The Griffon News

Get the job done right. We, as students, expect nothing less from decision-makers at Missouri Western.

The firm hired to assist in the search for Missouri Western State University’s next president has begun its work and we’d like to submit some ideas to Dr. Allen E. Koenig, senior consultant with R.H. Perry & Associates (RHPA) and to Patt Lilly, vice chair of the Board of Governors and chair of the search committee.

Things to keep in mind when searching for a new president:

-Be open to women and minorities; be accessible to students as well as your staff and faculty.
 
We’d like to see you once in awhile and feel like we know our president.

-Be ready to address the gap between facets of the student body, like those who live on campus and those who commute or nontraditional students versus the traditional.

The two groups need to be dealt with in different ways. Get people on and off campus to enjoy all of the things that this school has to offer. The more people Missouri Western get involved in campus activities, the more school pride each student will have in the university.
-You need to be able to unite the student body.

-Once that is done, it’s time to move towards building a bridge between the university population and the population of St. Joseph.

Western may be within the city limits of St. Joseph, but St. Joseph could not be called a college town. The community doesn’t support the school much and the school doesn’t do enough to get others interested in what happens around the campus.

We as a campus community need to be part of the community as a whole, and it will take us reaching out first to succeed in getting the community support that schools like Northwest enjoy.

I understand that Northwest is smaller than St. Joseph and there is more to do around this area, but there is no reason why people in this community can’t get excited about campus events in the same way.

 It’s a short enough list, but it’s long on the effort and smarts that will be required to see that list accomplished. So please find us someone who can do the job that best represents us, the students and always has ideas of improving what this school has to offer.