The Griffon News

Missouri Western welcomes new programs and changes with the appointment of new Provost and Vice President of Student and Academic Affairs, Joseph Bragin.

“Well, it looked like a great place,” Bragin said of his acceptance of his position at Missouri Western. “But the main reason, of course, was the nature of the university; the staff, the administration, the students I talked to. Everything that I’ve learned since coming here confirmed that I made a good choice.”

Bragin was not alone with his thought that he made a good choice with Western.

“This is a very important position on campus,” Jeanne Daffron, assistant vice president of academic and student affairs for Western, said. “We really wanted someone who could help us accomplish the things we want to accomplish within the next few years.”

One of the changes in mind for Missouri Western is to offer a Masters program. Western has been given permission to offer a Masters of Applied Science, and will shortly be submitting the final documents for approval. Bragin looks forward to developing a Masters of Applied Arts, along with other higher degree programs.

“Being able to develop fundamentally different programs and new programs, like a whole new degree level, is a challenging opportunity,” Bragin said. “That gives us a lot to chew on because we have no policies or procedures on graduate programs because we’ve never had them.”

Bragin stated that he wasn’t going to dive in head first with graduate programs.

“I don’t want to short the undergrad programs either. I think there are many areas in which we can develop,” Bragin said.

Another area in which Bragin would like Western to develop, is to kindle an entrepreneurial spirit in students.

“It used to be when you graduated college, you thought of joining a company, but that’s not the case anymore,” Bragin said. “Most of the job growth is in the small companies. Why can’t a student who’s spent four to five years getting a baccalaureate degree come up with a concept that is commercially viable? How can we help our students do that if that’s the way they see themselves after graduation?”

Bragin also sees more for the future of the community and surrounding St. Joseph areas.

“We are a regional university and our function is to serve the region in various ways; in workforce development and economic development, but also to satisfy the educational aspirations of those people in our service area which are mostly people in the St. Joseph area.” Bragin said.

“I thought the opportunities here were great,” Bragin said. “You’ve got a lot of land, a beautiful campus and a strong faculty to build with. In terms of the population in St. Joseph, you’ve certainly got a basis to grow the university in terms of enrollment, and in terms of programs.”

Bragin feels that Western could play a crucial role in the future for creating jobs in St. Joseph.

“There is room for improvement in St. Joseph’s economy. We need job creation, we need to develop a workforce so that companies will relocate here and pump money into the local economy. Our responsibility is to provide that workforce development and where we can, and help contribute to the economic development.”

Not only will educated students benefit the economy of St. Joseph, but Bragin feels society as a whole will also benefit.

“It is very important to have a basic college education for people to be informed citizens. There are all sorts of public policy issues out there and people really need to understand them,” Bragin said.

“There are issues that citizens who vote have to understand, and they can’t understand them if they don’t know the history, the background and the implications. Faculty has a responsibility
to work together to provide educated students, so the next generation of voters can really understand the issues and do the right thing, not only right for themselves but right for the country,” Bragin said.

Providing students with an affordable education, and how that education is funded, is one of those issues facing students that Bragin would like to work on.

“Many of our students don’t have the financial resources to even afford the modest tuition we charge here at Western,” Bragin said. “If students go out, and they have a huge debt burden as a result of getting their degree that they’re never able to pay off, that’s not a good trade off.”

Bragin was selected for the position after a long and thorough search process, and was hired in July.

“For faculty and staff positions, depending on the nature of the position, we typically do a national search because we want to get the best”, said Daffron of the search for possible vice presidents, “If you have a large pool, you can cast your net widely, and those that bubble to the top, we think are the best.”

The search for the provost is conducted by a search committee, comprised of representatives from each employee group. The provost position drew in between 50 and 60 applicants, which were then sorted through by the committee. They not only look at the credentials of the person and how they fit the job description, but also check on references. The committee then decides who will come to campus for an interview, said Dr. Phil Mullins, professor of philosophy, and chair of the committee appointed to conduct the search for the new vice president.

“This tends to be the way appointments are made at academic institutions. There’s a standard practice that positions are filled through and this was like the rest of them,” Mullins said.

A recommendation was made that the committee work closely with the president, reporting to and including the president in some of the discussions.

“The board does the hiring, the president adds what he wants to add, and works with the board to actually hire the provost. That is the way the system works. It was a good search committee. We had a good group of people who worked hard to get their work done,” Mullins said.

“It’s the same but a little bit more,” Daffron said.

Bragin brings to Missouri Western years of experience in administrative positions at Marshall University and California State University – Los Angeles (CSU-LA), and has served as research director for the National Science Foundation.

“He had good experience, and was a strong candidate and looked like a good fit for us,” Mullins said. “He’d been an administrator a long time, and has a good record for working with regional universities. He made a good impression when he came for his interview. Those are the kind of things that get people hired.”

Bragin has also had teaching experience as a professor of chemistry at CSU-LA, Marshall University and now Missouri Western. He has served in research positions for NASA and the University of South Carolina. Bragin received his bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College in New York, and his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin.

“He has had just marvelous experience; he’s been very successful in any number of things. So, we feel very fortunate that he decided to accept our offer to come to Missouri Western,” Daffron said of Bragin. The provost position is similar to the Vice President position, in regards that both serve directly under the president.