Regents renew lobbyist contract with Nitzschke

Former Southeast Missouri State University president Dr. Dale Nitzschke will lobby for federal funding for Southeast one more year -- his seventh -- before retiring next summer.

He will be paid $120,000, plus up to $45,000 in expenses, the same terms as last year's contract, officials said. The new one-year contract begins July 1, school officials said Wednesday.

The board of regents recently renewed the contract, officials said.

Nitzschke, who lives in Ohio, will serve as federal legislative consultant until June 30, 2006.

University officials said Nitzschke helped obtain millions of dollars in federal funding for Southeast since resigning as university president and taking a position as the school's lobbyist to Congress and federal agencies.

"We are certain that these federal funds would not have been made available to the university without the relationships he has developed with Sens. Kit Bond and Jim Talent, congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson and members of their staffs," said university president Dr. Ken Dobbins.

"He has a wealth of knowledge about Southeast and about federal funding for higher education," Dobbins said. "Consequently he has been able to identify federal programs that are a good fit for Southeast's mission."

Nitzschke served as president of Southeast from 1996 to 1999. He has served the past six years as a lobbyist and fund-raiser for the Cape Girardeau school.

Nitzschke, 67, said he has enjoyed his association with Southeast. "It's a wonderful institution," he said.

But he said it's time for him to retire.

He said he is looking forward to retirement, knowing that the River Campus arts school will be built overlooking the Mississippi River and that planning is well along for the university's Interstate 55 research park.

Still, Nitzschke said he plans to return to Cape Girardeau for the dedication of the River Campus, which is expected in 2007.

"I am going to sit back and I am going to take enormous pride in what the university has accomplished with that," said Nitzschke, who helped develop plans for the River Campus when he was president of the university.

Southeast, he said, has benefited from having a fund-raising lobbyist.

He said the board of regents, led at the time by Cape Girardeau lawyer Don Dickerson, created the position. "It was a brilliant decision," Nitzschke said.

"Whoever ends up replacing me has to be someone who really knows the university inside and out," he said.

"When you go to Washington, you get grilled all the time and not just by congressional staffers but with staff at government agencies," he said.

Nitzschke said it's important to build a level of trust with federal staff. Ultimately, he said, that helps secure federal dollars for the university.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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