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Shirley’s Corner for Thursday, April 4th

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Message from Chancellor Shirley Lawler to Faculty and Staff

Welcome to April!

Although we have had some chilly spring weather, we have also had some beautiful days recently, and I hope you have been able to get out and enjoy some of the glorious sunshine. There is no better medicine than sunshine and beautiful spring flowers to help us recover from some gloomy, cold, gray winter days. It’s hard to believe that there are only six weeks left in this semester and another academic year will be coming to a close.

Amphitheater Update

I am sure you have noticed that construction has begun on the amphitheater. They are quickly making progress on the project, and we hope to see it completed this summer. We are looking forward to hosting many events at this site. If you have suggestions for activities that can be held at this outdoor venue, please send them our way. Our goal is to have students, employees, local organizations and the community utilizing the amphitheater for various gatherings such as concerts, plays, speakers, and other activities well suited for outdoor entertainment. We welcome your input as we plan for the coming year’s activities.

Police Substation

The police substation should be completed very soon, and we will start to see a regular presence of West Plains Police around our campus. Our new West Plains police chief, Stephen Monticelli, has over 15 years of experience working at a university, so we feel very confident that he and his team will add a layer of safety and security around our campus that we have not had in the past. The police department has purchased a bicycle, and I am told the police officers are looking forward to biking through the campus during nice weather. We will be offering some informational sessions so that campus employees and members of the police department can become better acquainted. The City of West Plains has been a wonderful partner to the University on multiple projects; we are very appreciative of their constant support of this campus.

Birthday Celebrations

Beginning in the month of April, we will host a monthly birthday party for MSU-WP employees to enjoy some cake, coffee and good conversation with their colleagues who share the same birthday month. These monthly parties will be hosted in the Kellett Hall parlor each month at 3:30 p.m. (April 25 is the date for this month.) Our objective is to gather employees together, have some good conversation, answer any questions the group might have at the time, and also give some brief updates regarding the campus – very informal and relaxed! So if you have a birthday coming up in April, look for your email invitation soon. I look forward to seeing each of you in the coming months as we begin to start this new activity.

Community Partnerships

We have hosted many events around the campus this month, and it has been great to see all the different groups come to campus. As always, let us know when you have a group coming to campus so that we can stop by to welcome them and support your activities. This week, we will be hosting the Rural Schools Partnership in collaboration with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO). It’s always great to work with educators just beginning their careers—and especially those dedicated to teaching in rural schools. The Community Foundation of the Ozarks will be offering scholarships to eight of our incoming students next fall who are interested in our rural teacher education program. We look forward to this being a strong partnership between MSU-WP and CFO. Stay tuned!

Items of Note

As this month progresses, we have several events coming up soon.

  • April 4, Rural Schools Partnership Forum, Gohn Hall.
  • April 11, Annual Grizzly Sports Reception, 6 to 8 p.m., West Plains Civic Center Magnolia Room.
  • April 12, Interscholastic Contest, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., various locations on campus. Awards ceremony 1 p.m., West Plains Civic Center theater.
  • April 25, On-campus presentation by 7th annual MSU Collaborative Diversity Conference plenary speaker Professor Irshad Manji, founder of the Moral Courage Project at the University of Southern California, at 2 p.m. in M112.
  • April 25, Celebration of Leaders student awards ceremony, 7 to 9 p.m., West Plains Civic Center theater.
  • April 26-28, Oz-Con gaming, anime and cosplay event at West Plains Civic Center.

Always remember, what you do each day for students does make a difference.

Shirley Lawler