Cape Girardeau college center expecting rise in enrollment

With its first semester in the books, the Cape Girardeau Partnership for Higher Education has exceeded expectations, according to coordinators. And an enrollment boom is projected.

The partnership -- an initiative between Mineral Area College, Three Rivers Community College and Southeast Missouri State University -- effectively established a community college in Cape Girardeau.

The two-year institution, at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center, enrolled 188 students in 29 classes in its first semester, according to Randy Shaw, Southeast's assistant provost of extended learning.

"I think things went really well the first semester," he said. "We had some kinks to work out, but everyone worked well together."

The partnership draws on financial resources and the expertise of the partners. Southeast and Three Rivers provide general education instruction. Mineral Area College leads the associate of applied science degree programs, and Three Rivers is responsible for the associate of arts programs.

"The first semester we had good enrollment, and the first semester gave us the opportunity to work through any operational bugs that came up," said Wes Payne, vice president for learning at Three Rivers Community College. "The partnership is strong and going well."

Without going into specifics, Payne said, any glitches were worked out through constant communication between partners.

Payne and Shaw said the educational operations are close to breaking even, not counting startup costs. Payne said the shared operational costs, predominantly for salaries of two employees and part-time instructors, are about $75,000. The administrator pegged the institution's startup costs at about $65,000.

Last week, Shaw said he had not seen a final rundown on first-semester financial figures, but the partnership's fiscal goal is to break even.

"By all reports, the partnership is thriving," said David Russell, Missouri commissioner of higher education in an e-mail to the Southeast Missourian. "I understand enrollment is anticipated to grow next semester. This is a reflection on the partnership's success in meeting higher education needs in Southeast Missouri."

Russell was in Southeast Missouri earlier this month, meeting with Three Rivers president Devin Stephenson and Southeast president Ken Dobbins.

Significant growth is on the horizon, administrators say.

As of last week, 152 students had enrolled for the spring semester, scheduled to begin Jan. 18, Shaw said. While spring semester enrollment traditionally is lower than fall counts, Payne said there's a good possibility the number of students could top the first semester's enrollment.

Partnership officials are expecting enrollment to more than double, to about 400 students, in fall 2011. They believe greater awareness and an influx of Cape Girardeau area high school students involved in Missouri's A+ program will spur much of the growth. The A+ initiative provides eligible students full scholarships to the state's two-year community colleges and tech schools.

"It is conceivable that we will run out of space in our location," Payne said of the Career and Technology Center. "We may have to look for some alternative way to meet our needs."

Partnership stakeholders will explore options, from expanding the existing building to constructing a bigger center, Payne said.

Stakeholders have yet to come to terms on the partnership's name. In August, members of the Cape Girardeau Partnership for Higher Education advisory committee recommended the name be changed to the Great River College Center. Committee member Earl Norman at the time said he would like to see the words "community college" in the name, but Dobbins warned against that.

"A community college is a taxing district. We don't have any funding from the state," Dobbins said in August.

Payne admitted the Partnership for Higher Education "is a very long name, but the board is meeting to see if they can come up with a name that is more preferred."

mkittle@semissourian.com

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