UMSL Initiatives as Chancellor (2003 - present)

The University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) is comprised of 16,000 students, 1,400 faculty and 970 staff. There are eight colleges - arts and sciences, business administration, education, fine arts and communication, nursing and health studies, evening, honors, and optometry - with 46 baccalaureate programs, 30 master’s degree programs, 12 doctoral program and 1 professional program (optometry). As part of the overall land-grant mission for the University of Missouri, UMSL has an active continuing education and outreach unit, including University Extension. In addition to the main campus (350 acres) in St. Louis County, UMSL conducts programs on various community college sites.

Under Dr. George’s leadership as chancellor, the UMSL campus has been making significant progress:

Secured $28.5 million from the governor and legislature in 2007 for the renovation of the science complex on campus.

The undergraduate international business program ranked by U.S. News & World Report in the top twenty in the nation since 2004, and as high as 8th for 2007.

The doctoral program in criminology and criminal justice ranked 4th in the nation since 2006 by U.S. News & World Report.

Department of Communication ranked in December 2005 as one of the top five research departments in the discipline by the Journal of Communication.

The Information Systems program of the College of Business Administration ranked 3^rd among management information systems programs in the nation (behind the University of Arizona and the University of Georgia), and the University of Missouri-St. Louis as a whole ranked 5^th in the small research university category, i.e., universities with under fifteen doctoral programs (behind Boston College and Georgetown University), according to the 2006-07 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index of Academic Analytics.

The College of Business Administration listed among “The Best 296 Business Schools” in 2009 by The Princeton Review.

UMSL and Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) jointly received the Creative Deal of the Year Award from the St. Louis Association of Realtors and the Outstanding Development Award from North County Inc. due to the relocation of the ESI headquarters to the UMSL campus.

Record number of 3,150 degrees awarded in 2007-08, including a record number of 63 doctoral and 743 master's degrees.

Made strides in planning and shared governance; e.g.,

In collaboration with the university community and external support groups, wrote an Action Plan with five prioritized directions, each with associated goals: (1) undergraduate and graduate/professional education; (2) diversity; (3) research, scholarship and creativity; (4) civic engagement and economic/social development; and (5) financial resources.

Established an annual assessment of the plan’s progress with the University Assembly Budget and Planning Committee, with appropriate adjustments in the goals.

Ensured planning processes in the various academic and support units in sync with the Action Plan.

Established an effective process of shared governance on campus through the University Assembly, Faculty Senate, Staff Association and Student Government Association.

Opened the decision-making process to the campus, with extensive input through organized channels, in order to achieve buy-in and support for budgets and programs.

In collaboration with the campus and external constituency groups, made substantial progress in addressing a long-standing, unresolved problem of an unequal distribution of state funds to UMSL by a large number of measures; e.g.,

Through the help of State Senator Wayne Goode (D), increased the annual state operating budget for the campus in FY05 by $2.7 million.

Through the help of UM President Elson S. Floyd, increased the annual state operating budget in FY06 by $521,000.

Through the help of State Senator Chuck Gross (R), increased the annual state operating budget in FY07 by $2 million plus $300,000 to establish the Center for Ethics in Public Life.

Through the help of UM Interim President Gordon H. Lamb, increased the annual state operating budget by $300,000 (this and the above increases are in addition to any annual across-the-board adjustments made to higher education in the state).

Strengthened substantially the overall area of advancement; e.g.,

Reorganized the development effort by establishing a vice chancellorship for advancement and successfully recruiting an outstanding person to that position.

Under the auspices of the new advancement office, increased the annual fund-raising level from $7 million to $18 million.

Initiated the quiet phase of the university’s first comprehensive capital campaign, with a goal of $100 million.

Examples of recent gifts include: $1.5 million to endow the Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center; $1.5 million to endow a chair in Byzantine and Orthodox Studies; $1 million for the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library on the UMSL campus; $542,000 from Edward Jones and its employees to establish a new scholarship program in the College of Business Administration; and $580,000 collectively from Monsanto, Boeing and Sigma-Aldrich to establish the Science and Math Education Central in the College of Education.

Fostered interinstituional and international programs: e.g.,

Exclusive academic partner with St. Louis Community College for their fourth campus built in Wildwood (West St. Louis County) where the population is expanding.

Established an international MBA joint degree program with Nanjing University in China, which has since expanded to other universities (University of Vienna in Austria, Kyoto University in Japan and Park Global School of Business Excellence in India).

Established an international MBA joint degree program with Nanjing University in China, which has since expanded to other universities (University of Vienna in Austria and Kyoto University in Japan).

Formed an agreement with PT PLN (Persero), in Indonesian electric company, for UMSL to provide training to management-level employees.

Established a collaborative master’s degree program in education with Harris-Stow State University in St. Louis.

Established an educational partnership with Logan College of Chiropractic for students to work simultaneously on a baccalaureate degree in biology at UMSL and a doctor of chiropractic degree at Logan.

Established a cooperative master’s of arts degree in history with Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) with support by a $1 million grants to MSSU from the U.S. Department of Education.

Established a dual admission transfer program with St. Louis Community College.

