MU announced Nov. 1 that it will invest $1.5 billion into expanding research and education at the university over the next 10 years through the new MizzouForward initiative, one of the largest investments in the university’s history.
The funds will go toward student resources, benefits for faculty and staff and new infrastructure. Mun Choi, UM System president and MU chancellor, Latha Ramchand, provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and Tom Spencer, vice chancellor for research and economic development, announced the initiative at a general faculty meeting Nov. 1. At the meeting, Choi, Ramchand and Spencer outlined MU’s strategy for expanding research through three major areas MizzouForward will allocate funds to.
The first major investment area is focused on enhancing student success. Ramchand said MU plans to invest in the advising department by hiring at least 15 more advisers to lessen caseloads, raising advisers’ salaries based on seniority and providing them more professional development opportunities. MizzouForward will also increase funding for Honors College faculty and staff, expand internship and career services and provide more access to research opportunities for undergraduate students.
Another aspect of the initiative involves increasing support for faculty. Through MizzouForward, MU projects to recruit 150 new faculty and 150 new support staff over the next five to 10 years. The plan will also provide performance-based raises for current faculty and staff, according to an MU press release.
Ramchand said investing in better support systems for researchers, educators and students is crucial to strengthening the academic community and maintaining the university’s status as a leading research institution.
“Our ambitions will be realized only through our people,” Ramchand said. “It’s our faculty, our staff, our students, our alumni, our community. It’s your success that’s going to drive the successes we have through this plan.”
The last major investment area is infrastructure. MU will invest $100 million to further support the NextGen Precision Health initiative following the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building’s opening on Oct. 19, which Choi said is “just the beginning” of MU’s efforts to expand infrastructure.
This large-scale investment is a strategy to reestablish MU as a top research institution. In 2008, data from the Higher Education Research and Development Survey showed MU ranked No. 74 in research and development expenditures compared to all other U.S. colleges. By 2017, that ranking was down to No. 90.
In the meeting, Choi attributed the decline in research and development spending to budget cuts, faculty losses and an overall lack of focus on excellence. Through MizzouForward, Choi said he hopes MU can come together to “correct the past declines” in research.
“There’s much more that we can do,” Choi said. “There’s no reason why this university, with the resources that we have as a land grant, flagship university in this state, can’t compete with [other research universities]. But we do know that we need investments to be able to do so.”
Edited by Namratha Prasad | nprasad@themaneater.com