UNIVERSITY MOVES AHEAD ON RESTRUCTURING, CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

Southeast Missouri State University officials plan to move the campus forward this year in a number of areas, from restructuring of student services to completion of a successful capital campaign.

Southeast officials also hope to continue planning toward construction of a new business school, despite the unlikelihood of state funding for the project this coming fiscal year.

Plans are being made to move forward in a number of academic areas from a continued emphasis on seeking National Merit and Governor's scholars to extending efforts to attract and graduate low-income and disadvantaged students, many of them minority students.

The latter efforts involve a series of programs funded with federal money. "This is an effort to improve the educational level of our region," said Kala Stroup, university president.

Part of the effort involves a Talent Search Program funded by a $202,460 grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The program will focus on the five Bootheel counties of Southeast Missouri. The grant will be used to identify qualified persons and encourage them to pursue a college education.

The program will serve 1,100 students in 10 high schools and 10 junior high schools, as well as 50 out-of-school adults in Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot and Stoddard counties.

On another academic front, university officials plan to launch an Advanced Placement Program this spring in which high school students in the region will have a chance to take courses taught by their high school teachers and obtain college credit by passing a national test in that subject.

"It is a wonderful program," said Stroup. "You get a teacher who is interested and a group of kids that are interested; it raises their expectation levels."

Last year the university hired Kenneth Dobbins as the new vice president for finance and administration, combining duties previously spread over two administrative positions.

The hiring of Dobbins has led to a number of changes in financial operations at Southeast, from long-range planning to improving collection of debts.

"These are things the public never sees," said Stroup. But, she said, the changes have allowed Southeast to better weather the storm of repeated state budget cuts in a time of tight state funding.

This year more internal changes are expected with restructuring of student services. The plan, as proposed by Caryl Smith, interim vice president of student affairs, calls for better coordinating student services. It also calls for keeping the position of vice president of student affairs but eliminating the position of dean of students.

Since coming here last August, Smith has served in an interim position as both vice president and dean of students. Smith was hired to help the university reorganize its student services and assist in the hiring of a permanent vice president of student affairs.

"What we got in Caryl was a dean of students, a vice president, and a consultant all in one," said Stroup.

She said the search for a new vice president will begin soon. "We're hoping to start a search sometime this spring and have someone in place by the time school starts this fall."

Since taking office as Southeast's 14th president July 1, 1990, Stroup has pushed for improvements in student services. "I think the students have noticed a real change," she said.

Student organizations now receive funding from a student activities fee, and there has been an effort to involve students more in providing campus programming and activities for the student body, she pointed out.

This past year the university administration had to cope with a series of state funding cuts. In all, Southeast saw its state appropriations reduced by about $2.8 million for the 1992 fiscal year.

"We reduced our budget three times," said Stroup. "I spent a lot of this last year just redoing budgets."

University employees received no general pay hikes last year, but university officials are hopeful of some improvement in state funding for the 1993 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Barring excessive budget withholdings, Southeast could receive a net state appropriation of more than $30.46 million, which would be $1.57 million more than the state funding for general operations at Southeast for the current fiscal year.

Gov. John Ashcroft has also recommended $2 million in capital improvement funds for Southeast, up substantially from the $85,912 the university received for physical plant maintenance for 1992.

Included in the recommended funding is money for construction of elevators to make the Grauel and Social Sciences buildings accessible to the handicapped, as well as money for power plant improvements.

"We feel very good about the governor's capital recommendations," said Stroup.

The governor has not recommended any state money for construction of a new building for the College of Business Administration, but architectural planning continues. Plans call for construction of a $12.5 million, 100,000-square-foot building near the corner of New Madrid and Henderson on the university campus.

"Now our efforts have to focus on ... putting together a funding package," said Stroup. "We're trying to be very creative."

As part of its $25 million capital campaign, the university is raising $2.4 million to pay the local share of funding for construction of the business building.

As of late last year, the campaign was already nearing its $25 million goal, and university officials said the capital drive could raise as much as $27 million before it concludes this summer.

In athletics, Southeast last year initiated play in the NCAA Division I Ohio Valley Conference. Stroup said the transition from Division II to Division I athletics has been successful and "extraordinarily smooth."