Higher ed board may get more power

~ A measure to give the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education the power to pull state funding was passed by the Senate.

Rebellious state colleges could lose some state funding if they fail to comply with the state's higher education board, pending a bill approved by the Missouri Senate on Thursday.

The bill would give more authority for state higher education officials to resolve disputes like the lingering one between Southeast Missouri State University and Three Rivers Community College.

Southeast president Dr. Ken Dobbins welcomed the Senate's action. Three Rivers Community College president John Cooper couldn't be reached for comment late Thursday afternoon

Dobbins said the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education could have successfully mediated the dispute between Southeast and Three Rivers Community College over operation of higher education centers if the state had such a law.

Had the legislation been in effect, the state could have required both schools work together under terms of a compromise rental agreement, Dobbins said.

Southeast's regents approved that agreement, but Three Rivers' board rejected it.

Dobbins said he hopes state House members will follow the Senate's lead and approve the measure.

"They really need to give the coordinating board more power," said Dobbins. That can only happen by giving the state board power to dock the state money going to colleges and universities that refuse to follow state education policies, he said.

The Coordinating Board for Higher Education is charged with setting higher education policy, but currently has no way to enforce its decisions. The measure approved Thursday would allow the board to deduct up to 1 percent of a school's appropriation if the school doesn't follow board policies.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Gary Nodler said the bill would curtail the institutional rivalries and pride that have wasted state resources by detracting from the focus of education and resulted in duplication of program offerings.

"There's simply a lack of central government structure, and without any power to enforce its decisions, it encourages that," said Nodler, R-Joplin.

Nodler said the marquee example of the conflict is a dispute between Three Rivers and Southeast over education centers they once shared.

A deal mediated by the Department of Higher Education fell through, and the Poplar Bluff-based community college has filed suit against the Cape Girardeau school.

The bill would require schools to submit to binding arbitration when in disputes with other schools.

Even if the measure becomes law later this year, Dobbins said it probably won't lead to a new partnership between Southeast and the Poplar Bluff-based community college.

The coordinating board in December ordered Southeast and Three Rivers to annually report on the operations of their competing Bootheel education centers after concluding that the institutions have "irreconcilable differences."

The annual report will include an analysis of the various higher education centers. Southeast and Three Rivers will have to detail budget and expenses, tuition and fees, enrollments and program/course offerings at the centers. They also will have to detail student progress and services offered at the centers.

Southeast and Three Rivers had a long-standing partnership in which both schools taught classes at Southeast's Bootheel education centers in Kennett, Malden and Sikeston.

But the partnership dissolved after Southeast announced last February that it would take over teaching of all classes at the centers after the spring 2005 semester.

Three Rivers sued Southeast, alleging the university breached its rental contract with the community college.

Three Rivers then opened six education centers to compete with Southeast, including ones in Kennett, Malden and Sikeston.

Both schools have accused each other of violating state education policies.

During a lengthy floor debate last week, Sen. Tim Green attempted to tack on an amendment to allow students or their parents who earn less than $100,000 per year to deduct college tuition from their state income taxes.

Green, D-St. Louis, said the plan would cost $30 million. But Nodler said the amendment was poorly researched and not ready for Senate consideration because its costs were not calculated until after senators had begun discussing it.

Green's proposal was changed to include a feasibility study of the impact of allowing people to write off college tuition on their taxes.

Green joked that because Nodler supported only studying the tuition tax deduction, "Senator, you sound like a Democrat, and I sound like a Republican. You want to study the issue, and I want to do something about it."

Nodler said some people fear a tuition tax deduction or new scholarships would only lead to higher tuition rates.

"Some people believe that when these benefits are offered, the schools see that as a revenue stream and raise the cost," he said.

Green said the study will be completed and likely placed on a shelf never to be examined, while "parents will continue to pay taxes, and their kids will continue to go to school and continue to borrow."

The legislation requires the Coordinating Board for Higher Education to report its findings by Jan. 1.

Nodler's bill also would include a requirement that primary and higher education officials, along with the Department of Economic Development, meet regularly to discuss ways to better collaborate efforts to train students for the work force.

It also would create a tuition grant to any person who has fought in the current Iraqi war and a tuition waiver for foster children.

~ Southeast Missourian staff writer Mark Bliss contributed to this story.

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Higher education bill is SB590.

On the Net:

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov