Missouri State University President Clifton M. “Clif” Smart III received high praise from the Board of Governors for his performance as president of Missouri State for fiscal year 2021.
Smart presented his self-assessment to the board in an executive session at its June meeting.
The board began the process via an electronic survey that evaluated Smart in nine major categories:
- Strategic leadership.
- Educational leadership.
- Organizational management.
- Financial management.
- External relations.
- Internal relations.
- Board and governance relations.
- Personal characteristics and values.
The board completed its evaluation on Aug. 6 as part of its regular board meeting. Smart scored well in all categories.
“President Smart continued an extraordinary display of vision, judgement and agility during the pandemic,” said Board Chair Amy Counts.
“In the spirit of innovation that is core to Missouri State, the university demonstrated leadership and creativity in providing a safe campus for our students and an interactive environment that few universities chose or were able to offer this past year. This enabled our students to have a somewhat normal campus experience during a year filled with multiple challenges.”
Smart’s contract
As agreed under a contract extension drafted in 2018, Smart’s base salary was to increase to no less than $377,890 effective July 1, 2022. Given his exceptional performance over the last several years, however; the board accelerated the increase to an adjusted base of $380,000 effective July 1, 2021.
Along with other employees of the university, a 3% across the board raise was applied bringing his base compensation to $391,400. Smart declined increases in 2018 and 2020.
Smart currently earns $50,000 each year as part of a deferred compensation plan. This will fully vest in 2022. Effective June 30, 2023, Smart will be eligible to earn an annual cash retention bonus of $50,000, in lieu of deferred compensation.
“The pandemic has continued to challenge us in all areas; however, as a university, we persevered to provide as normal a year as possible for our students,” Smart said.
“It was a team effort by employees across the university – faculty, staff and administrators – all have demonstrated their leadership, flexibility and concern for the students as we continue to provide a quality education during unprecedented circumstances.”
Smart’s contract continues through June 30, 2026.