STROUP GETS STATE POST

Southeast Missouri State University President Dr. Kala M. Stroup will become the state's next commissioner of education on Sept. 1.

The nine-member Coordinating Board for Higher Education made the decision in a 15-minute telephone conference call Thursday afternoon.

Stroup, 57, was chosen from a nationwide search involving more than 65 candidates and five finalists.

She will succeed Dr. Charles McClain, who has served as commissioner since 1989.

Stroup will make $125,000 a year, a slight raise from her president's salary of $121,540.

The board thought such a salary was warranted, said Coordinating Board Chairman Mary Findley of Poplar Bluff.

She said the salary is in line with presidents of the state's public universities.

McClain's salary is $97,500, which is below the average for higher education commissioners in other states, Findley said.

"We feel that Dr. Stroup is a highly qualified educator with strong leadership skills," she said.

Stroup's knowledge of higher education and the state legislative process were key factors in the decision, Findley said.

Stroup didn't go looking for the job and expressed mixed feelings about leaving Southeast.

Stroup said other university presidents, lawmakers and members of the coordinating board and the governor's staff had encouraged her to apply for the job for more than a year.

"I did not want to leave," Stroup said at a hastily called news conference Thursday in her Academic Hall office.

She said she will miss the interaction with students and faculty but looked forward to the state leadership role.

Stroup wants to work on improving the delivery of higher education to all areas of the state.

She said she wants higher education to be a major player in economic development.

Stroup was recommended for the job by a search committee, which met with her June 14 in Jefferson City.

Findley said the committee wasn't certain until last week if Stroup would even consider the job.

Stroup has worked in higher education jobs since 1959 and has served as a university president for almost 13 years, first at Murray State University and for the past five years at Southeast.

Stroup began her job as Southeast's 14th president July 1, 1990.

During her five-year tenure, she started a new management team, oversaw the school's first-ever capital campaign and helped secure state funding to build a College of Business facility.