SEMO'S KUPCHELLA READIES FOR NORTH DAKOTA POSITION

Charles Kupchella insists he will be a hockey fan.

It's required when you are going to be president of the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks.

The school has an NCAA Division I hockey team. "They are Division I in hockey only, and they tend to be really good at that," said Kupchella.

The school's other athletic teams compete at the Division II level.

Kupchella, 57, is putting the finishing touches on his career as Southeast Missouri State University's provost as he prepares to become the president of the North Dakota school next month.

He recently met with a donor in Las Vegas who is giving $100 million to the North Dakota school. Some of that money will go for a new hockey arena.

Kupchella and his wife, Adele, have made several trips to Grand Forks. But he said it likely would be the last week of June before they move north.

Kupchella said the couple would miss the friends they've made in Cape Girardeau and their old home.

The Kupchellas live in a historic home at the corner of Spanish and Good Hope. Known as the Shivelbine House, the three-story brick home was built nearly 120 years ago.

In 1913, the upper half of the home was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt in 1913. The home was refurbished in 1988.

Kupchella was hired as provost in December 1992 and assumed the post on a full-time basis in May 1993.

Looking for a place to live, they fell in love with the Shivelbine House.

Kupchella said he and his wife have enjoyed living downtown. They've been active in the downtown community. They helped found the Downtown Neighborhood Association and the Community Pride Coalition. Both groups have pushed to revitalize the downtown neighborhood.

Adele Kupchella has been active in the historical society.

The Kupchellas are seeking to have their home placed on the National Register of Historic Places. That designation could come by the end of June, about the time they move out.

They will be moving into the North Dakota school's on-campus home for the university president.

Kupchella said they will miss living in downtown Cape Girardeau.

"We have had more of a sense of neighborhood living downtown," Kupchella said.

Neighborhood residents often get together for birthday parties and other activities.

The neighborhood is getting a new condominium development and a new Mississippi River bridge, and there are plans for a $35.6 million Southeast Missouri State University River Campus.

"It is exciting," said Kupchella.

But he said it is time to move on.

Kupchella said he has wanted to be a university president ever since taking the job as provost.

He said there are similarities between Grand Forks and Cape Girardeau. Both are river towns. Grand Forks is slightly larger, with a population of about 50,000.

The North Dakota university's 1998 fall enrollment topped 11,000 students. Southeast enrollment hovers around the 8,000 mark.

Both schools have athletic teams that are named for American Indians. Southeast has its Indians. North Dakota has the Fighting Sioux.

Kupchella said the University of North Dakota is the largest school in the region. Unlike Southeast, the North Dakota school is a doctoral institution.

Kupchella grew up in the mountains of western Pennsylvania, but the Kupchellas have spent the last 20 years in Missouri and Kentucky.

Prior to coming to Southeast, Kupchella served for eight years as dean of the Ogden College of Science, Technology and Health at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

He spent six years at Murray State University in Kentucky. He was a professor and chairman of the biological sciences department at Murray State.

The Kupchellas own a vacation home on Kentucky Lake. "We are going to keep it," he said.

"I understand the winters are a little cool up there," he said. But that's not surprising. Grand Forks is only 90 miles from the Canadian border and about 150 miles from Winnipeg.

Kupchella has always enjoyed teaching. As Southeast's provost, he continued to teach a biology class.

He said it helped him stay focused as an educator. "Some weeks, it was the best thing that happened," said Kupchella.

During his six years at Southeast, he has worked for three different presidents. The experience, he said, has been a good one.

"Working with the executive staff is like being one of the Yankees. We get along well and everyone knows what they want to do," he said.

"We have a team that works well. I am going to miss that."

Kupchella said he helped hire most of the academic deans and about 100 new faculty members.

Most of the new faculty members were hired to replace retiring faculty. Kupchella regularly took part in interviewing candidates for faculty positions.

He was a principal architect of the university's strategic plan and helped Southeast expand its services into communities from Kennett to St. Louis.

Kupchella said he and his wife always have believed in contributing to the community where they live.

"It is the right thing to do to be involved," he said.

Kupchella said his experience as provost should help him as a university president. "You know the guts of the academics of a university."