SOUTHEAST TO EXPAND CLASS OFFERINGS WITH PLAN FOR NIGHT SCHOOL

Southeast Missouri State University will create a night school and make other changes to make higher education more accessible within the region.

The goals are part of a strategic plan approved Thursday by the Board of Regents. The wide-ranging plan will be implemented over the next five years.

"I think it is a job well done," said Regent Don Dickerson.

Donald Harrison, board president, said: "We have focused the university's mission; we have set priorities for future budgeting and the wise use of limited financial resources; and we have set the stage for a new era of improved service to the people of Southeast Missouri."

Dickerson and Harrison were the only two regents to attend the meeting in person. Both are from Cape Girardeau.

The snowy weather prevented three other regents from attending in person. Doyle Privett of Kennett, Sarah Long of Poplar Bluff and Pat Washington of St. Louis were linked by telephone.

Regent Lynn Dempster of Sikeston was ill and missed the meeting.

Southeast wants to be Missouri's comprehensive professional arts and sciences university and to receive additional state money to implement that mission.

University officials will submit their mission and strategic plan to the Coordinating Board for Higher Education next fall.

The cost of implementing the 28 goals in the plan hasn't been calculated, said Dr. Bill Atchley, Southeast's president.

Atchley said the plan is "nothing but a group of words put together that sound good" unless there is funding to execute it.

Even without any increased state funding, Southeast is moving ahead with many of the key items in the plan, said Dr. Charles Kupchella, provost. Kupchella directed the planning effort.

He said the school is redefining a liberal-arts education so there is a connection between curriculum and the "real world."

Students would be required to perform internships in their major field of study.

Students are interested in how education relates to a job, he said.

The strategic plan will focus on everything from computerized classrooms to increased partnerships with community colleges and vocational-technical schools in an effort to better train students for jobs.

Southeast wants to offer two-year programs in cooperation with community colleges in the region. The university wants to attract more transfer students from about a dozen community colleges in Southeast Missouri and surrounding states.

Coupled with the addition of night and evening classes, the university hopes to boost enrollment from 8,100 to over 10,000.

The university plans to start "Southeast PM" in the fall. The school will offer evening and weekend classes in popular majors.

Under the program, students would be able to graduate without ever taking a day class.

Southeast also wants to set up a separate night school that would offer two-year and vocational classes.

The strategic plan took nearly two years to develop and involved public input at a series of forums throughout the region.