RACE IS ON TO ENDOW NEW SCHOLARSHIPS

Dennis C. Seyer wants to endow a scholarship for Southeast students interested in a career in technical theater design (see related story). He is one of a number of people racing to meet a deadline to endow a scholarship at Southeast.

Currently, a contributor of at least $10,000 can name a scholarship and specify how the dollars will be used. Beginning July 1, a contributor of the minimum $10,000 can still name the scholarship but will not be able to control how the money will be used. The minimum donation required for the donor to establish the criteria for the scholarship will be $25,000.

The change was recommended last fall by the Copper Dome Society Committee and approved by the Board of Regents.

The $10,000 threshold has been in effect since the university foundation was established in 1983. Surveys of peer educational institutions found that most charge $30,000-$40,000 to endow a scholarship at all -- much less specify the criteria -- according to Wayne Davenport, vice president for university advancement and executive director of the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation.

Davenport said the rising cost of higher education is another reason for raising the threshold. At a return of 5 percent, a $25,000 endowment will provide the scholarship recipient with $1,250 per year.

The alteration fits the foundation's current focus on need-based scholarship funds that don't have specific criteria. After July 1, any donations below the $25,000 level will go into the general university scholarship fund.

The notice of the policy change was published in the foundation report distributed three weeks ago. People who have donated modest amounts in the past suddenly are saying they want to send $10,000 by July 1, Davenport said. "They have known they wanted to do something. Our purpose wasn't just to flush a bunch of birds out of the covey."

Many had intended to contribute all along, he said. One Atlanta couple donated a $25,000 Monday without knowing the scholarship threshold had been raised. Another recent donor provided $160,000 to a scholarship fund to be named for his parents and to benefit students from Caruthersville.