Clif Smart, President of Missouri State University, addressed the full-time employees of the MSU Libraries during an all-library meeting held on Wednesday, April 24, 2022. 

He began his remarks by noting that the university had a very good year during Academic Year 2021/22, despite the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The university now had the authority to add new doctoral programs following normal regulatory processes, and we have $80 million in capital improvements funding for the Temple Hall expansion and renovation project, which will begin in November. 

President Smart also noted how the MSU Libraries can and does help advance the university’s long-range plan, in areas such as strategic enrollment management (SEM), retention of students and employees, making the university as diverse, equitable, and inclusive as possible, and high-tech information systems that support the teaching, learning, research, and service activities of this university community. 

President Smart also stated that the Libraries can and is helping MSU with its emphasis on creating strategic partnerships with other organizations and employers in and beyond the region. He noted, for example, our once-in-a-lifetime work with the Smithsonian Institution, along with other key stakeholders in the five-state Ozarks region, to plan and present a ten-day Ozarks program at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in DC next summer.