© 2024 University of Missouri - KBIA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

UM System President Speaks About Future Plans at Board of Curators Meeting

tim wolfe
Janet Saidi
/
KBIA
Timothy Wolfe takes questions from reporters after being introduced as the new president of the University of Missouri system.

President of University of Missouri System Tim Wolfe spoke to the Board of Curators today about the future of University of Missouri campuses.

He talked about three main goals that will not only brighten the future of UM System schools, but also give them a single unifying vision.

One topic Wolfe discussed was the way the campuses handled Title IX, which aims to help with sex-based discrimination and campus safety. He says that the UM System’s forward thinking and diligence in regards to this statute has placed it as a leader among Universities.

“We are getting validation on a frequent basis that our aspiration of being a leader in higher education, of having a safe and secure environment, we’re realizing it. That being said, it’s a never ending journey and we have to continue to focus on it. It’s not a 2014-15 issue it’s an issue that we’ll continue to focus on” he said.

President Wolfe also stressed the importance that the Board and the Universities continue to focus on spatial growth.

“We’re forecasting to grow another 10,000 to 15,000 students across our four campuses. When you think about how constrained we are right now, being proactive and building the capacity necessary to handle the 10,000-15,000 additional students by 2020 is absolutely a prerequisite.”

He says that the environment in which one is taught plays a role in a successful education, and that is why this aspect of the UM System’s growth is so important.

This past fiscal year the UM System brought their square footage of classroom and lab space up to 500,000 with the addition of four new buildings across four campuses. The $100 million for the four new buildings was raised on a 50-50 basis, meaning that the Universities raised the first half of the money and then the state matched that amount.

Wolfe said that he hoped the state would provide the same support when it came to another project he wants to put into place. This project is a scholarship assistance program based off of Georgia’s very successful HOPE scholarship program. The program would provide thousands of dollars in tuition money to high school graduates who earned a 3.0 GPA or higher.

The meeting was held Thursday, June 25, through Friday, June 26. 

Related Content