GOING GLOBAL: UNIVERSITY WORKS TO BOOST INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ENROLLMENT

Southeast Missouri State University isn't global enough to suit the school's president.

President Dr. Dale Nitzschke wants to boost international student enrollment, which has been declining in recent years.

To do so, the university plans to restructure its international student programs and services.

Southeast's enrollment has declined over the past five years after the school decentralized the international student program.

During this time, there has been no single director over all the programs dealing with international students.

Nitzschke plans to change that. He said the school will hire an interim director soon and then proceed with a national search for a permanent director.

The university also will put a renewed emphasis on the use of host families in the community, he said.

Host families are vital in the school's efforts to attract more international students, the president said.

Nitzschke said re-establishing a centralized office should help with recruitment.

International students themselves have mentioned such a need.

Dino Kirten, a student from Panama, told the Board of Regents in June that the lack of a centralized office makes it hard on international students.

He said it makes it difficult for international students to learn important campus procedures and policies, such as the criteria for transferring credit for course work from other schools.

It isn't easy being away from home, particularly when home is often thousands of miles away.

It can be scary, said Kazuhiro Katake, a 28-year-old commodity trader from Japan.

Katake comes from a small city similar in size to Cape Girardeau.

"I like it here," he said after arriving on campus last week.

Katake came to Southeast this fall to study business. He previously studied English in Long Beach, Calif., before making the long drive across country.

Nitzschke said Southeast plans to aggressively recruit international students as part of its effort to boost overall enrollment.

Some 8,200 graduate and undergraduate students were enrolled at Southeast last fall. The university wants to increase enrollment to 10,300 over the next few years.

Nitzschke said he and other Southeast officials will make various trips overseas as part of a student-recruitment effort that also will focus on developing student and faculty exchange programs with various colleges.

Nitzschke said he plans to travel to Brazil and Switzerland. He also plans to visit London where Southeast already has a well-established student and faculty exchange program.

Last fall, Southeast had 237 international students on campus. That number could be down slightly this fall, officials said.

An exact count won't be known before the start of classes Monday.

At this point, Southeast expects to have students from 41 countries enrolled.

Japanese students are projected to be the largest single group. More than 40 are expected. Nearly 30 students from Turkey are expected to enroll at Southeast.

The third largest category is expected to be the Malaysian students. About 10 are slated to study at Southeast this fall.

To some extent, the renewed emphasis on attracting international students is a matter of economics.

The university has seen undergraduate black-student enrollment decline by some 240 students in the past five years.

The number of undergraduate international students has dropped by about 100 in the past five years from a high of 338 in 1992.

Southeast estimates that it has lost more than $1 million in student fees because of the combined drop in enrollment of minority and international students over the past six years.

The university also feels international student enrollment is important in today's global society.

Nitzschke told new international students at Southeast last week that the school is committed to boosting enrollment and services for international students.

"We are not at all satisfied with the quality of life and the number of international students," he said.

"The food is the biggest problem to me," said Sanghac Yi, a 25-year-old student from Seoul, South Korea.

He wishes that Cape Girardeau had a Korean restaurant.

Yi took classes at Southeast this summer and is enrolled again this fall.

He came to Southeast upon the recommendation of a friend, who had graduated from the Cape Girardeau school.

"The people are really friendly," he said during one of the orientation sessions last week.

Yi previously had studied at a university in New Jersey. He said people weren't as friendly there.

Coming from a large city, Yi said he enjoys the fact that Cape Girardeau doesn't have traffic jams or air pollution.

Dr. SueAnn Strom, vice president of student affairs, said international students have complained about the food here.

They want more variety and the types of dishes prevalent in their countries, she said.

Strom said the university hopes to do a better job of meeting the dining needs of international students.

But she said, "We can never make Cape Girardeau exactly like home."