State works to solve higher-ed dispute

Missouri's higher education commissioner says he hopes by the end of June to recommend a solution to a dispute between Southeast Missouri State University and Three Rivers Community College over the operation of three Bootheel education centers.

With funding issues at the center of the disagreement, commissioner Dr. Gregory Fitch said the state may need to review financial records of the two schools to determine the facts.

The Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education is scheduled to meet next Thursday in St. Joseph. Fitch plans to report on the status of the dispute but doesn't expect to make any recommendation at that meeting.

Fitch said he does want to make a recommendation to the board as soon as possible so board members can review it at their retreat this summer. After next Thursday, their next regular meeting isn't until October.

In a May 26 letter to Southeast president Dr. Ken Dobbins, Fitch wrote that he hopes to settle the issue before October.

Meanwhile, he has asked officials at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff to provide him with a list of the school's off-campus sites, the cost of operations and the services available to students at those locations, such as library resources and copy machines.

"I want to make sure students are getting what they need," he said.

Fitch said he also wants to avoid unnecessary duplication of services.

"My contract with the citizens of Missouri is to try to provide for the best educational system possible. Duplication of costs and waste are no part of that contract," he said.

But he said that doesn't mean lower-division classes can't be offered by both Southeast and Three Rivers.

Three Rivers officials argue that under the high education board's policy the community college should be teaching all the lower-division courses at the education centers.

Dr. John Cooper, Three Rivers president, said the college will respond to Fitch's request for further information as early as next week.

Fitch has asked officials at Southeast to respond to a proposal made last month by Three Rivers. The community college has proposed to take over operation of Bootheel education centers in Malden, Kennett and Sikeston, saying it would save Southeast money.

Dobbins said the proposal is being reviewed by the school's attorney.

The dispute surfaced when Southeast announced in February that it would bar Three Rivers from teaching courses at Bootheel education centers in Malden, Kennett and Sikeston, effective with the start of summer classes.

Southeast has said it's losing $800,000 annually operating the three centers where the university and Three Rivers both have offered classes for years.

Southeast said it was taking over the teaching of all classes at the center, a move officials said would help the university generate added revenue to meet expenses.

Three Rivers responded by filing a lawsuit, claiming the university breached an existing agreement in which the community college paid rent for use of the buildings.

Circuit Judge William Seay of Dent County has been appointed to hear the case, which was filed in Butler County. The university has asked that the lawsuit be dismissed.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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