Three Rivers, Southeast patch up relationship

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- After more than a decade of bad blood, the only two higher-education institutions in Southeast Missouri say they are strengthening ties in support of their core mission -- to better the lives of residents.

The presidents of Three Rivers College and Southeast Missouri State University recently spent an afternoon talking with a U.S. senator about campus safety, then sat down to share plans for the future.

By the middle of the next semester, Southeast will have a new office on Three Rivers' main campus in Poplar Bluff, the two explained.

"Right now, you can pursue baccalaureate degrees, and in fact, a couple of masters degrees, without ever leaving Poplar Bluff. And for quite a while now, Southeast has not had a presence there," said Dr. Wes Payne, the new Three Rivers president.

Three Rivers wants the four-year school on its campus with completion programs, Payne said.

Dr. Kenneth Dobbins

Southeast looks forward to returning to the campus, said Dr. Ken Dobbins, Southeast president.

"The climate wasn't conducive to that in the past, in the recent past, I should say," Dobbins said. "But now, I think with the leadership of Wes and his board ... we're ready to move back into that arena."

It has been about four years since Southeast has been on the Poplar Bluff campus, the men estimated, and more than a decade since the schools have worked well together.

The new partnership will be an expansion over the previous presence, Dobbins said. Southeast provides more distance-learning programs because of an increased online presence, blended with face-to-face contact.

"It's a whole different ballgame now because of technology and because of what we're doing at our regional campuses," Dobbins said.

The schools also are looking for other ways they can partner to make things better in Southeast Missouri, said Payne, who credits Dobbins with taking the first step after Three Rivers named its new president.

A good example of the new relationship, according to the two, is the name chosen for their partnership with Mineral Area College in Cape Girardeau. This month, it officially became the Cape College Center.

"We had been debating that for over three years, to no avail," said Dobbins. "The three presidents, after Wes became the interim president, sat down and in three minutes -- not three years -- three minutes, decided on a name."

A more amenable relationship is in place between the presidents, Dobbins said.

"I think that will filter down to the campus, and we'll be to the task of serving the students," he said.

Trust is important as the two institutions move forward, the men agreed.

"I think we all have to make sure that we understand there's a role for all of us," Dobbins said. "It's not just Three Rivers. It's not just Southeast. There's a role for all of us to form that network of higher education."

The two schools are natural partners, and they have the same goal, Payne said.

"That's to help the citizens of Southeast Missouri make their lives better and achieve their goals," he said. "We can do that a lot better working together than not."

Both men are first-generation college students, who say their greatest preference is to see individuals enrolled, no matter which institution they choose.

"When you look at the regional campuses we have … and the campuses that Three Rivers has through out the Southeast region, I can guarantee you that probably 80, maybe 90 percent, of those folks wouldn't be going to college if it wasn't for those outreach centers. That's what it's all about," said Dobbins, who in the last 16 years has shaken the hands of more than 20,000 students as they crossed the stage at graduation.