SEMO, TRCC may be forced to report financial details

~ Coordinating board will vote today on requiring annual reports related to higher education centers.

Feuding Southeast Missouri State University and Three Rivers Community College have "irreconcilable differences" that state higher education officials say they can't resolve.

But the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education may require the two institutions to annually disclose spending, enrollment and other details surrounding their competing higher education centers in the Bootheel.

The board will vote on the proposal at its meeting today in Jefferson City, Mo.

It would require the two schools to annually:

* Demonstrate the need for such centers.

* Detail expenses and tuition and fees at the centers.

* Report enrollment and program/course offerings.

* Disclose the percent of students meeting admissions requirements.

* Report on student progress.

* Report on financial aid and other services provided to students.

Coordinating board member Kathy Swan of Cape Girardeau said she believes the board will back the reporting plan. She said the board's powerless to do anything else.

But Swan said she will abstain to avoid a conflict of interest. She is a graduate of Southeast and a brother-in-law serves on the TRCC board of trustees.

The architect of the plan, higher education commissioner Dr. Gregory Fitch, said he and the state board legally can't force the two colleges to work together.

But state lawmakers next session could give the commissioner and the state board the power to fine schools and even impose binding arbitration to settle such disputes.

Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, has pre-filed a bill for the 2006 legislative session that would do just that.

Nodler's bill would give the coordinating board the power to fine colleges that violate its policies. The fine could be up to 1 percent of a college's annual state appropriation.

Under the measure, the board would refund the money if a school takes corrective action. If the violation isn't addressed within a year, the fine would be deposited into the state's general revenue fund.

Nodler's bill, SB 590, also would authorize the higher education commissioner and the board to impose binding arbitration to resolve disputes between colleges that involve jurisdictional boundaries or spending issues.

Nodler, who chairs the Senate's education committee, said his bill would give Fitch and the coordinating board the power needed to settle the TRCC/Southeast dispute.

If passed and signed into law, it could take effect next August. If Three Rivers and Southeast continue to be at odds then, the schools could be forced to accept binding arbitration, Nodler said.

As commissioner, Fitch would dictate the terms.

Nodler said he hopes Gov. Matt Blunt will back the proposed law.

"The coordinating board either needs to be strengthened or it needs to be out of the way," he said.

Nodler believes the state needs a strong coordinating board to govern colleges. "I don't think it's ever in the interest of people of the state of Missouri when educational issues end up in courtrooms and particularly when tax dollars are used to finance lawsuits," he said.

TRCC filed a lawsuit against Southeast in March. The case is pending.

Nodler said Missouri colleges have been too competitive with each other when they should be collaborating to better compete with out-of-state colleges.

Southeast president Dr. Ken Dobbins said the dispute would have been resolved months ago if there had been binding arbitration.

Southeast's board of regents had agreed to a proposal by Fitch that would have resolved the dispute, Dobbins said. But TRCC's board rejected the compromise.

It called for TRCC to pay half the cost of operating Southeast's three higher education centers. In return, Southeast would have settled for teaching 40 percent of freshmen and sophomore-level courses and TRCC would have taught 60 percent of the lower-division classes.

In a report to the coordinating board, Fitch lamented the TRCC/Southeast dispute.

"There appear to be irreconcilable differences between Southeast Missouri State University and Three Rivers Community College that cannot be overcome under present circumstances and that have unfortunately tarnished the integrity of the state system of higher education," Fitch wrote.

Both TRCC president Dr. John Cooper and Southeast's Dobbins said they could abide with having to annually detail the operation of their separate centers.

"That is a satisfactory resolution," Cooper said. But he said it won't stop TRCC's lawsuit against Southeast. "We are the one that got evicted," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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