By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Missouri Western State University President Elizabeth Kennedy says adjusting to life during the coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate planning on the St. Joseph campus.
Kennedy has been named president after serving as interim president for more than six months.
Kennedy says the effect of COVID-19 on campus life dominated her work during the interim period.
“Dealing with the pandemic, dealing with our budget, looking at our enrollment, looking at how do we get our university back to a – quote, unquote – new normal, whatever that new normal is going to look like,” Kennedy tells reporters after being named president.
Kennedy says planning a fall semester which must still take the pandemic into account and working with an uncertain budget remain her biggest challenges now as president.
"We've learned how to - quote, unquote - COVID and so what we're doing now is really focusing on getting our fall ready," Kennedy says. "We've been mapping out our course schedules, where we're going to be in the rooms, what we can do that way and looking at the budget. We do have our financial issues, but I will tell you we do have a plan to move forward."
Kennedy took over after Matt Wilson left in July. She served as interim president before the Board of Governors offered her a three-year contract to become president.
Kennedy says the university won’t return to normal until the campus returns to normal.
“I was a faculty member in the classroom, fulltime, for 17 years. I understand the dynamics, the rapport, what you build with your students, whether it’s a 15-week class or an eight-week class. That’s what education is about, just as much as content. If it were just content, we could pass out books and say, ‘Let me know when you’re done,’” Kennedy says with a chuckle.
And Kennedy calls on her experience in other parts of her life to pull through the weight of running Missouri Western State University during the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the university’s budget.
“I happen to be a marathon runner. So, I have an endurance and a high pain tolerance,” Kennedy jokes, but adds that allows her to manage everyday affairs, while looking to get new initiatives off the ground and plan for new ones as the university moves forward.