Promoted research and external funding; e.g.,

Increased the annual level of external funding from $23.5 million to $31 million.

Helped secure the university’s largest grant, $28 million from the U. S. Department of Education matched by $32 million from the St. Louis region, for a six-year project called GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs).

Helped secure $155,000 from the Murdock Charitable Trust (Vancouver, Washington) to the John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library.

Established a UMSL chapter of Sigma Xi, the national scientific research society.

Recruited a new director and associate director of the Center for Nanoscience with additional investments to help make the center more robust.

Contributed to economic development in the region; e.g.,

Established the Business, Technology and Research Park on campus with the headquarters of Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) as the first anchor tenant. ESI, a Fortune 150 company with annual sales of $18 billion, issued an RFP that was responded to by various states to relocate their headquarters, including the corporate offices and IT operation, and UMSL was eventually chosen as their new site. The overall process for establishing the new $80 million ESI building complex, housing up to 2,600 employees, involved extensive negotiations with the county, state and developer, including real estate transactions and tax credits/incentives in various forms, such as a new $13 million road and $5 million of clean-up of waste in the ground. This has served as a model to the country as a unique, new kind of university-industry partnership and appeared in the national media, such as an interview with the chancellor on CNBC television and an article in the Wall Street Journal.

Established near campus an IT (information technology) facility called IT Enterprises with the help of grants totaling $1 million from the Small Business Administration (federal) and $500,000 from the Ameren Community Development Corporation (private), and an additional $1 million from the governor and state legislature. The facility contains a high-performance computing center and space for small companies.

Fostered the success of Sterotaxis, located within the Center for Emerging Technologies managed by UMSL, to become the region’s first life-sciences startup to file for IPO (initial public offering) and graduate from the center to a new permanent location.

Facilitated the relocation of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis to the UMSL campus, including the establishment of the Hispanic Student Chamber of Commerce.

Encouraged timely progress in the curriculum; e.g.,

Established new baccalaureate and master’s degree programs in biochemistry & biotechnology offered in cooperation by the Department of Biology and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Established the new Winter Intersession between the fall and spring semesters.

Worked on issues of equity and diversity; e.g.,

Created the Chancellor's Cultural Diversity Initiative, the Task Force on Gender Issues and the Equal Opportunity Advisory Council which have made important recommendations (that in turn have been implemented) for enhancing diversity and equal opportunity on campus.

Increased diversity in the student body, including the percentage of African Americans from 16% to 18%.

Established diversity in the faculty ranks as a priority. An example is tenuring/promoting a record number seven African American faculty in a given year.

Established a program with Vashon High School where a group of seniors, nearly all African American, spend their final semester on the UMSL campus, taking both Vashon and UMSL courses. As a result, the number of graduating Vashon students receiving acceptance letters to two- and four-year colleges has quadrupled.

Worked to enhance diversity in the surrounding community as well as the university, as recognized by the Outstanding Community Service Award from the St. Louis Branch of NAACP and the Distinguished Higher Education Award from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Missouri State Celebration Commission.

Improved facilities on and around campus; e.g.,

Placed the new Performing Arts Central on firm financial footing as a resource to the university and outside community, including bringing the St. Louis Symphony there several times a year and becoming the exclusive performance venue for Dance St. Louis.

Built the first residence hall on campus with 430 beds and other amenities, like a swimming pool. Together with the apartment complexes on campus, this brings the number of beds to 1,500.

Established an environmental task force of campus and community people to improve energy efficiency in buildings, enhance recycling and promote health and safety.

Worked with the city of Normandy to secure a planning grant from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments to enhance Natural Bridge Road running through the middle of campus.

Worked with the Great Rivers Greenway District to invest $650,000 to construct a pedestrian/cyclist trail through campus as part of a much larger trail in the region.

Increased the campus commitment to athletics; e.g.,

Played a key role in leading the effort to expand the Great Lakes Valley Conference from eleven to fourteen teams, adding the University of Missouri–Rolla, Drury University and Rockhurst University.

Appointed an athletics task force to examine various issues including administrative structure, resources, scholarships and NCAA Division II status. Subsequently, significant changes were made, such as in the lines of reporting for athletics and its budget (which was increased).

Strengthened the faculty ranks; e.g.,

Increased by 16% the number of tenured/tenure-track faculty on campus.

Embarked on various student initiatives; e.g.,

Established the Center for Student Success to focus especially on students in academic jeopardy.

Established the Math Technology Learning Center designed for students to learn at different paces and in different fashions – its success was highlighted in the Winter 2007 issue of the Lumina Foundation Focus.

Accommodated 75 students from Louisiana universities affected by Hurricane Katrina, offering special tuition waivers and other help.

To complement the existing National Public Radio station on campus, established “The U,” a new student radio station, with a budget, new studios on campus, web broadcasting (www.umslradio.com) and participation of over fifty students.

Fostered the program called STARS (Students and Teachers As Research Scientists), including the acquisition of funding from Pfizer and Solutia, to encourage interest in K-12 in science and engineering.

Established two Exploring posts (Learning for Life, Boy Scouts of America) – one in the College of Nursing and the other in the Honors College in connection with science and the environment.