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Board Guides International Mission

Board Information

Missouri Southern Athletics has the Lionbacker Booster Club, the George A. Spiva Library has the Friends of the Library, and the Alumni Association has a Board of Directors. Now, the Institute of International Studies has an International Mission Advisory Board.

There are at least 20 such advisory boards on campus, including ones for biology, communication, environmental health, marketing, dental hygiene, law enforcement, nursing, and radiology. Nearly all meet bi-annually or annually.

The International Mission Advisory Board (or IMAB) was established in May 2010 to assist in “the care and feeding” of MSSU’s international mission. Richard Walter, a member of the MSSU Board of Governors, was asked to serve as the board’s chair, and he graciously agreed to give even more of his time to the university.

Although it originally intended to hold quarterly meetings, the IMAB met monthly May through September 2010 in order to get up to speed on all the international programs and activities on campus. Faculty members who had led short-term study abroad trips gave reports, as did the international student advisor and the coordinator of international admissions. The Board spent a considerable amount of time discussing ways for sustaining MSSU’s Spanish Village with director Leslie Parker.

The board’s primary purpose is to support the Institute of International Studies and its endeavors both on campus and in the community.

Here are the 14 current board members:

  • Lisa Nelson holds degrees in journalism, women's studies, international relations, and history from Boston University and the University of London. For the past decade she has worked at Freeman Health System, helping teams develop innovative healthcare solutions for patients, family, and the community. She was elected chair of the IMAB in April 2015.
  • John Patrick is the recently retired manager of the Administrative Sales, International Export Components, Home Furniture Components Unit at Leggett & Platt in Carthage. He was chair of the IMAB from March 2011 to April 2015.
  • Alan Brady is manager of human resources at CFI, a North American full-truckload carrier and division of TFI International Inc.
  • Aaron Baker is marketing manager for Walmart in northwest Arkansas. A 2004 graduate of MSSU with a degree in International Business and a minor in Chinese, he has previous experience as an international sales manager in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • Robert Goar is plant manager, operations, for Schreiber Foods in Carthage.
  • Dr. Lisa Toms is provost and vice president for academic affairs at MSSU (ex-officio member).
  • Chad Stebbins is director of the Institute of International Studies at MSSU (ex-officio member).
  • Nadine Ahmed Aboul-Magd, MD, is a nephrologist at Mercy Hospital Joplin.
  • Keenan T. Cortez, Sr. is the patient experience manager at Freeman Health System and a Joplin City Councilman.
  • Maria E. Rodriguez-Alcalá, Ph.D., is an economic development specialist at University of Missouri Extension. She is a native of Paraguay. Her undergraduate degree is from Texas A&M and her graduate degrees are from the University of Missouri. Before moving to Carthage, she taught courses in international agriculture and development at University of Missouri in Columbia. Earlier in her career she taught Spanish. She lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for a couple of years working with international trade at a think tank.
  • Levi Butts is World Language Department head and a Spanish instructor at Joplin High School. He received a Spanish degree from MSSU in 2011.
  • Chris Turner is director of Tateho Ozark Technical Ceramics in Webb City. He received a management degree from MSSU in 2005.
  • Trishia Hallmark is sales manager of Tateho Ozark Technical Ceramics in Webb City. She received a management degree from MSSU in 2006.
  • Amy Simmons is director of customer support for the home furniture components unit at Leggett & Platt in Carthage. She received degrees in Spanish and psychology from MSSU in 1997 and traveled to Spain as a participant in an MSSU study abroad program.