Board: Cape Girardeau Partnership for Higher Education needs better name

Members of the Cape Girardeau Partnership for Higher Education advisory board on Monday encouraged the presidents of the entity's three institutions to meet in the next 60 days and find a more marketable name.

Housed in the Career and Technology Center in Cape Girardeau, the partnership is made up of Southeast Missouri State University, Three Rivers Community College and Mineral Area College.

It was formed in 2010 to provide access to higher education in a community college setting.

Board member Al Spradling made the motion seconded by Gary Rust, chairman of the board of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian. State Sen. Gary Romine, R-3rd District, suggested establishing a timeline for the three presidents to meet -- either in person or by conference call.

Monday's meeting in the Distance Learning Center at the Career and Technology Center was the first since December 2012. Top officials at the gathering were Southeast president Kenneth Dobbins; provost Bill Eddleman; Steven Kurtz, president of Mineral Area College; and Wesley Payne, Three Rivers' vice president for learning. Three Rivers president Devin Stephenson was absent.

Jonathan Atwood, coordinator of media services at Three Rivers, said Stephenson has not attended previous meetings largely because of scheduling conflicts. The college is in the middle of finalizing its budget for fiscal year 2015, and when it comes to dealing with the partnership's classes and class structure, that is Payne's domain.

Atwood added Three Rivers has no plans to alter the shape of the partnership, but "we have concerns about its effectiveness."

Representatives from each institution said a meeting would be scheduled.

Spradling said the board had talked some time ago about a name that would give the partnership more distinction. Any marketing plan put in place would not be effective without a better name. "I think that's been one of the impediments we've had in pushing this forward," he said.

The partnership's fiscal year 2013 total revenue reached $696,563, with total expenses of $361,617. Net profit was $334,945 with a 50 percent distribution to Southeast and Three Rivers, according to information from the meeting.

The partnership offers an associate of arts degree and 14 associate of applied science degree options, from automotive collision technology to physical therapy.

Mineral Area handles the associate of applied science classes, so tuition for those is paid directly to that school, Eddleman said.

Southeast and Three Rivers split the general education courses, so they split the tuition on those.

Dobbins said the schools try to go 50-50 on instruction, but Payne said it often depends on who enrolls in what courses.

In a recent Southeast Missourian article, Stephenson said while Three Rivers' centers in Kennett, Dexter and Sikeston, Missouri, continue to thrive, enrollment in Cape Girardeau is anemic.

Kennett and Dexter have about 400 students, and Sikeston has 500. Three Rivers' administration has predicted enrollment at Sikeston will double after the opening of a new eastern campus building, which is being constructed now. Cape Girardeau has only about 200 students, Stephenson said in the article.

However, Romine said the partnership is a "valuable product."

"It's a tremendous opportunity here to get students that might not otherwise" go on to college, Romine added.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

1080 S Silver Springs Rd, Cape Girardeau, MO 63703