St. Louis Post-Dispatch Publisher Ian Caso welcomes UMSL Chancellor Kristin Sobolik to Winning STL, the paper’s video interview series with local business and community leaders. The interview was recorded at The Train Shed restaurant at Union Station. (Screenshot)
University of Missouri–St. Louis Chancellor Kristin Sobolik trumpeted the university’s role as a driver of workforce development and champion of equitable economic growth while appearing as a featured guest on Winning STL, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s video series featuring interviews with regional business and community leaders.
In the series, guests talk to St. Louis Post-Dispatch Publisher Ian Caso and share their vision for St. Louis to compete and win in the battle for talent, jobs, growth and equity.
Sobolik met Caso at The Train Shed restaurant at Union Station, and the two talked about UMSL’s ascent in the U.S. News & World Report rankings – climbing 69 places overall in the past three years – as well as its high marks for value and social mobility.
“U.S. News & World Report reflects the top institutions in the nation, and so we’re compared on how well we provide student access, support and ultimately success,” Sobolik said. “As we’ve developed as an institution, now coming into our 60th anniversary year, we’ve really leaned into that and risen up in the rankings. Of course, that reflects how well we’re doing nationally, but most importantly, we want to make sure that we’re aligning with and anchoring what we need to have happen here in St. Louis.”
They discussed how UMSL has aligned its efforts with the STL 2030 Jobs Plan, most notably with its leadership, along with Edward Jones, of the St. Louis Anchor Action Network. The network is made up major employers in health care, higher education and businesses with a shared commitment to increasing hiring and purchasing in parts of the region that have faced decades of disinvestment.
The network is an example of the type of collaboration Sobolik said is critical to drive the St. Louis region toward a brighter future.
“Breaking down barriers is going to lead to our future success,” she said. “It’s one of the things that, frankly, has held us back as a region. We need to all lean in to that collaboration with each other, to make sure that we are collectively cohesively working together, because that’s what is going to help the St. Louis ecosystem.”
See the full video, below:
