INDUSTRY, AGRICULTURE FOCUS OF NEW SCHOOL OF POLYTECHNICS

Southeast Missouri State University plans to create a solid foundation for industry and agriculture in the region through its new School of Polytechnic Studies.

The new school comprises the department of industrial and engineering technology and the agriculture department.

The school's industrial and technology department is housed in the aging and crowded Serena Building, but a new, state-of-the-art structure on the north end of the campus will be built to serve as the new home for the school.

Site work has been completed on the ground near the Greek Housing complex. Construction of the $8.8 million Otto and Della Seabaugh Polytechnic Building is slated to start this year, with completion scheduled for spring 2001. The three-story building would be used for classes, starting in fall 2001.

The facility will provide space for training for industries and the latest advanced manufacturing technology for students, said Dr. Randy Shaw, dean of the school.

The 60,000-square-foot building is named for the Seabaughs. The Cape Girardeau couple donated more than $1 million toward the project. Otto Seabaugh graduated from Southeast in 1936 with an industrial education degree. Della Seabaugh graduated from the university in 1941 with a teaching degree.

The Polytechnic Building will house three networked computer labs, five high-tech classrooms and an interactive television classroom.

A number of manufacturing technology labs will be housed in the new building.

A manufacturing technology resource center, established with the help of AmerenUE, will be housed in the building. The 1,500-square-foot space will be used to introduce students and area manufacturers to new technologies. The center operates in the Serena Building. It offers seminars and workshops for industry, as well as customized training.

It works closely with the Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center at Southeast to improve the competitiveness and productivity of small- and medium-sized manufacturers. The MAMTC is a cooperative effort of the Missouri Enterprise Business Assistance Center and the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Southeast's new building will include another 1,400 square feet of space developed to be leased to area industries for training, testing or research work, said Shaw.

Counting all the high-tech manufacturing equipment that will be housed in the building, Shaw said the price tag for the Polytechnic Building is about $10 million. The federal government is providing $1 million to help equip the building.

"It's a big economic development tool," Shaw said of the university's industrial technology efforts.

Shaw is looking forward to the new building. The industrial technology department must cope with cramped quarters.

"It does not meet our needs because it is a maze," he said. "We have labs that are isolated from each other, faculty that are isolated from each other."

Shaw's office is tucked away in corner of the aging Serena Building.

The building is so crowded that hallways double as added storage space.

"We're maxed out in here," Shaw said.

That won't be the case in the new building, which is designed to accommodate today's computerized, high-tech, manufacturing equipment.

Shaw said the agriculture department won't be housed in the new building. It will remain in the Magill Hall of Science, a short distance from the new structure, but the agriculture department will use some of the classrooms in the new building.

While the new building has yet to be constructed, Shaw said the university continues to move ahead with its industrial and engineering technology, and agriculture programs.

About 500 students major in industrial technology or agriculture. Industrial technology majors account for more than 300 of the students, Shaw said.

The university decided to include the agriculture department in the new school because it has a number of off-campus programs as does the industrial technology department. Agriculture also is an industry, Shaw said.

Southeast offers an industrial technology program in St. Louis. It's a cooperative effort on the part of Southeast, St. Louis Community College-Florissant and the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Southeast plans to offer a horticulture program in St. Louis through a similar arrangement, starting in the fall.

Southeast also offers a two-year degree in automated manufacturing in which the classes are scheduled to coincide with the schedule of rotating-shift workers at the Procter & Gamble, and M & W manufacturing plants.

Workers from other plants also find the varied schedule beneficial in taking classes, Shaw said.

Manufacturing technology has become increasingly complex. Companies today need more highly trained workers, Shaw said. That makes it all the more important for the university to turn out skilled workers.

Shaw said the university's Polytechnic School programs help in recruiting new industry to the region.

As Shaw sees it, the university's latest efforts should be good for business and the school's graduates.