The Index Vol. 111 Issue 10

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Fall weather fluctuates dramatically

Homecoming fundraisers give back to community, page 6 Giving thanks by giving back, page 7 Women’s basketball opens season with sweep, page 13

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Truman State University tmn.truman.edu THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019

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UCS UTILIZATION INCREASES AS ENROLLMENT DROPS

University Counseling Services Utilization Since 2017 First time Appointments by Month

The Truman State University executive leadership team is developing the next University strategic plan which focuses on community input and metrics for goal measurement. Truman’s current strategic plan was approved by the Board of Governors in October 2016 and is effective through 2020. The next plan will need to be approved by the Board of Governors in June of 2020 and will be effective from July 2020 through 2025. The executive leadership team held a town hall event Nov. 11 to discuss the new strategic plan. The new plan establishes three areas of focus: institutional effectiveness/organizational excellence, student success and achievement, and external validation/reputation. Each area is broken down into specific categories for improvement, such as enrollment, campus climate, academic performance and employer satisfaction. Each of these areas is further defined by metrics created for data collection and assessment. “This is going to allow us to measure our progress on each of these metrics,” University President Sue Thomas said in the town hall meeting. “So how we want to look at this

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is what kind of major comprehensive initiatives can we do to be able to move the needle on each of these metrics.” Janet Gooch, vice president for academic affairs and provost, said the metrics were developed through the executive leadership team, but a lot of them, such as graduation rates, are required by the state for performance funding. Others are institutional specific, Gooch said, so Truman is interested in employer and alumni satisfaction as well as campus climate. Gooch said the University hasn’t conducted employer satisfaction and alumni satisfaction surveys since 2012. The alumni survey was revised in 2012, but has not been re-implemented. “With different people in the President’s position and the provost position we just kind of lost sight of that for a little bit,” Gooch said. “Now we recognize that, ‘Yeah, that’s been on the shelf too long, let’s get back to that.’” Gooch said measuring the success of the strategic plan with metrics is new to this strategic plan being developed. One of the relative weaknesses of the last plan, Gooch explained, was that some of the goals weren’t very measurable. See PLANNING page 3

The town hall was held in Violette Hall. Truman’s current strategic plan was approved by the Board of Governors in October 2016 and is effective through 2020. Photo by Ryan Pivoney

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 10 © 2019

Appointments for Returning Students

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University President presents strategic plan RYAN PIVONEY Editor-in-Chief

had mental health care before, so they are just wanting to continue with the kind of care they have previously received. She said the industry is doing a better job of diagnosing mental health problems and therefore treating those problems “I think we are seeing impacts of the[Americans with Disabilities Act],” Higgins said. “A number of students in the past who would have not of been successful and made it to the college level can now be successful with the accommodations through the office of student access. See UCS page 3

Number of Students

University Counseling Services at Truman State University has seen an increase in the utilization of its services, and it is starting to find ways to cope with the increase in students. “We had a record September,” Joe Hamilton, assistant director of UCS, said. “It was the highest September for first-time student [appointments] ever. That is the highest month we have ever had in our history at UCS.” Hamilton said with more students coming in, it is harder to juggle his administrative responsibilities with his counselor responsibilities. He said it is more stressful on staff to try and manage the demand. Hamilton said higher utilization is a continuing trend, not only at Truman but across the nation. “I was actually surprised though,” Hamilton said. “I thought with enrollment going

down so much that our numbers would be not so high.” Hamilton said UCS had a record number of appointments in October with 603 appointments. He said the department is in line to see about 800 students using services this semester. Brenda Higgins, Director of UCS and Student Health Services, attributes the rise utilization to the reduced stigma. Hamilton said there is a generational trend showing more young people with mental health concerns. Higgins said more students who are coming to UCS already

Number of Students

RACHEL BEKCER News, Photo Editor

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UCS Secretary, Ann Weidner schedules appointments at her desk. UCS saw a record number of appointments in October. Photo by Daniel Degenhardt

Ongoing Violette Hall construction affects classes MATT FRANK Staff Writer In late October, construction began in Violette Hall’s basement to replace the chiller unit, which creates cool air in the building. Issues arose when instructors found themselves interrupted while teaching classes by construction noises that made hearing difficult. The construction is part of a larger project intended to replace two chillers on campus. The first was in the Student Union Building and was replaced near the end of the summer. Truman State University was faced with the option of continuing the project and replacing the Violette chiller right after the construction in the SUB was finished, or waiting until October, Dave Rector, vice president for administration, finance and planning, said. “We were down to two weeks before the start of the semester, and if they ran into problems, we may not have had any air conditioning in Violette Hall when the students came back,” Rector said. “So the contractor offered to come back in late October for the same price.” The total cost for the project of replacing the two chillers was around $850,000. This project, while important for maintaining a stable temperature in Violette, caused issues for instructors because of noise in the building. The Academic Affairs office was tasked with contacting relevant parties to make them aware of the construction in case changes needed to be made to instructors’ plans. Some instructors expressed their frustration because they were not notified of impending construction and found out about it while teaching. “The first day the construction affected me was in a Calculus III class in Violette Hall 1148, which is on the northwest side of the building,” Kevin Easley, profes-

sor of mathematics, said. “It sounded like they were running a jackhammer that day, and the noise was so loud that we had to leave the classroom because we could not hear each other. I brought them upstairs to a study area with a whiteboard, and my class sat on a circular sofa, and we continued class there for the day.” Easley considers himself lucky because he teaches in Violette 1148 after other instructors. The instructors teaching in Violette 1148 prior to Easley had already reserved a new room for their classes to escape the noise, and the room was offered to Easley as well. Because of this he did not have to hear the construction noise again. One of those instructors was Stephen Quinn, assistant profes-

sor of mathematics. Quinn requested a new room to teach in because he found it impossible to teach with the noise. “The main issue has been the noises,” Quinn said. “There was banging, drilling and sawing. At times I would have to raise my voice to talk over these noises, and at other times it was too loud, and I could not raise my voice enough and had to pause and wait it out.” The noise would not happen every day, Quinn said. After a while, the noise became enough of an issue that Quinn decided to have his class permanently moved to a different room in Violette where the noise would not be an issue. See VIOLETTE page 3

The constuction in Violette Hall started in the summer. It is part of a larger project intended to replace two chillers on campus. Photo by Mary Van Winkle


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