By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Missouri Western State University is working to expand the perception the community has of the institution.
President Elizabeth Kennedy says a community survey shows people think positively about the university
"They see it as an asset, they see it as an economic driver, but the one piece we're working on now is they don't really know what our story is," Kennedy tells KFEQMunnity host Brent Martin. "We need to be better about telling our story."
Kennedy hopes a recent branding change will help with telling that story, saying the university is going back to "embracing MoWest"
"And the reason for that is, so many people in our community, our graduates, just people who live there use it, they refer to us as MoWest, and it's done in a very affectionate way," Kennedy explains. "So, we're talking about there really is more at MoWest, you can discover more, you can learn more, you can do more at MoWest."
Kennedy says telling their story is making sure the university is communicating what it is, and what it is about.
Missouri Western is also adapting to the needs of the community and its workforce.
Several programs have been added at the university, and also new language courses as well, but while there is a growing need for these programs there is a central focus.
Kennedy says the goal of any school, no matter what program a student is in, should be to help that student expand their mind
"That's what we do at Missouri Western, that's what education is about," Kennedy says. "Is it's not only knowledge creation through research and those kinds of things, but it's knowledge transmission, it's giving people information and teaching them how to critically think, how to work together in groups, how to do teamwork so that it's productive, those are the goals because that is what we do in everyday life."
Kennedy says college is designed to provide an opportunity for growth and development at an intellectual level
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