Missouri State University's growing Ph.D. offerings, national recognition for its programs and staff, athletic accomplishments and capital projects were all celebrated during a State of the University address last Friday. University President Biff Williams ran through successes in each of the University Strategic Plan's five major goals and shared steps for the year ahead
“A lot of work happened this year,” Williams explained.” It first started with us identifying our peer and aspiration. A group of faculty, staff and students came together. We looked at all sorts of algorithms, and we identified who we wanted to benchmark ourselves against and our aspirational peers. A lot of work went on with our research focus. This year, we focused on identifying what did we need Infrastructurally to become an R2 university."
R2 designates universities with at least $5 million in research spending and at least 20 research Ph.D.'s awarded annually. State legislation signed into law last year allows Missouri State to issue Ph.D.'s for the first time. President Williams said The University is currently waiting for accreditation to issue a Ph.D. in defense and strategic studies.
Other highlights include creating the first four-year tourism degree in the State of Missouri, completing over 60 capital projects and developing the framework for an Innovation Institute, an extension of work already being done by the the efactory, Jordan Valley Innovation Center and the College of Business.
Williams said, "this institute is going to be implemented this year. And it's an unbelievable way for our faculty and staff to come together from all parts of our campus to help build businesses and create innovation here in Springfield, Missouri."
And President Williams also looked towards the year ahead as the University undergoes rebranding.
"This year, most of this goal was focused on refreshing our brand,” he explained. “Phase one is complete. That's where we got the brand research in our competitive analysis. our brand refresh will be launched here in February or March."
The 2026-27 school year will mark the second year of the University's five-year strategic plan.