Higher-ed partnership will continue despite TRC chief's departure

Discussions still are planned for a name change and stronger brand for the Cape Girardeau Partnership for Higher Education, despite a pending change in leadership at one of the institutions involved.

Discussions and recommendations to change the name of the Cape Girardeau Partnership for Higher Education, made up of Southeast Missouri State University, Three Rivers College and Mineral Area College, date back four years.

At its June 23 meeting -- its first since December 2012 -- the Cape Girardeau Partnership for Higher Education Advisory Board directed presidents of the three institutions to meet within 60 days, in person or by phone, to devise a new moniker for the partnership.

On June 25, at Three Rivers' board meeting, President Devin Stephenson requested a sabbatical through Nov. 30, followed by the voluntary termination of his contract. The board named Wesley Payne, vice president for learning, as interim president.

The meeting of the presidents still is being arranged, and all involved say the partnership will proceed.

Jonathan Atwood, coordinator of media services at Three Rivers, said Payne told him he has spoken to Mineral Area President Steven J. Kurtz and Southeast President Kenneth Dobbins and that Payne looks forward to working with them to serve the students at the partnership.

The partnership, at the Cape Girardeau Public School District's Career and Technology Center at 1080 S. Silver Springs Road, was approved by the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education in December 2009, with the first class in June 2010 and the first full semester starting in August 2010.

It was formed to deliver community college services in Cape Girardeau and the area. Its service region includes the Advance, Cape Girardeau, Chaffee, Delta, Jackson, Leopold, Oak Ridge, Scott City, Scott County (Benton) and Woodland school districts.

In 2010, the partnership's marketing committee, led by Mike Smythe, recommended the partnership be called Great River College Center. All three institutions had to agree on the name change, and all but one did.

In a 2010 Southeast Missourian article, advisory committee member Earl Norman said he'd like to see the words "community college" in the name, but Dobbins warned against that.

"A community college is a taxing district. We don't have any funding from the state," Dobbins said at the time.

Gerald McDougall, associate provost of Extended and Online Learning, dean of the Donald L. Harrison College of Business and executive director of the Missouri Innovation Corporation at Southeast Missouri State, said in an email that Southeast Missouri State has been supportive of a name change for the partnership since fall 2010.

"Prospective students might better understand the purpose of the partnership if it has a name which better reflects its purpose," McDougall said.

Al Spradling, who has been on the advisory board since the partnership's inception, expressed uncertainty that things would move quickly.

"As much as I'd like something to go forward, I think it's going to slow down because of the search for the new president of the college [Three Rivers] who then will have some input," he said.

Atwood said a decision on a search and how to handle it will not take place until November or December.

Atwood wrote that in naming Payne interim president, the Three Rivers board of trustees authorized Payne to present the college in all matters as president.

Spradling also said he does not know whether Three Rivers, based at Poplar Bluff, will continue to be a partner.

Spradling said the partnership could continue with Southeast and Mineral Area College, based in Park Hills, Missouri. Spradling said Three Rivers awards associate degrees (AA) and Mineral Area the associate of applied science (AAS) degrees. If a change were made, Spradling said, it is his understanding Mineral Area would award both degrees.

Atwood said in an email that Three Rivers College has no plans to remove itself from the partnership.

"Any change in the current agreement would be developed through the Missouri Department of Higher Education," Atwood wrote.

Three Rivers meets with officials from Southeast and Mineral Area to discuss concerns and mutual interests in the region, Atwood wrote. "Furthermore, we have been extremely vocal about our concerns for meeting the educational needs of Cape [Girardeau] County and its significant level of poverty. We believe the community college service model, delivered as only a community college can deliver it, will bring hope and promise to many more individuals than the current partnership is doing," he said.

Atwood said Three Rivers is "exploring the creation of online service centers and public computing centers in Cape Girardeau and the immediate surrounding area to address the need for high-speed Internet access in the region. We have no other concrete plans at this time."

In a recent Southeast Missourian article, Stephenson said while Three Rivers' centers in Kennett, Dexter and Sikeston continue to thrive, enrollment in Cape Girardeau is anemic.

Kennett and Dexter have about 400 students, and Sikeston has 500. Three Rivers' administration has predicted enrollment at Sikeston will double after a new eastern campus building opens, which is being constructed. The Cape Girardeau partnership has only about 200 students, Stephenson said in the article.

In his email, Atwood said, Three Rivers would "love" to see the partnership reach its potential in meeting the need for more associate degree and workforce development programs in the region.

"However, it is an undeniable fact that the partnership is underperforming, especially compared to other Three Rivers centers. If the citizens of Cape Girardeau were interested, we would give strong consideration to the possibility of creating a full-service Three Rivers Center in Cape Girardeau," he wrote.

Atwood said community college programs and services in Cape Girardeau is a great idea and "one that is desperately needed."

The initial study before the opening of the partnership showed there would be about 1,000 students attending, McDougall said in an email.

"That has obviously proven to be incorrect and overly optimistic. The total enrollment each fall and spring ranges from 250 to 280 students, and it appears there are between 100 and 150 students who wouldn't enroll in higher education were it not for the partnership. So we certainly believe we are providing an access option to students in our geographic area," McDougall said.

Kurtz, of Mineral Area College, said his institution has enjoyed good relationships with Southeast and with Three Rivers even before the partnership.

"We aim to continue to be good partners, because it's all about bringing the best education we can to Southeast Missouri. The partnership agreement doesn't impact us too much as we already have approval by the Missouri Department of Higher Education to offer the AAS degree in conjunction with the CTC. Mineral Area College has provided business and industry training to our corporate partners in Cape for over 20 years and has an excellent reputation in this regard," Kurtz said in an email.

Mineral Area collects tuition for adult students admitted to the AAS degree programs. Mineral Area doesn't charge tuition to high school students enrolled in AAS degree programs at the Career and Technology Center. Southeast Missouri State collects tuition for AA degree programs and distributes, according to the agreement, to Three Rivers College.

Mineral Area College does not receive any distribution from Southeast Missouri State University for students enrolled in the AA degree program, Kurtz wrote.

Asked whether the advisory board should meet more frequently, Spradling said one would think boards would meet more often to discuss matters, although things have been "running rather smoothly and registrations have been good."

"Until we have a marketing plan and until we have a product to really market, I don't know that meeting and talking about the same old things we've been talking about is really going to accomplish anything," he said. "The partnership is working and we are meeting a need. It is meeting the need primarily for Cape County students, but that's still good.

"I don't know that we need to meet more frequently unless there's a problem. [The] biggest problem is lack of brand to attract more students and give them an identity of their own. I don't think they have that identity; it's just one of those things. Unless the county would go forward with a taxing district for a junior college," Spradling said, it's always going to be a learning center of higher education in some form or fashion.

"As long as that has not been created, we can put a name to it, but we can't call it a college," Spradling said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address: 1080 S. Silver Springs Road