FORMER SEMO PRESIDENT BACK ON CAMPUS

When the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education reviews the strategic plan and mission statement of Southeast Missouri State University this fall, Dr. Kala Stroup won't have too many questions.

Stroup was president of the university when the plan was first developed, but left in September to become the state commissioner of higher education. She returned to Cape Girardeau Monday to speak at a student research conference.

Compiling and analyzing research data are major parts of the commissioner's job, Stroup told a crowd of 30 people at the University Center Ballroom.

Since taking office, Stroup has been working on a blueprint for Missouri's higher education system. Much of the information was taken from research, she said.

The plan has four parts -- quality goals for producing good students; an emphasis on technical education; creating telecommunications access for everyone in Missouri; and a mission statement review for every college and university.

"We have wonderful resources in Missouri," Stroup said, but there should be a better way to use them.

By studying areas where Missouri colleges and universities need to improve, those resources can be better developed, she said.

An emphasis on technology and telecommunications should enable Missouri to keep up with new demands for workers, she said.

Companies like Sprint, which hire Missouri graduates, want employees with critical-thinking, observational and analytical skills, Stroup said.

"Anybody can get the facts," she said. "What's important is knowing how to analyze them."

More than 70 college students did analyze the facts and present them at the fourth annual Student Research Conference Monday. It concludes today at the University Center.

The conference began in 1993 as a way to recognize student research on campus, organizers say.