and I am proud to tell you that Missouri S&T has never been in a better position to move forward in a focused, determined manner.
You will hear a lot about our strategic plan today, and I would like to begin with a video from University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe about our strategic planning progress. As you will see in this video, the president is very impressed with what we’ve been able to do on this campus. And, as I will share with you briefly, it is already paying off for us in a big way!
Isn’t that a testament to what we’ve accomplished! To everyone who worked on this plan, I say thank you.
Thanks to the input of many people in this room, we now have a strategic plan that has been ratified by the University of Missouri System Board of Curators and will serve as our compass as we move forward.
Given the challenges we face as a university, it is imperative that every dollar we spend, every hire and every decision is a strategic one. We don’t have the luxury of doing it any other way.
Slide 2
Our hundreds of faculty and staff members now have one united strategy. Let me take a moment to read it to you. Think of this as our elevator speech! You can also find it on the handy pocket cards going around the room.
It says that by 2020 — our 150th year as a university — we will provide a top return on investment among public research universities to our key customers — students, employers, research partners and donors — by leveraging our unique advantage through extraordinary access to renowned expertise, one-of-kind services and myriad experiential learning opportunities.
Slide 3
If you are a student here with us today, S&T’s return on investment for you is probably part of what drew you to this campus. This ROI manifests itself in many, many ways. One example and for the third year in a row, Payscale has recognized the value we offer, noting that S&T grads enjoy the second highest starting salaries of any university in the Midwest — public OR private.
Slide 4
Now I’m well aware that strategic plans don’t have the best reputation. I think this Dilbert cartoon pretty well sums it up. The Pointed Haired boss tells Dilbert: “I’m putting you on the strategic planning committee.”
And then he elaborates, “It’s like work without the satisfaction of accomplishing anything.”
At Missouri S&T, we’ve changed the strategic planning paradigm.
Slide 5
“At Missouri S&T, strategic planning is ALL ABOUT the satisfaction of accomplishing your goals.”
Let me assure you, the thousands who have given their input throughout this process have created a viable plan that will guide our decisions for the next seven years and beyond.This plan is not theoretical. It is practical. It has already changed how we’re operating at S&T, and how we are integrating all other plans and resources with the strategic plan in a focused and deliberate way to ensure success.
Slide 6
In fact, the strategic plan is so important to how we do business here that I expect each of you to become familiar with it if you aren’t already, and to look for opportunities to apply it on a daily basis in your classroom, laboratory, department and office. You can view the entire plan in detail at strateticplan.mst.edu. This website, which goes live today, also provides a high level introduction to our strategy, goals, vision, mission and values for those who want to know more about us and to understand where we are going and how we will get there. This website will help you as leaders and ambassadors of our great institution to communicate our path and our progress.
I encourage you to familiarize yourself with our shared goals and to think about ways you can help us to continue to meet and exceed the expectations of our six primary customer groups — undergraduate students, research investors, research-based graduate students, employers, distance and online students and donors.
Slide 7
It has taken a village to create this plan, and I would like to give special thanks to the Strategic Planning Coalition, the Chancellor’s Cabinet and the six Customer Task Forces. I’d also liketo acknowledge anyone who participated in a targeted brainstorming session or in strategic planning over the past year. This is indeed a plan of the people.
Slide 8
I would also like to recognize the extraordinary leadership, organization and dedication of co-chairs Dr. James A. Drallmeier and Dr. Warren K. Wray. I’m also grateful for the support and assistance of Krista Chambers in the Provost’s Office and Linda Bramel from my office.
I’m going to ruin the surprise, but I’m giving each of you a replica of a Lewis & Clark compass, which is fitting as you’ve helped to set S&T’s strategic direction. You’ll also find a framed copy of the revisedDilbert cartoon. As intense and important as this process has been, I think it’s important to take a break now and then and laugh at ourselves.
Today I am going to share with you where the university stands, and where we intend to go in the next several years.
Slide 9
Let me begin with some wonderful news. I have just received word that for the first time in our history, we have surged to more than 8,000 students — that’s nearly 6 percent growth from last year. And we’re not just bigger, we’re better. Our student body is more diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity; we are seeing growth in key areas like graduate and distance students; and we continue to enroll first-time freshmen with impeccable academic credentials. Our average ACT score for incoming freshmen inched up from 27.91 last year to 27.95. The student body is becoming more and more aligned with our student profiles for the year 2020, outlined by the strategic plan. We are well on our way, and we have realized immediate success.
At a time when many universities throughout the nation and our state have seen declining enrollment, we have bucked the trend. I’mpleased to report that our growth isn’t just due to the number of freshmen we’ve brought in. In fact, we’ve had bigger freshman classes in previous years.
Our total enrollment growth reflects a record increase in transfer students, which in addition to our strong retention rate, means that more of our students are getting to the graduation finish line.
Slide 10
We’re helping students like Ashley Koesterer. In addition to being our student body president, Ashley is on track to graduate with a double major in business and economics in less than four years — and she didn’t start here with any college credit. Ashley, thank you for your leadership, and congratulations on your academic achievement!
Slide 11
We’re improving retention because of people like Rachel Morris from our Office of Undergraduate Studies. Rachel helped organize this year’s Hit the Ground Running program for incoming freshmen. This year we realized more than a 25 percent increase in participation over last year, and our students were able to test out of introductory math courses at a higher rate than previous years with help from our PRO workshops.
