Rutt Family Scholarship for UCM Store Student Employees

The Rutt Family Scholarship for UCM Store Student Employees is available through the University of Central Missouri Alumni Foundation for full-time students who have been employees of the UCM Store for a minimum of 1 academic year. This scholarship is made possible by way of a generous gift from Charlie ’79, ’80, and Beth Rutt ’78, ’83.

To be eligible for this scholarship, applicants must complete the general application.

Charles (“Charlie”) Dail Rutt came to Central Missouri State University in the fall of 1972 as a freshman. He was in the first class after the name change from CMSC to CMSU. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Accounting in the fall of 1979. No, it did not take him seven years to graduate; he actually left school in the fall of 1973 and spent the next two and a half years earning money to be able to complete school. He returned in the summer of 1976 and has been at the university ever since. In 1980, he completed his Master of Science degree in College Student Personnel Administration.

Over the past 45 years, Charlie has held a variety of positions at CMSU and UCM. His first jobs consisted of part time positions: Union Supervisor, Union Recreation Center attendant, and Program Assistant for the Union Program Office. He also served as advisor to Interfraternity Council and his undergraduate fraternity, Delta Chi. He even worked for SAGA food service at the snack bar! After graduate school, Charlie was hired as Assistant Director of Union Operations. From there he was Assistant Director of the Union for the Union Recreation Center, Curriculum Purchasing Agent, Director of the Textbook Rental Department, and then Director of University Store & Textbook Rental Department where he has served since 1987.

While the titles and the levels of responsibility changed and evolved, Charlie’s degree in accounting gave him the skills needed in every position. Charlie has a sincere appreciation for the vast opportunities the CMSU/UCM community has provided him throughout his professional career. He has been afforded many opportunities that others in his field have never experienced.

For example, he renovated the union bowling center and led the redesign/renovation of the Union Bookstore which incorporated the Mule Barn space on the lower level. He developed the Stadium Store located on the concourse of Walton Stadium. Finally, he had an integral role in the design and development of UCM Store at The Crossing, a signature facility at UCM. These opportunities allowed Charlie to share many experiences with his professional organizations and with Marketing students as an adjunct instructor for 12 years in the Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies.

He had the privilege of working with two distinct teams of dedicated employees, each with long tenures alongside him, who shared his vision for what the University Store could provide to the campus community. Charlie’s appreciation for all the support his mentors gave him as he worked his way through school has instilled in him a desire to create a scholarship that would help others reach their dreams of obtaining a college degree. After all, the work he did alongside the full and part time staff of University Store could not have been accomplished without the talented and dedicated student employees who are on the front line of delivery to customers. Together, with his wife, Beth, they have established the Rutt Family Endowed Scholarship for UCM Store Student Employees.