January 18-19, 2001

 

ITEM 110-2001-R0101    Authorization to Confer the Title of Professor Emeritus of Music upon Clifford M. Shipp; Montana State University-Bozeman

 

THAT:   Upon the occasion of the retirement of Clifford M. Shipp from the faculty of Montana State University, the Board of Regents wishes to express its appreciation for his service to the University, the Montana University System, and the people of the State of Montana.

 

EXPLANATION:      Dr. Shipp joined the faculty of the College of Arts and Architecture as Dean in July of 1989. He came to Bozeman with an impressive record of quality teaching, academic administration and music performance. Prior to his appointment as Dean, Dr. Shipp was the President of the St. Louis Conservatory of Music. Dr. Shipp brought an enthusiastic and energetic administrative style to the Deans office. He emphasized that the students are the most important people on campus and that his role was one of facilitator in the teaching and learning process. His positive attitude helped to foster an environment of excellence in teaching and creative activity within the College of Arts and Architecture. During this time he also built an impressive record of music compositions, performance, and scholarly activity. Dr. Shipp received the award of tenure in Music during 1992 in recognition of his professional and creative work.

The faculty in the College of Arts and Architecture recognized Dr. Shipp as a talented leader with an optimistic vision and a genuine concern for the entire faculty and staff within the College. He was an excellent listener who believed that his role was to build a team based upon common purpose and values. To insure the viability of the College, he increased the visibility of all of the programs under his leadership. His own service within the greater university included chairing the search for the new President of Montana State University and the University Planning Committee. In both of these capacities, he demonstrated his ability to build consensus and to act as a true statesman on behalf of the University.

During his tenure as Dean, Dr. Shipp initiated a successful college newsletter to inform alumni and friends of the successes of the students and faculty within the college. He also developed a model for creative arts funding based upon the popular EPSCOR program for the sciences. He personally led the students and faculty in our most successful annual phonathons in which alumni are asked for support for scholarships, visiting lectures, and other program enhancements. Dr. Shipp demonstrated his commitment to community and state cultural outreach in his enthusiastic promotion of music, art, and the Shakespeare in the Parks programs. These efforts helped to bridge the gap that occasionally exists between the University and the surrounding community.

From the spring of 1992 until his retirement in 1998, Dr. Shipp served as Executive Director of the Montana State University Foundation. Under his leadership, the assets of the Foundation grew from $24,284,000 to $47,424,000. In his last year of service the annual contributions to MSU reached a record $7,433,000.

The highly successful Second Century Campaign was conducted during his tenure at the Foundation. This campaign exceeded its goal of $25,000,000 by more than $4,000,000. Dr. Shipp also successfully solicited the single largest gift to support the operation of the new Foundation/Alumni Center on the MSU-Bozeman campus.

Dr. Clifford Shipp has had a significant impact on both the College of Arts and Architecture and the MSU Foundation. For this consistently high level of professional performance, we request the honor of the title of Professor Emeritus be awarded to Dr. Clifford Shipp. 

For these and other contributions, the Board of Regents of Higher Education is pleased to confer upon Clifford M. Shipp the rank of Professor Emeritus of Music at Montana State University and wishes him well for many pleasant years in the future.