REGENTS SET PUBLIC MEETINGS IN REGION

The Board of Regents will hold a series of public forums this fall as it prepares to update Southeast Missouri State University's strategic plan.

The regents and top administrators are scheduled to hold 13 meetings throughout the school's service region from mid-September through mid-November. School officials said they want public input on how the university can better meet the educational, economic and cultural needs of the region.

The first three meetings will be held Sept. 16 at Caruthersville, Kennett and Malden.

On Sept. 17, meetings are scheduled for Poplar Bluff and Sikeston.

The regents will meet in Park Hills and Perryville Sept. 23.

On Sept. 24, the regents will hold a forum at Jackson. The meeting is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce office, 125 E. Main.

Following that meeting, the regents will hold a session in Cape Girardeau from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Chamber of Commerce office, 1267 N. Mount Auburn Road.

Campus forums tentatively are set for Oct. 13 and 27.

The final two meetings involving the regents are scheduled for Nov. 11 at Jefferson Community College North at Arnold and in downtown St. Louis at Southeast Missouri State University's outreach office.

Don Dickerson, board president, said the aim is to produce a set of priorities to guide the university's future program and budget decisions.

In fall 1994, the regents held a series of public forums to hear comments and suggestions on how the university might better serve the region. The issues and suggestions raised five years ago served as the basis for the university's strategic plan. The regents adopted the plan in 1996.

"Comments and ideas from citizens throughout the region are important as the university strives to meet the educational, economic and cultural needs of Southeast Missouri," said Dickerson. "Their voice is important," he said.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast's president, was one of the school's vice presidents when the previous forums were held. Dobbins said public feedback serves as "kind of a report card" on how the university has fared in meeting the region's needs.

Five years ago the issues raised included the need for the school to offer more courses off campus. Since then the university has proceeded to set up higher-education centers in Sikeston and Kennett.

Dobbins said Southeast remains committed to developing higher-education centers and offering courses through interactive television and by computer.

Even so, some courses like biology labs need to be taught in person, he said. "You have to have that personal interaction in many courses," said Dobbins.

Outlying education centers make higher education available to more of the region's residents, he said. "And, of course, it will be a feeder system to our campus."

Dobbins said the forums also will allow the university to discuss what it has accomplished in recent years.

Southeast's strategic plan calls for boosting enrollment to 10,000. Dobbins said the whole issue of enrollment will be addressed in updating the strategic plan.

In addition to the forums involving the regents, the university's planning committee is scheduled to hold a number of campus meetings.

"This time there will be a lot of input," he said.

That phase should wrap up by semester's end.

The university is expected to revise its strategic plan next spring and then hold additional campus forums regarding the revisions.

The regents could approve the new strategic plan by June, Dobbins said.

The new plan will build upon the original document. "This time we think it will be easier to put together," said Dobbins.