STATE EYES COLLEGES' USE OF MOMEY

The state of Missouri wants higher education to be more accountable, Southeast Missouri State University officials said Friday.

Dr. Dale Nitzschke, Southeast's president, said that message was clear to those who attended the Governor's Conference on Higher Education this week.

About 350 higher education leaders from around the state attended the two-day conference at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The conference ended Thursday.

Nitzschke and Southeast's other top administrators attended the conference. Two members of the Board of Regents -- Don Dickerson and Kimberly Mothershead -- also attended the conference.

Both Dickerson, who is president of the board, and Mothershead echoed the comments made by Nitzschke.

They voiced their views during and after Friday's meeting of the Board of Regents.

Dickerson said the state wants to see that it is getting the maximum return for the tax dollars it has invested in Missouri's colleges and universities.

Southeast has implemented new programs in an effort to better meet the educational needs of the region, he said. "We have worked hard on that."

Nitzschke and Mothershead said the state plans to push for closer cooperation between school districts and colleges and universities.

Nitzschke said the goal is a "seamless web" of education from early childhood through college.

While at the conference, Southeast officials lobbied for state funding to construct a polytechnic institute.

Dickerson, a Cape Girardeau Democrat and friend of Gov. Mel Carnahan, has pushed hard for funding for a $5 million industrial technology building.

He expressed optimism that the project will be included in the governor's next budget and that the Legislature will fund it.

Nitzschke said the project remains the school's top capital priority.

The university already has set up the organizational structure for a polytechnic institute, appointing Assistant Provost Randy Shaw as director.

The institute, which will focus on industrial technology, will be equivalent to the university's colleges.

Nitzschke said he expects the governor, the Legislature and the Coordinating Board for Higher Education to continue to emphasize industrial technology training in the coming year.

The regents Friday pushed ahead with plans for continued improvements to the campus recreation fields and expansion of the Student Recreation Center.

The regents agreed to consolidate the Student Recreation Center and campus housing bond funds.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, executive vice president, said the move would provide the school with greater flexibility in issuing bonds.

Dobbins said it will mean less restrictive bond requirements. The move will free up about $1.3 million that the university had been required to keep in reserve to meet the requirements of the 1993 bond issue that financed the Towers complex renovation project.

Dobbins said the $1.3 million will be used to make further improvements to the residence halls.

In other business, the board approved new minors in entrepreneurship and small business management, international studies and fashion merchandising.

The board also reappointed Anne Bradshaw to another three-year term on the Show Me Center Board of Managers.