Advisory board to oversee community college center in Cape Girardeau

A coalition of business and education leaders that has been steering the establishment of a community college in Cape Girardeau County for about three years is ready to pass the torch.

An advisory board and a health care needs analysis will help determine the direction of Cape Girardeau's new community college center, coalition members said. The group met last week for the first time since they received approval for the project from the Coordinating Board for Higher Education in December.

Enrollment for the center is expected to start sometime in the spring, said Dr. Randy Shaw, associate provost and dean of the School of Polytechnic Studies at Southeast Missouri State University. Shaw is one of three point people from Southeast, Mineral Area College and Three Rivers Community College working on the project.

Staff from the institutions have been working out the center's details including admissions, marketing and financial aid. The coalition is focused on establishing an advisory board to direct more decisions regarding the center, said John Mehner, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce.

"I would think that that was probably the last meeting of the coalition," Mehner said.

Mineral Area College president Dr. Steven Kurtz was charged with starting the creation of an advisory committee. He said he and the presidents of Three Rivers and Southeast will meet this week to draw up bylaws.

The committee will guide the decisions of the center, but the institutions will still have to report to and abide by the decisions of their governing boards.

"It's an advisory board not a governing board," he said.

The advisory committee will "provide the mechanism so we can hear from the community leaders," he said.

The committee will offer direction on establishing a name and branding the center, said Three Rivers president Dr. Devin Stephenson.

"I think there's a sense of urgency in having the advisory board participate," Stephenson said.

Marketing staff from the institutions has been meeting. He said the idea has been to create a separate identity for the center, including a separate website.

Once a lease is finalized with the Cape Girardeau School District, classrooms in the the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center will be the site of the open enrollment community college center. Shaw said 44 courses have been chosen for the first semester, which will start in late August. Teaching duties will be evenly split between Southeast and Three Rivers. A biology course will be offered during the summer.

Shaw said an adviser has also been hired. Costs will be absorbed by the institutions but they expect a revenue stream from student fees to fund the new center, he said.

During the meeting, the group discussed a study on expanding health care programs, similar to the study released about a year ago that analyzed the potential for establishing a community college in the area. Members of the coalition collectively contributed $70,000 toward the study.

According to the meeting minutes, the same company, MGT of America, said the study would cost between $15,000 and $20,000. During the meeting, members of the coalition said they wanted to also explore working with the Missouri Hospital Association.

Leaders from the three principle institutions have mixed opinions about the health care expansion.

Stephenson said Three Rivers is willing to help fund a study. He said more students are expressing interest in health care programs, but the study will help plan for the future of the center.

"You have to make data-informed decisions and this is part of the process," he said.

Since establishing programs at the career and technology center, Mineral Area invested more than $1 million in equipment, Kurtz said. The career center already offers a respiratory therapy program and is working on establishing physical and occupational therapy assistant programs.

Expanding the college's investment will be carefully considered, Kurtz said.

"We have to determine whether or not we're interested in moving forward because it's a high-cost program," he said. He said he and the college's governing board have not decided whether to participate in the study.

Shaw said Southeast will not participate in funding the study or expansion.

"That's strictly between the two-year schools and hospitals in town," he said.

abusch@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

1080 S. Silver Springs Road Cape Girardeau, MO