The Griffon News

The new College of Professional studies Dean is happy to be here and hopes to help Missouri Western continue to grow into a great University.

Dr. Steven Estes, a former department chair at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC and has been in the position of Professional studies Dean since May 1st 2007.

The majority of Estes’s job requires a lot of communi­cation between himself and other members of MWSU’s staff.

“I am basically the middle man between the seven dif­ferent departments we have here at Missouri Western and the president, my job involves overseeing the budget, personnel and the classes that are offered in each depart­ment,” Estes said.

While Estes oversees 85 percent of the budget for the various departments, he does not control the departments.  Instead, he works together with all of the department heads, teachers and other deans to get things done.

“I don’t tell anyone what to do or how to run their departments, here at Western all the departments and deans work together as a team to accomplish the goals of the university,” Estes said. “We let the heads of the departments and their teaching faculties have a lot of say in how their departments are run.”

Estes enjoys his job and looks forward to helping MWSU continue to grow into a well-known University throughout the state of Missouri as well as the nation.

“I like teaching, working and helping the students and staff here at Missouri Western,” Estes said. 

Students at Missouri Western seem pleased that some­one with so much experience is in the position of Dean of College of Professional studies.

Kayla Kilder, a sophomore at MWSU is ecstatic that someone with Estes’s vast knowledge, schooling and back­ground has been hired to work at the University.

“I am glad that someone that is very experienced is on staff at Missouri Western and hope that he will help Missouri Western to grown and mature and get our name out there,” Kilder said. “I hope that Mr. Estes will use his previous experiences at ECU to make this school one of the best schools in Missouri.” 

Before Estes came to Missouri Western, he had been at ECU for nine years, and before that was a rowing coach at the University of San Diego. 

Estes received his doctorate at the Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio and is also a husband and father of two girls.