Slide 12
Let’s turn for a moment and consider our growing research and technology transfer. We are the only campus in the system to meet and exceed our goal for net grant and contract expenditures, realizing a 5 percent increase over last year in a challenging environment. In the past year, we’ve also seen a nearly 14 percent increase in the number of patents filed and we more than doubled the number of our license and option agreements.
These strides do not happen by accident — they are focused actions called for in our strategic plan, combined with metrics to measure advancement. They happen through hard work and tenacity, and all of our faculty and staff are to be commended for helping to make our students successful. Rachel, faculty and staff: Thank you for your dedication!
Slide 13
You can tell good things are happening at Missouri S&T just by walking around our campus. I need to shout out to our talented landscaping crew for creating such a beautiful and welcoming environment.
Slide 14
As you’ve no doubt noticed, our geothermal project is well underway, and we are on schedule to finish this project next year. When complete, it will be one of the most comprehensive geothermal project of any college campus.
You may have heard by now that the University of Missouri System Board of Curators approved adding a fourth geothermal plant to cover Gale-Bullmanand the Multi-purpose Building. Just imagine what Career Fairs and Commencements will be like!
This addition is a great example of a business innovation. Partnering together across the university, we will fund this new development without adding to our debt burden. As further evidence of fostering innovation, the project lead, a graduate of Missouri S&T, has created an approach that will not only save us $1.6 million but will also leave allof our students with improved athletic and recreational facilities.
Slide 15
Additionally, Bertelsmeyer Hall is well on its way to its expected completion in May. This building will house our Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and will provide state-of-the-art research labs as well as much-needed classroom space.
Slide 16
With all this growth, there come significant challenges. If you’re a faculty member, you already understand all too well that too many of our faculty are stretched thin, and that faculty time is our most precious resource. If Missouri S&T is to retain its reputation for renowned faculty who are also accessible, we MUST invest in our faculty.
No other facet of our strategic plan is a higher priority than doing just this.
Slide 17
As outlined in the plan, by 2020, we will add 100new faculty members, and we will do so strategically in four best-in-class areas, and in supporting the strategic plan and recognizing unit performance that moves the campus closer to achieving our goals.
I’m very pleased to share with you that we recently received word that we’ll be able to make impressive strides toward this ambitious goal this year. President Wolfe has approved our $2.57 million request to help fund 22 new faculty positions. S&T is committed to funding 11 additional faculty positions and will begin an aggressive hiring timeline this fall. In two years time, we expect to be 1/3 of the way to our goal of 100 new faculty!
Slide 18
Additionally, President Wolfe, with support from the curators, has approved our two other requests in full: to expand the use of technology to enhance student learning in high enrollment, foundational courses; and to invest half a million dollars from the state matched by another half a million dollars from non-appropriated funds such as gifts and grants to improve our instructional labs, our learning laboratories.
This strategic initiative funding is historic. President Wolfe sent a clear message with the unprecedented funding of these requests. Gone are the days when the S&T campus is held to a funding percentage that does not recognize performance or value. Our success is a direct result of a clear, bold vision, aggressive goals and actions, and challenging metrics of performance. We demonstrated in no uncertain terms that we know where we are going, we know how we will get there, and that we are all integral to the plan’s success. Together we have created a focused, bold yet actionable plan and have prioritized and made the difficult decisions and tradeoffs.
Slide 19
In return, for this unprecedented campus and system investment in the S&T strategic plan, I need each one of you to be a spokesperson for it. We need each of you to be knowledgeable and engaged in it. We need all units and departments to be aligned with it and moving in the same direction. And we need to continue to make the hard decisions, prioritize and focus on rising to the challenge through the S&T strategy for success.
With this investment comes obligation in implementing this big, bold strategic plan.
Slide 20
I will not go over the strategic plan with you in detail, but you all should know that we have four major theme areas in the plan: Develop and inspire creative thinkers and leaders for life-long success; enhance reputation and raise visibility; achieve sustainable growth to ensure best return on investment; and increase and facilitate meaningful access to and interaction with renowned faculty, staff and services. Please refer to the cards we distributed as you came in for a Cliff Notes version of this as well as a link to the full plan.
Slide 21
And none of these things can happen without investing in our faculty, staff and students. We need to invest in the good work of faculty members like Dr. Richard Dawes, who earlier this year received an early career award from the Department of Energy; and Drs. Yew San Hor and SriramChellappan, both of whom received the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for young faculty members earlier this year. These faculty exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and integration of education, research and application within the context of S&T’s updated mission. We need more people like Sriram, Richard and Yew San, focused on helping S&T reach its goals.
Slide 22
As you can see, the State of the University is very strong. But that is not to say it can’t be stronger. In the coming weeks, the provost and I will be sharing with you some structural changes tied directly to the strategic plan that will help our university achieve best-in-class status. Watch eConnection for open forums to complement meetings with key groups this week and next.
As your chancellor, I will continue to advocate for you, our students, faculty and staff. I will continue to make sure our congressional delegation understands why it’s crucial to invest in technological research universities like ours. I will continue to make sure S&T is a valued partner in the University of Missouri System, and I will continue to rely on you for help and advice as we move forward.
It is an honor to be your chancellor, and I truly appreciate your support as we continue this trajectory of strength and vitality.
Slide 23
Now, if there are any questions, I would be happy to take them.
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