Curators to hone UM image

Describing the University of Missouri System as complex and disjointed but also successful and focused, the system’s curators identified problems to address at the beginning of their retreat Thursday in Kansas City, including the need for a stronger public relations effort.

Arguing that the media focuses only on the bad news, the curators discussed the need to promote a more positive image. For example, the curators discussed a possible information center, which would help disseminate structured and timely system information to Missourians.

“As critical as this is and as attuned as people are, I just think this system needs some sort of public relations arm that doesn’t just handle one campus but handles all four,” Curator Don Walsworth said.

The retreat differed from previous gatherings by giving the curators the opportunity to define potential problems themselves.

“We actually had a retreat last July, but it was different in the sense that we looked at specific issues associated with the board,” UM System President Elson Floyd said. “This was much more of a visioning session to really talk, not about specific issues but the broader context of how the university conducts its business and the types of issues that the board is concerned with.”

Bill Weary, a consultant for The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, facilitated the all-day retreat.

“We’ll wind up with a set of tasks for the board to complete in the next year,” Weary said.

The curators also addressed the need to compile a list of university systems comparable to MU. Each of the four campuses currently has a peer group of universities with similar characteristics with which they can compare things such as faculty salaries and benefits, enrollment and retention. However, the curators believe that it would be beneficial to have a similar comparison available at the system level.

“I would like to measure as many things as possible against a peer group,” Curator John Carnahan said.

Another topic considered by the board concerned shifting public perception from four individual universities to defining the UM System as one, cohesive system.

“The fundamental question is,” Floyd said, “Are we one university or are we four universities with one central system?”

The board will conclude its two-day visit to Kansas City today with its board meeting.