Donors give $69,000 for needs study

Stakeholders took a step Thursday toward settling the question of whether Cape Girardeau County needs a junior college.

More than $69,000 has been raised to conduct a needs analysis. The 11 donors met to discuss the scope of a study, which will now extend beyond Cape Girardeau County. Specific areas or counties to be included were not discussed.

The group hopes to hire by February a company to determine work-force and higher-education needs, citizen interests and whether existing programs could be offered more efficiently. Coalition members also would like to see an evaluation of possible solutions.

Dr. Robert Stein, commissioner for higher education, stressed that the members would be expected to play "together in the sandbox."

"There are a number of vested interests. ... Are we all prepared to agree that we may not like the answers that come?" Stein asked.

Stakeholders include Three Rivers Community College, which wants to open an education center in Cape Girardeau; Mineral Area College, which already offers vocational classes through the Career and Technology Center; and Southeast Missouri State University, which wants to protect its student base.

Business and community leaders Bob Hahn, Dennis Vollink, John Mehner, Earl Norman, Gary Rust and Steve Taylor, or their organizations, also donated money for the study. Dr. Tonya Buttry of the Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Health Services is also participating.

Originally, Three Rivers had planned to conduct an assessment on its own, but the college was strongly encouraged by the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education to work with other entities in the area.

Three Rivers and Southeast have a rocky history, dating to when Southeast evicted Poplar Bluff-based Three Rivers from university-operated centers in three locations in 2005 following a dispute over operating costs. Three Rivers claimed a breach of contract and filed a lawsuit, expected to go to trial in February.

Stein acknowledged that whenever a four-year institution exists and a two-year college wants to enter the market, there is tension over the "lower-division, bread-and-butter classes."

He gave an example of a struggle in Springfield, Mo., between Ozarks Technical Community College and Missouri State University. "They exist side by side now, but years ago, they felt very threatened," Stein said.

Missouri State University eventually evolved from a moderately selective to a selective school, Stein said.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, president of Southeast, said he does not anticipate the university changing its mission.

"We are the only four-year institution in 23 counties. We have a different need to serve than Missouri State," he said.

Jackson school officials sent four representatives to meeting because the high school is in the process of becoming an A+ school, which allows students who meet eligibility requirements to earn a scholarship to a public community college in Missouri.

"Adding the A+ program, we see a great need for post-secondary education and a two-year program. There are a lot of students with an interest," said Jackson High School principal Rick McClard.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

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