BUSINESS MANAGER AT UNIVERSITY PLANS TO RETIRE THIS MONTH

For 33 years, Roy Drury has been adding up the numbers at Southeast Missouri State University, first as controller and later as business manager-treasurer.

He's still counting the numbers, but these days he's counting the days until early retirement. On June 28, he'll put away the ledgers for the last time.

Drury says he's already looking ahead to July 31, when he will draw his first retirement check. "That sounds pretty good to me," he said.

A retirement reception for Drury will be held from 9-11 a.m. June 25 in the University Center Ballroom.

Drury, who grew up in Cape Girardeau, received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis.

He went to work for the university on April 15, 1958 after being recruited from a local business college. He served as controller from 1958 to 1975, and since then has served as business manager-treasurer.

Drury was the third full-time employee of the university's business office, which at that time handled a variety of duties.

"We did the functions of the bursar, accounting and budgeting and the mailroom," he said. "We also did hiring, purchasing and paid the bills."

The university was much smaller then, with enrollment standing at around 2,000, he estimated. Back then, the power plant was the northernmost building on campus.

Everything was centered around Academic Hall. "It was Circle Drive, Academic and the library and three dormitories across the way," remembered Drury.

"When I first started working here, we were just on a cash system," he said. "We reported the cash we took in and the money we expended. We did all of that manually."

As the university has grown, so has its operating budget. Since 1958, the university's operating budget has grown from $870,000 to $49 million.

Over the years, the university has increased its business- and financial-office staff to handle an increasing workload, particularly the ever-increasing paperwork associated with federal student-aid programs, federal government hiring regulations and bond resolutions on building projects.

The days of manual record keeping are over; Southeast's finances are now kept track of via computer systems.

But for Drury, old habits are hard to break. "I still like to operate out of a column pad," he said. "They don't make the pads big enough any more.

"Accounting was different up here 33 years ago. Now, you need CPAs" (certified public accountants).

Drury's entire career here has been spent in Academic Hall. "I got to know the building quite well. I remember when we went through all the remodeling."

The university's first computer room at Academic Hall was set up in the 1960s. The computer room was the first room in Academic Hall to be air conditioned. "Everybody used to go to the computer room just to cool off," said Drury.

Offices at Southeast close at 4 p.m. during the summer, a practice that dates back to the Mark Scully administration and the days before air conditioning.

"We started taking off at 4 p.m. because it was hot in the summer. By 4 p.m., papers would stick to your sweaty arms. You would try turning on the fans and papers would start blowing all over the place," said Drury.

Drury said he has enjoyed his career at Southeast. "I'll miss the people I've worked with. But I won't miss trying to find a parking place," said Drury, explaining that parking is at a premium these days.

The veteran business manager said he has enjoyed assisting students with financial problems so that they could stay in school.

Drury has worked under five university presidents. He has provided financial and budgeting expertise for many university committees and has helped Southeast in providing financial information for accreditation and reaccreditation of programs.

In addition to serving as controller and business manager-treasurer, Drury has served as treasurer of the Board of Regents and the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

Ken Dobbins, Southeast's new vice president for finance and administration, will replace Drury as treasurer of the Board of Regents. A search is being conducted for a new director of financial affairs and assistant treasurer, who will assume the balance of Drury's duties, university officials said.

Drury's wife, Karen, has been employed in the accounting and finance department at Southeast.

Drury said he and his family plan to move to San Antonio, Texas, in August, where his wife, Karen, plans to finish writing her dissertation for a doctorate degree in business administration.

The Drurys have two sons, Stephen, 11, and Luke, 10; a daughter, Amanda, 12; and two stepsons, Michael, 22, and Lance, 20.