Southeast to close St. Louis outreach office as part of budget cuts

Southeast Missouri State University’s St. Louis Outreach Office is closing, but the university will retain its presence in the metro area, a university official said Wednesday.

The university anticipates an 8.5 percent appropriations reduction from the state for the upcoming fiscal year 2018, beginning in July, university president Carlos Vargas-Aburto said Friday in the board of regents meeting.

As a response to the cuts, the regents approved a tuition increase, and other cost-cutting measures were approved.

Measures will be implemented over the next two fiscal years, according to university officials.

One of those measures will be to close the St. Louis Outreach Office in Chesterfield, Missouri, on July 1.

Bill Holland, vice president for university advancement and executive director of the university foundation, said the closure reflects a changing strategy toward student recruitment and alumni support, as well as corporate outreach.

Holland said the outreach office handles three main objectives: admissions or recruitment, career services and corporate relations.

“We fight really hard to be a top-tier school in the minds of alumni, parents and employers,” Holland said.

Outreach into the St. Louis market has been a large part of Southeast’s strategy to recruit students and develop relationships with businesses, Holland added.

Holland said the St. Louis metro area is home to about 23,000 Southeast alumni, or roughly one-third of the alumni base.

As to reaching out to corporate contacts in the St. Louis region, Holland said, “Our goal was 500 corporate contacts this fiscal year, and we have already exceeded that.”

Holland said the corporate contacts are “wanting more pathways for them to be on campus.”

Classroom visits and career fairs are part of an overall strategy to give students opportunities for work after school, and they give companies pointers on how to find the most successful candidates from among the students.

“We try to have two-way collaboration at all times,” Holland said.

In 2004, the office employed a full-time admissions counselor, Holland as director of corporate relations and a recruiter.

In the last 12 years, Holland said, technology has improved, and the way of doing business has evolved.

“We felt we could continue outreach without a physical presence,” Holland said.

Between redhawkjobs.com and the use of iPads and smartphones now, Holland said alumni have more options to connect with each other and employers.

“People want to meet at coffee shops now instead of meeting in an office,” Holland said. “We’ve built on a lot of positive work up there.”

Holland said Vargas recently challenged university personnel to review their budgets and find ways to operate better with increased objectives.

The outreach office presented an opportunity, Holland said.

Two vacant positions in the office will remain unfilled, but no other layoffs are anticipated, Holland said.

“One full-time person will remain in the area to handle corporate outreach and development,” he said.

Holland added, “We took a look, as they did throughout the university, at how we could be strategic and focused on the future, how to reorganize to leverage our resources.

“I do feel very positive about our image and efforts in the St. Louis area,” Holland said.

Alumni awareness is higher, and the outreach team will continue to serve an alumni base that is diverse demographically and geographically.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address: 16020 Swingley Ridge Rd., Chesterfield, Mo.