Nietzel to join governor's staff as education adviser

Gov. Jay Nixon was in Springfield Thursday to announce a new job for Missouri State University President Michael Nietzel.

Nietzel is joining Nixon's administration as adviser on higher education and workforce readiness, Nixon said during a news conference on the university campus. Nietzel will continue to serve as MSU president until a successor is named. He will work as an unpaid adviser to the governor while still at MSU, though Nixon said he will likely be compensated after leaving the school.

Nixon said that Nietzel, who joined Missouri State as president in 2005 after serving as provost at the University of Kentucky, has been a leader in bringing together higher education leaders during his time in Springfield.

"When he began his tenure here ... the sport that people used to spend their time on in Jefferson City was figuring out how you could fight about a name change instead of fighting for kids and for education," Nixon said, referring to the decision to drop the Southwest moniker from MSU's name. "Not only has he been a leader to get that relatively small name change out of the way, he has become the leader in Missouri higher education to bring folks together, and I tremendously appreciate it."

Nietzel said he is aware that the state's colleges and universities face multiple issues, not the least of which is funding. The state has agreed to hold funding steady until 2011 in exchange for schools not raising tuition, but Nietzel said money is going to be an issue for the foreseeable future.

"How do we become more efficient and serve more students when we know we're going to have less funding for a while?" Nietzel said, noting the growth in the state's schools, specifically the community college system. "We have to be more efficient while we struggle through this tough time for a while."

The process to find the next president, meanwhile, continues. Both Nietzel and MSU Board President Brian Hammons said the search is on track; plans call for finalists to visit campus in early May, with a new president in place by July 1.[[In-content Ad]]