OFFICIALS MAP OUT MASTER PLAN

The future shape of Southeast Missouri State University will be addressed in a campus master plan that will map out everything from parking to directional signs.

The university is paying consultants about $90,000 to develop a master plan that will spell out the school's physical needs for the next 20 years and recommend improvements.

More than $70,000 of the cost will be paid with federal and state money.

Work on the plan began in October. Consultants expect to meet with the Board of Regents in February. The final report will be presented to the board in late June.

The Kansas City firm of Mackey Mitchell Zahner is heading up the planning effort. Two other consulting firms -- Paulien & Associates of Denver and Johnson, Brickell, Mulcahy & Associates of Kansas City -- are also involved in specific parts of the planning process.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, executive vice president, said the tentative plan has seven main goals:

* Create a sense of community on campus and make the school more user friendly.

* Better use existing space.

* Improve campus transportation.

* Enhance the campus image.

* Provide first-rate facilities.

* Integrate technology into academic planning.

* Identify capital budget needs for the next five to 10 years.

More than 150 faculty, students and area residents have been interviewed in focus groups to identify campus needs and discuss possible improvements.

One suggestion is that the university establish a student service center that would include admissions, financial aid, enrollment and the bursar's office.

Other improvements could include development of a visitor center, centralized scheduling of classrooms and a facelift for the power plant that might include a brick facade.

The concrete-walled power plant is functional but unattractive, Dobbins said. "It is right in the center of campus."

Renovation of the vacant and aging social sciences building is expected to be addressed in the plan.

The master plan will look at the whole transit situation at the university, including the shuttle bus system that now is in place, Dobbins said.

The consultants have suggested that the shuttle buses need to run more frequently. "They also believe we need to have a better system of designating parking spaces," he said.

Southeast particularly needs to have clearly identified parking areas for the general public.

Dobbins said the master plan will look at the possibility of closing some streets and rerouting traffic on campus.

Parking has been a problem on campus this school year. "Part of the problem this year is we lost 400 parking spaces because we are building the business building," Dobbins said.

That parking area will be regained when the new College of Business building opens next August.

The opening of the business building will free up classroom space in other campus buildings such as Academic Hall and the current Dempster Hall. The master plan will look at how best to use that space.

Dobbins said the plan is still being mapped out and no final decisions have been made.