At MU, students, faculty and alumni alike live by the same mantra — #MizzouMade. It’s printed on banners on the street, posted in buildings and lecture halls, even tagged on e-mail threads and highway billboards seen driving into Columbia. Many professional journeys are rooted here, including Dr. Michelle Froese’s. She, like other MU alums, is #MizzouMade. 

For Froese, who was promoted to MU’s Interim Dean of Students in July, this motto has been ingrained in her family for generations. Her father completed his doctorate at MU, and, after earning her undergraduate degree in theatre and history at the University of Central Missouri, Froese pursued her master’s and doctoral degrees in theatre at MU.

As Interim Dean of Students, Froese is replacing Dr. Bill Stackman, who served as MU’s Dean of Students and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs before accepting a position as Dean of Students at Harvard University’s Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences this past spring.  

Froese owned a costume and novelty business with her husband in Columbia for about 20 years before joining the MU Division of Student Affairs as the assistant director at the Dean of Students’ Office in July 2017. She became Associate Dean of Students in November 2019 before assuming full responsibility over the department this summer. 

While working in Student Affairs, Froese sent two kids off to college, one to MU and one to Vanderbilt University. She believes that within her new role, her positions as an administrator and parent of an MU student creates a culture of “authenticity and transparency” with MU families seeking success for their students. 

“I worked in some capacities for a while doing strategic communication to talk about the value of different services within Student Affairs,” Froese reflected. “I learned a lot [within the department] about what I would tell the families about how to get themselves oriented to let their students become adults […] the better job we can do onboarding families, the better supports they’re going to be for students.” 

For Froese, a forward-thinking mindset is what cultivates a tight-knit campus community. As Interim Dean of Students, students’ mental and physical well-being is of paramount importance. She hopes to initiate greater involvement on campus and help students find a niche that facilitates a successful future. 

As Associate Dean of Students, Froese played a vital role in the founding of MU’s Care Team, which assists students in stressful situations relating to well-being, personal emergencies and financial issues, among other areas of concern. She carries a unique emphasis on securing foundational needs to facilitate greater student achievement. 

“I think that is part of that idea of how we create an environment of well-being and connectedness,” Froese said. “Because sometimes you just have to take care of basic needs before you can even entertain the idea of joining an organization.”

Froese added that securing these needs requires making students aware of the resources that can provide them. She hopes to facilitate greater knowledge of the MU Counseling Center, as well as Tiger Pantry for those experiencing food insecurity. Whatever situation a student may encounter, Froese hopes to increase the accessibility of available resources. 

For Froese, students and their organizations are the backbone of MU’s campus. She hopes to expand the outreach efforts coming from the Division of Student Affairs and Dean of Students department. Visiting as many student organizations as possible and sitting in on their meetings, she added, is essential to getting to know them and the work they do.

“We have this great opportunity where we get new students every year, and I’m always excited to see what they do and what they become,” Froese said. “It’s really about what students are going out and doing —that [is what] makes Mizzou.”

Edited by Annie Goldman | agoldman@themaneater.comCopy Edited by Hannah Taylor and Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com