CARNAHAN SEEKS COLLEGE BUDGET HIKES

Gov. Mel Carnahan has higher education officials smiling over a recommended $94.2 million increase in state spending for public colleges and universities.

The governor Friday unveiled his budget recommendations for higher education, including $44.3 million in general operations and capital improvement funding for Southeast Missouri State University.

Carnahan wants the state to spend $838.6 million on Missouri's public, four-year and two-year colleges in fiscal 1997, a 12.7 percent increase over current funding.

The governor also wants lawmakers to spend $61.8 million in capital improvement programs on college campuses, including $23.6 million for the University of Missouri's four campuses.

The governor's budget includes increases for vocational-technical education, student grants, scholarships and capital improvements.

Carnahan wants the state to spend $5 million for vocational-technical education programs and another $5 million for job training projects at community colleges.

Southeast officials were delighted with the budget news even as they stressed that the appropriations process is a long way from over.

"We are very happy about it," said Dr. Bill Atchley, Southeast president. "We got a pretty good increase."

The budget process now moves to the legislature.

"It can falter at any number of places still," said Art Wallhausen, assistant to the Southeast president. "You rarely get a lot more than the governor recommends and you often get a lot less," he said.

Carnahan recommended $39.4 million in general operations funding for Southeast for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The budget figure is about $600,000 less than what the Coordinating Board for Higher Education recommended. But Carnahan recommended Southeast receive $4.84 million in capital improvements funding compared to $1.15 million suggested by the CBHE.

The big difference is in money for renovation of the shut-down social science building. The coordinating board recommended only $350,000 in planning money. Carnahan wants lawmakers to appropriate $4.2 million to do the renovation.

Southeast wants to gut the school's oldest building and build a new structure within while preserving the limestone exterior.

The building housed classes from 1903 to 1993. It was closed three years ago because the university didn't have the money to renovate it.

The general-operations funding request for Southeast includes money to set up a statewide center for Advanced Placement, which allows students to take college-level studies while still in high school.

The governor's budget also includes information technology money to set up four classrooms at Southeast that would have computers at every desk and state-of-the-art overhead projection equipment.

In unveiling his higher-education budget in Jefferson City, Carnahan stressed the need for vocational-technical training. "Businesses will not locate in Missouri unless they are confident we can provide them with a high quality, skilled work force," Carnahan said.

"If our workers aren't prepared for the jobs of the 21st century, then those jobs will go elsewhere," he said.