DOBBINS' HIRING COULD CHANGE WILDWOOD PLANS

Southeast Missouri State University may not need a new off-campus home for its president.

The Board of Regents has hired Dr. Ken Dobbins as the university's 17th president, replacing Dr. Dale Nitzschke who is taking a new job as chancellor at the school. Dobbins will take over July 1.

Dobbins, currently Southeast's executive vice president, has a home in Cape Girardeau.

Don Dickerson, president of the Board of Regents, said the board would have to consider if a new off-campus house is needed should Wildwood, the existing campus home, be developed as the alumni center.

The university's foundation and alumni association have pushed a plan that would renovate and expand Wildwood to serve as an alumni center. The foundation's offices also would be housed there. The work would be funded by private donations.

The foundation would buy a brick home at 1626 Whitener to serve as the new home for the school's president. The house is next to Longview, one of Cape Girardeau's historic homes.

But Dickerson said the hiring of Dobbins means that Wildwood could be converted into an alumni center without having to relocate the university president to a new home.

"It is one more new factor in the whole equation," Dickerson said of the hiring of Dobbins.

Dickerson said the regents haven't discussed the house issue with Dobbins.

Dobbins said the decision rests with the regents. He hasn't talked about moving into Wildwood.

"We are comfortable with our home," said Dobbins.

Even if the university doesn't need a new off-campus home for the president, Dickerson said it might still prove to be a good investment for the foundation to buy the Whitener property.

The owner, Dr. Yong Kim, has offered to sell the house for less than market price with the difference being counted as a charitable gift to the foundation.

Dickerson said the regents will review the Wildwood matter at their meeting on June 30.

Dickerson said the main issue remains whether Southeast should turn Wildwood into an alumni center.

The whole issue, he said, remains under discussion.