MU HEAD PLANS PARTNERSHIPS

The University of Missouri will focus on partnerships among its own colleges and other schools, its new president said Wednesday.

The University of Missouri system also plans to involve more faculty in classroom instruction and reduce the practice of graduate assistants teaching undergraduate courses, he said.

Missouri's president, Dr. Manuel Pacheco, 56, took over as president of the four-campus system on Aug. 1. Pacheco previously was president of the University of Arizona Tucson.

During a visit to Cape Girardeau Wednesday, Pacheco told the Southeast Missourian's editorial board that the university's various departments and colleges must work closer together in conducting research.

That has occurred in some areas such as nutrition research, which involved cooperative efforts of the university's medical, veterinary and life-sciences faculty, he said.

Pacheco said the university plans to provide more long-distance learning through telecommunications and Extension Service centers around the state.

The University of Missouri must look at serving the entire state better in the areas of economic development, medicine, agriculture and job training, he said.

As to working with other institutions, Pacheco said one example is a new partnership with Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau that will allow area residents to earn a doctorate in education.

Pacheco said it is important for universities to avoid unnecessary duplication of services.

"We need to be utilizing the resources we do have in the best possible manner," he said. "We shouldn't be going out and duplicating what is already available."

As the state's land-grant institution, the University of Missouri is charged with delivering doctoral programs and conducting research, Pacheco said.

Students, he said, should have the opportunity to work with faculty on research projects on the "cutting edge of knowledge."

Pacheco said the university should secure more federal and private dollars for research. "We are not doing as much as we are capable of doing."

The University of Missouri intends to hire more faculty in some areas, Pacheco said.

The Columbia campus has about 2,000 faculty members, including a sizable number in the medical school. Pacheco said the university plans to hire about 28 more faculty members for the Columbia campus.

The University of Missouri has four campuses: at Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis. Total enrollment stood at 54,175 last fall, with 75 percent being undergraduate students. The University of Missouri system granted 10,283 degrees in 1995-96.

The system had 8,815 faculty members and researchers, including student workers. Administrative, service and support staff totaled 14,552, including student workers.

Pacheco said he expects to see enrollment growth at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, which had some 16,000 students last fall.

Overall, he expects little enrollment growth in the four-campus system for the immediate future.

The University of Missouri draws only a couple hundred students from Southeast Missouri. About 65 percent of students in the system work part time. A large number work more than 20 hours a week, said Pacheco.

With many students having to juggle work and school, it takes on average five years to earn a degree. "Some students simply can't afford to go to school full time," he said.

It costs about $125 a credit hour in tuition for in-state undergraduates at the University of Missouri. "It still is a good deal in Missouri even though in the last five or six years tuition has gone up," Pacheco said.

"I wouldn't see any big spikes in the future on tuition," he said.