MSU president gets $25K raise, donates back to university

During his first year as president of Missouri State University, Clif Smart received "exceeding high expectations" marks from the Board of Governors as part of his annual review.

The board approved a $25,000 salary increase, to $300,000, for the 11th president, which Smart then donated to the Missouri State Foundation, designating it for the Dr. Alice Fleetwood Bartee Endowed Scholarship, according to a news release.

Again this year, Smart also plans to donate his $40,000 housing allowance to the foundation. Of the total, $30,000 will be the second installment to endow the Gail and Clif Smart Professorship in Agriculture, which was begun in October 2012. The remaining $10,000 will be used to help fund the Jim D. Morris Basketball Complex in JQH Arena, to provide locker rooms, office and related facilities for the Bears and Lady Bears basketball teams.

“Based on our work with him when he was general counsel and based on his year as interim president, we were confident he could do the job,” said Board Chairman Orvin Kimbrough, in the release. “As a result, we set high expectations for him going into this year. Even so, Clif, along with the team he has assembled, exceeded those expectations.

"The Board was strong and unanimous in its evaluation: We are very pleased with Clif’s first year as our president and we look forward to many more.”

Smart was evaluated based on nine categories: strategic leadership, educational leadership, organizational management, financial management, fundraising, external relations, internal relations, board and governance relations and personal characteristics and values, as well as his self-assessment.

Under Smart's leadership during the past year, enrollment has increased to an all-time high of 23,071; the school has added programs such as doctor of nursing practice; Smart has helped foster partnerships with University of Missouri-Kansas City and continued the relationship with Ozarks Technical Community College, according to the release.

“I very much appreciate the board’s positive evaluation,” said Smart, in the release. “I know that the only way we can achieve our goals is with a tremendous group of administrators, faculty and staff working with our outstanding students. I want to thank them for the good work they did in 2012-13. As a team, we had many accomplishments last year and we look forward to building on that good work in the coming year.”
 
Smart joined Missouri State as general counsel on Dec. 1, 2007, after a 20-year legal career. He was named interim president June 27, 2011, when Dr. James E. Cofer Sr., the university's 10th president, announced his plans to return to the faculty. Smart became president on Oct. 16, 2012.  His contract runs through June 30, 2018.

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