A proposal to re-organize Western’s Student Affairs was approved and is currently underway.

The proposed Student Affairs Organizational Chart filters from the single presiding Dean of Student Affairs and then moves to three new positions: Associate Dean of Student Development; Assistant Dean for Residential Life and Services; and the Assistant Dean of Student Services and Recreation.

Judy Grimes, the current dean of Student Services and interim dean of Student Development, will become the Dean of Student Affairs and oversee the entire department.

“This should be extremely positive for students,” Grimes said. “The Associate Dean will have a much more focused position and will be able to concentrate his time of students.” (Full story)

Missouri Western State University is making the investments necessary to establish a long term commitment to offering classes off Downs Drive. here are two locations where students can take credit and non-credit courses. One is the downtown St. Joseph campus at 6 and Robidoux streets that some may already know about, but, many students don’t know about the Kansas City Northland location.

Western has been in the Northland facility just off I-29 at the 64 street exit since August of last year. Western has a seven-year lease at this location, which is the third location since venturing into North Kansas City in 1986.

However, this time Western’s seal is set in the stone and brick mortar of the Tuileries Plaza building located at 6336 N. Lucerne Ave.

Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Joseph Bragin said, “Being in the Northland exposes us to a population that may not be willing to get in their cars and drive up I-29.” Bragin also explained that being there fulfills an obligation to Platte County Missouri residents who were originally taxed to support Missouri Western when it began as a junior college. (Full story)

With both the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois tragedies happening within less than a year of each other, students and faculty nationwide are wondering if their school might be next. Missouri Western and the campus police department are doing everything possible to ensure that something like that doesn’t happen here.

Jonathan Kelley, chief of campus police, says that theft is by far the most common crime reported on campus. Another common crime is liquor law violation. “I do feel that Missouri Western is a safe campus overall,”Kelley said. Students can look at the statistics of various crimes on the Western website under Campus Safety Report. All colleges and universities publish a safety report, officially known as the Clery report. (Full story)

Many citizens of Saint Joseph woke up Thursday to read the shocking news that as most people slept comfortably snug in their beds, there had been a shooting on the campus grounds. Before knowing much more, instinct was to think that it had finally happened. Fear whispered that the outbreak of students violently lashing out had finally come to St. Joe. Echoes of Illinois and Virginia Tech rang throughout the Joe-town zeitgeist. Thankfully by reading on in the news, it could be clearly revealed that was not the case at all. (Full story)

Snapping a seven game losing streak and entering into a three-way tie for the last two MIAA post-season tournament spots, the Griffons out hustled the Truman State Bulldogs, 93-78, at the MWSU Fieldhouse.

The Griffons, (10-13 overall and 5-10 in the MIAA) fired on all cylinders as they dominated most of the game leading by as much as 25 points. The Griffons were led in scoring by senior Jill Johnson, who racked up a career high 39 points and 16 rebounds, followed by teammate Yanique Javois, who amassed 32 points and nine boards of her own. Johnson’s double-double gives her eight on the season and fourteen in her career.

The team as a whole played well Wednesday night, as they were able to stay ahead most of the ballgame. Head Coach Lynn Plett agrees the team did an outstanding job. (Full story)

I don’t know of anyone on campus who could have guessed that becoming a university would have caused us not only great pride but also so many growing pains. We just began to enjoy the new title when some members of the administration and faculty began to look for the exit signs. Most of those that were looking found employment somewhere else, others are probably still looking. The fact is that the replacements are costing more. Some of the responsibility for the additional costs can be blamed on the market. (Full story)

The struggles continued for the Missouri Western 9-16 (4-13) men’s basketball team as they lost 73-68 to the Truman State Bulldogs 5-19 (4-11). The Griffons lost for the ninth time in the last ten games.

The Griffons jumped out to an early 23-9 lead. The Griffons had a balanced attack early on as many players contributed. Head coach Tom Smith attributed the fast start to playing well offensively.

“We shot the ball well early and we had some good possessions early,” Smith said.

The Griffons had lapse on the defensive end for the rest of the half as the Bulldogs ended the half on a 28-13 run. The run was capped by a 75-foot heave at the buzzer by Banks Estridge, which gave the Bulldogs a 37-36 lead heading into the half. Sophomore Reggie Bunch thought the shot took a little out of the team. (Full story)