Jordan Valley Innovation Center is just one example of the way the university is distinguishing itself academically.
By Steve Koehler
News-Leader
2/26/2006
When Michael Nietzel ponders the future of Missouri State University, the new president can look out his office window as well as around the world for answers and ideas.
And as one of the more energetic leaders of the university in its 100-year history, it's a good bet that the former University of Kentucky provost will see many of his ideas come to fruition during his tenure at Missouri State.
"I think the only limits for an institution like this are our own imagination and aspirations," Nietzel said.
"The higher you lift those, the higher the institution goes. If you look at, pull back from, almost anything I've been trying to do, the one common dimension in it is lift your sights, lift your expectations."
Nietzel expects much from himself, his administrators, faculty, staff and students, challenging them all not only to lift but also to exceed their expectations.
With committees studying everything from increasing diversity to how future academics can distinguish MSU from other universities, Nietzel is trying to find ways to shape the university that will be more responsive to all involved — faculty, students and the region.
"Our future is to continue to become an outstanding institution in terms of educational programs and then develop areas of research and scholarship where we can really excel," he said.
Nietzel said his futures committee is looking into ways to best use faculty and other resources to answer "what are our best opportunities for real distinction and excellence in important areas of research and scholarships for our students and for Missouri?"
The committee's final report has identified 11 areas of study that can be emphasized in the future.
Those areas include biotechnology, the environment, creative arts and materials science.
Missouri State has already taken a big step in the technology area with work beginning on the Jordan Valley Innovation Center, which has become the icon of the university's future.
When it opens next year, the center will be the home to nanotechnology businesses to develop products in conjunction with the university, which will use the center for students to learn about the emerging science.
Jim Baker, vice president for research and development at Missouri State, said JVIC is proof that the university and the local economy are dependent upon each other now and in the future.
"Missouri State has a real essential role to play regionally and internationally and in helping the local economy.
"Most of what we do is tailored to regional needs," he said.
"We can develop JVIC as far as we want to. The university is hugely affected by the growth in the local economy, and the university is an engine for the economy. They are interdependent," he said.
But even with the advancement of JVIC, Nietzel said the university would not become a research institution.
"I do not believe we can become an institution that has a primary mission in research and scholarship across the whole domain like you would find at the land grant or research institution," he said.
Baker agreed and said applied research will be more of Missouri State's forte.
"We don't need to get into the exotic research," he said.
"We need to get into stuff that's close to being a commercial product that will continue to create jobs. JVIC will have several different research thrusts inside, life science, materials science and industrial science," he said.
"We can help small companies become big companies and create jobs.
"That would be the ultimate success. There's no reason we can't continue to grow," Baker said.
When it comes time for the campus to grow, Nietzel said downtown is the likely direction, following the trend the university has set over the past few years.
"If you look, we've got the Meyers Center, the Morris Center, the art and design center downtown. We continue to look for opportunities to look downtown in places where it makes sense. We have real limits on campus with our facilities. We will continue to look for opportunities downtown," Nietzel said.
While limited by space and money for new construction on campus, the university recently received a $25 million gift from Springfield businessman and philanthropist John Q. Hammons toward the construction of a new basketball arena.
It will be the first construction of a freestanding facility in about a decade.
Limited expansion may be a problem with the main campus, but global expansion will continue for many years.
"Clearly, if this part of Missouri is going to be internationalized and more diverse, Missouri State is going to have to be the institution that takes the leadership and be prepared for some of the criticisms that will come with that," Nietzel said.
The university has agreements with schools in China and India to offer classes. Baker said there are talks going on with six research universities in China to bring Missouri State there.
"We are aggressively trying to develop more campuses in China and working on strategies to do that," Baker said.
Those strategies include developing new bachelor degrees in global studies and one given in Chinese.
Nietzel said the key to everything the future holds, how far the university will go academically and in terms of serving students and the region, will be funding.
"The counterpart to those kind of dreams is that you have the resources necessary to turn those dreams into reality and you hope for leadership at the state level that recognizes the importance of funding that priority," Nietzel said.
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