SPRINGFIELD UNIVERSITY PROVIDES A DISSERVICE

Last week's release of a state audit regarding financial mismanagement at Southwest Missouri State University is properly assigned to the "funny-if-it-weren't-so-sad" category. Poor fiscal administration and squandered tax dollars give higher education in Missouri a black eye it doesn't need. But if there is a silver lining to come from this budget calamity, it might be that the bad example is so effectively demonstrated that there will be no recurrence, in Springfield or elsewhere in Missouri.

State Auditor Margaret Kelly documented with her office's work what had previously been suspected, that haphazard management at the Springfield university resulted in millions of taxpayers' dollars being misspent. Evidence of "grossly" underestimated construction costs, improper or absent bidding procedures, inadequate record keeping, poor internal controls and clear conflicts of interest provides just part of the picture of what was going on behind the scenes of Southwest's phenomenal success in the 1980s. Southwest grew from a regional university to the second-largest public institution in Missouri, yet those in charge were not up to the challenge of that growth. The shortcuts, detailed in the auditor's report, are coming back to haunt the university.

Strides have already been taken to resolve many of the specific problems listed in the audit. The man who presided over much of this turmoil, university president Marshall Gordon, was stripped of his power in February, though his $109,000-a-year salary is being paid through next June. State auditors clearly revealed Gordon as a man comfortable with spending; more than $15,000 in residential expenditures were called into question, including a taxpayer-purchased Jacuzzi ($2,337), television ($2,120) and bedspread ($765).

Though we might point an accusing finger at Gordon and his personal extravagance, blame is also rightfully directed at others in that university's administrative hierarchy, as well as the board of regents, for not detecting such glaring problems. Perhaps all were so caught up in the institution's good fortunes that an analytical question would have seemed like boat rocking. When tax dollars are involved, however, the alert question about dubious expenditures is not only desirable, it is a duty.

A survey released by the American Council on Education over the weekend found that 57 percent of the nation's higher education institutions had to cut their budgets midway through the last academic year. The same survey indicated that 81 percent of all four-year schools raised student fees for short-term financial reasons. The evidence is clear-cut on the fiscal hardships at this level of education. What happened at Southwest Missouri State was a disservice to higher education and taxpayers. It also served to take much of the luster off that school's success.