Richard “Biff” Williams, speaking the core language of Missouri State University, said there can be times when “public affairs” and “ethical leadership” can come down to one simple word for a college president: courage.
Williams gave the example of his leadership in the difficult task of changing the name of “Dixie State University” to “Utah Tech” while he was president of the school in St. George, Utah.
Williams, 52, is one of three finalists to become the next president of Missouri State University. He is the first of the three to visit the Springfield and West Plains campuses this month. Williams also is one of five finalists to become the next president of New Mexico State University.
Williams was profiled in the Hauxeda on Feb. 11.
He appeared before about 65 people at MSU-West Plains Wednesday and spoke in front of about 150 in Springfield on Thursday in the Plaster Student Union Theater.
Williams showed an easy expertise in the essential genome of MSU, having read the university's strategic plan. He often referenced the school's public affairs mission and its three pillars: ethical leadership, cultural competence and community engagement.
MSU president search
Clif Smart, MSU president since 2011, will step down at the end of the semester. In addition to Williams, the other finalists are: John Jasinski, 61, MSU provost since 2022 and former president of Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville; and Roger Thompson, 57, vice president for student services and enrollment management at the University of Oregon.
Jasinski's official visit is Feb. 26-27 and Thompson Feb. 28-29. See all Daily Citizen coverage of the search here.
For example, when asked what value he placed on programs for foreign students, Williams said he placed great value on such programs and cited the MSU pillar of “cultural competence.”
“You have a storied past, current momentum, and your future can be just as big as your past,” he said.
His greatest achievement? Mastery of strategic planning
Williams is a former athlete, a former athletic trainer and the son of two coaches who were teachers. Yet he also is a self-described “geek” when it comes to university strategic plans.
Williams said his greatest achievement as an administrator in higher education, including his almost 10-year tenure at Utah Tech, in St. George, Utah, is learning how to compile a “unified and collaborative strategic plan.”
When asked how he would resolve competing interests in deciding how limited university funds would be spent, Williams had a ready answer.
“I think the strategic plan solves a lot of issues,” he responded. The funding focus should match the strategic plan's focus, he said.
Williams referenced “ethical leadership” when asked how was able to bring together different groups of people to change the longtime name of “Dixie State University” to “Utah Tech” in 2022.
St. George is in southern Utah, and its pioneers came from the Old South. Many grew cotton.
The school was founded in 1918 and at one time, prior to Williams' arrival, the flag was the Confederate flag, there was a statue of a Confederate soldier on campus and the mascot was Rodney the Rebel.
The area in Utah is called “Little Dixie” and many businesses there have “Dixie” in their names.
‘I really didn't care if it shortened my tenure'
Williams was asked if being in the forefront of the name change shortened his career at Utah Tech. He resigned in January 2024 to look for other jobs.
“I really didn't care if it shortened my time there,” he said. “My wife knew. My kids knew. I really believed in this. I studied it out. I knew that it needed to change and I was going to fight for those students in our community, regardless if it cost me my job.”
It was an intense debate. He said the city of St. George had “Dixie Forever” signs, and one of the largest signs was in his neighbor's yard.
“I'd see it whenever I'd walk my dog,” he said.
Williams said he still has critics in Utah because of the name change.
He joked about the personal impact: “I still have PTSD.”
How can he connect to the West Plains campus?
On his visits to Missouri State campuses, Williams described how regularly he met with staff, faculty and students at Utah Tech. He said that shared governance and the best strategic plans involve communication, collaboration and consistency.
He was was asked how he would achieve the same close-knit relationships he had in Utah here in Missouri.
“We're 109 miles apart,” the person asking the question in West Plains, said, referring to Springfield.
Williams responded he was reluctant to answer without first sitting down with MSU-West Plains Chancellor Dennis Lancaster.
“I would like it to be a high level of involvement,” Williams said. “But I also don't want to step on anyone's toes.”
A backer of athletics, but to what degree?
Williams, who played football and ran track at a community college in Utah, oversaw the process for Utah Tech when it raised its intercollegiate athletic standing by going from NCAA Division II football to Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Missouri State also competes at the FCS level in football, along with its rivals from the Missouri Valley Conference.
In 2023, the Utah Tech Trailblazers came to Missouri State to play the Bears, who won 59-14.
Williams was asked whether MSU should advance from FCS football to the highest level: NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
“Athletics is one of the front doors to the university,” Williams said. “I would be a proud supporter of athletics,” he said, but added that going up a classification would carry a “very large price tag.”
Ideas for inclusivity at Missouri State
Williams recalled several ways Utah Tech became more inclusive. He said such efforts at colleges and universities are likely to become more difficult in coming years. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 struck down affirmative action in higher education.
“We are clearly in a different environment in the United States of America right now,” Williams said. “Inclusion practices are under attack, especially in the states that are red. I'm coming from a primarily Republican state.
“What I've learned is there are two things that help us with best practices in creating a welcoming environment. The first is communication and the second is data-driven decisions.”
Utah Tech surveyed students years ago and made some surprising discoveries when it came to diversity.
“We realized through a client survey that we were failing a lot of different marginalized populations that we had on our campus.
“Some of our students, especially those that are marginalized, were starving. They did not have a place to get food. So we created a food pantry,” Williams said.
The university discovered that students who are military veterans needed help. It created a veterans center.
It also discovered that LGBTQ+ students at Utah Tech could not find a doctor willing to take them on as patients. The university created a network of physicians that could serve them.
Utah Tech also created a Come-and-Get-It program.
“Universities are notorious for wasting food,” he said. “We have these huge banquets and all the food gets wasted[...] We put the food in a Styrofoam box. Hundreds of these students come in for food that we now aren't wasting.”
Williams said he and his wife, Kristin, would open up their campus home for 600 to 1,800 students over an academic year for dinners. He received valuable information and feedback at those meals — down to the level of a door button for students with disabilities that wasn't working.
“Once the students know there is free food, they will go anywhere,” he said.
He was asked about possible quick improvements and had suggestions
Williams was asked what might be “low-hanging fruit” in improving Missouri State.
He had some suggestions.
- MSU's IDEA Commons in downtown Springfield is a great idea, he said, but he's not sure businesses and industries throughout the Ozarks know of the research help available.
- Williams believes the university might be able to reach out more to connect faculty experts with business owners who could use that expertise. He mentioned that St. George, Utah is a tourist destination with several golf courses. Water resources are scarce. Utah Tech's experts on water conservation have been able to provide assistance to the golf course operators.
- He said MSU should be at the forefront of embracing artificial intelligence and how it can best be used. To shy away from it, he said, would be similar to how math instructors decades ago had nothing but fear and loathing for calculators.
What about mental health help? Yes, he says, but not just for students
Williams also was asked what responsibility he believes a university has for the mental health of those on campus.
Williams said Utah Tech offered little in that regard when he took over as president of in 2014.
“There is anxiety and there is depression,” Williams said.
One thing he learned, he said, is that it's not just students who need the help.
“We have had three faculty members commit suicide,” he said. “Today, we have 67 health professionals on campus and the wait time for those in a health crisis is zero minutes.”
