SEMO professor resigns from MOHELA board

Southeast Missouri State University professor Dr. James Ricks resigned from Missouri's student loan agency this week, the third member of the agency to step down amid controversy over Gov. Matt Blunt's plan to use agency profits for college building projects.

Ricks faxed his resignation to the governor's office on Monday. He didn't explain in the letter why he resigned.

On Wednesday, Ricks said he resigned because of concern he would be sued by opponents of the governor's plan if he voted to approve distributing $350 million in Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority assets to the Missouri Development Finance Board for construction projects on college campuses.

The finance board on Tuesday voted to approve the spending plan, but the other key entity -- the seven-member MOHELA board -- has yet to act.

Ricks' departure follows that of MOHELA board members Marilyn Bush and Charles McClain. All had expressed support for Blunt's plan. But Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon had suggested that all three had potential conflicts of interest.

Blunt has appointed St. Louis banker Tom Reeves to replace Bush.

Ricks, a professor of management and marketing at Southeast, has served on the board since 2005. His term was scheduled to end in October 2009. He said he felt he would have had to abstain if he voted on the governor's plan because some $17 million of the money would have gone to help fund Southeast's River Campus arts school development.

"The River Campus puts me at a disadvantage," he said, adding that he hopes his resignation will allow the governor to name someone who won't be hampered in voting for the funding plan.

"I think in the long run it may get through," he said of the plan.

Student loan board members serve without pay. The job in the past hasn't been political. But he said board members now find themselves caught in the middle of a political battle.

Bush said she resigned because her term was nearing an end and she felt her replacement should have the opportunity to vote on the spending plan. Nixon said Bush, a Bank of America executive, could have had a conflict of interest because the bank had been involved in MOHELA's bond processing in the past.

McClain cited health concerns in announcing on Monday that he was resigning as interim education commissioner.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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