The Community College Option, Part 4: Three Rivers says establishing center in Cape a matter of finding a place

Editor's note: This is the fourth part of a series about higher education needs in the Cape Girardeau area.

First it was a racquetball court, then a preschool. Now, the building Three Rivers Community College renovated to house its Sikeston center provides education for almost 300 students per semester.

The building's 2005 transformation involved more than replacing the small bathroom fixtures, said Three Rivers president Joe Rozman.

"I looked in there and wanted to cry, 'What are you going to do with this?'" he said.

During the summer of 2005 the college embarked on a more than $660,000 project to open centers in six locations in Southeast Missouri. Rozman said construction started in May and the centers were ready for classes mid-August.

Instructor John Wade prepares to give a chemistry final Monday at Three Rivers Community College's Sikeston, Mo., center. The room offers both lab and lecture areas in the same space. (Kit Doyle)

Rozman said Three Rivers could establish a similar center in Cape Girardeau if a coalition of business and education leaders addressing higher education needs in the Cape Girardeau area chose that option.

"It's a matter of finding a place," he said. "There's a lot of empty buildings in Cape."

The college previously shared regional facilities with Southeast Missouri State University. After breaking ties with the university and the ensuing legal battle over contracts that ended in June, the two institutions are part of the coalition. The group's 11 members commissioned a study last year to explore higher education issues.

The study, released in April, laid out five options: a collaborative effort among area institutions, an off-campus center established by a nearby college, converting the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center, establishing a new college with a taxing district or starting a division within Southeast.

Rozman said Three Rivers could open a new center in Cape Girardeau in about four months.

Since the Sikeston center opened in the fall of 2005 with 206 students, its enrollment has expanded to 276 during the 2009 spring semester. There are two full-time nursing faculty members and about 30 other part-time adjuncts, said Glenda Arnold, dean of extended learning. She said the nursing program draws in the most students.

Arnold said restarting services in a new location was a matter of making Three Rivers' presence known.

"One of the most common phone calls we got was, 'Are you still going to offer classes?'" she said.

She said service to students was interrupted during the summer of construction when limited classes were held at Scott City School and Scott County Central School.

The Sikeston center, which cost $193,369 to renovate, includes five generic classrooms, two classrooms equipped for teleconferencing, computer labs, a science lab and a lecture area. A tiled room that was once a locker room is now a lounge with a sink and vending machine.

Rozman said the college would not establish a new center without support from the coalition but said that was a valid option.

"Choice is good too," he said. "Competition keeps everyone on their toes and keeps tuition down."

Arnold said Three Rivers also maintains centers in Kennett and Malden alongside Southeast without interference from the state, which has monitored the community college's re-established services.

"We have proven to the state that there is a need and we can both go in and serve the area quite well," Arnold said.

Mineral Area College in Park Hills already has a presence at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center, where it offers associate degrees of applied science. Southeast also teaches general education requirements there.

There is a delicate balance of opinions among the coalition members, who want to be respectful of each other's territory, said Dr. Steven Kurtz, president of Mineral Area College.

If the coalition decided to expand the college's services in Cape Girardeau, he said, the process would proceed cautiously.

"What's concerning me is the possibility of moving forward with a partnership, then suddenly there's a movement to create a new community college district," he said.

He said he wanted the college to break even on any further investment in the area and to be mindful of services to its own taxing district.

"We don't want to have the perception of our tax dollars going to Cape," he said.

Members of the coalition have expressed concern about proposing a voter-approved taxing district in Cape Girardeau in the current economic climate. Most members said the solution will be a collaborative effort in the beginning.

Gil Kennon, Mineral Area's vice president of college affairs, said the obvious answer would include an institution with one point of enrollment. Kurtz said one institution should be responsible for tuition, enrollment and financial aid, which is not currently the case. The details would have to be worked out by the coalition members, he said.

"The best answer, regardless of who the provider is, is one entity providing all the coursework for all the two-year associates of applied science and associates of arts," Kennon said.

He said the college is ready to expand services at the Career and Technology Center to include associates of arts degrees, which are more transferable to four-year institutions.

"We're well positioned because we're the partner to the CTC," Kennon said. "We have staff there. They know our enrollment procedures."

Kennon said the college has already looked into expanding offerings in nursing and fire training.

"We want to make sure we're only proposing programs that aren't duplicating and there's a need in the region," Kurtz said.

abusch@semissourian.com

388-3627

http://www.semo.edu

http://www.trcc.edu/

Pertinent address:

103 Kathleen St., Sikeston, MO

5270 Flat River Road Park Hills, MO

2080 Three Rivers Blvd., Poplar Bluff, MO