Community college plan for Cape put on hold

Three Rivers Community College will not open a campus in Cape Girardeau this fall as a needs analysis stretches months beyond original expectations.

The needs analysis will determine whether the region could support a community college and where gaps exist in current educational offerings. Stakeholders in the study said in November they expected to hire a firm to do the work by February, but one has yet to be selected.

"Invitations went out, but one of the vendors didn't get it. We realized we only got a response from one. It was a miscommunication. The task force collectively decided to give both a chance," said Dr. Robert Stein, commissioner for higher education, who was in Cape Girardeau on Thursday for a meeting of the Coordinating Board for Higher Education.

Dates have been extended, with a tentative date of July 7 set for notification of award and Nov. 24 for final reports due.

Interim president Joe Rozman said Three Rivers has put plans on hold for a Cape Girardeau center but said it would be "hard to believe the needs analysis wouldn't show a need."

Three Rivers' announcement of expansion plans last summer was met with hostility from existing educational providers, including the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center, Southeast Missouri State University, Mineral Area College and Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Along with businesses, the stakeholders collected nearly $69,000 to conduct a needs analysis.

Skirmishes and debates over authority between Three Rivers and Southeast date back to 2005, when Southeast evicted Three Rivers from university-operated centers in three locations, saying the community college wasn't paying enough of the operating costs. Three Rivers claimed a breach of contract and sued.

The long-running lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial in October, but a major staff shake-up at Three Rivers, including the resignation of the attorney for the board of trustees, left the lawsuit in limbo. On May 6, Circuit Judge William Seay gave Three Rivers one month to appoint a new attorney or face dismissal of the lawsuit. Court docket entries indicate a new attorney has not been appointed for the case.

Before a community college could be established in Cape Girardeau, the Coordinating Board for Higher Education would need to approve a proposal.

The board met Thursday in Cape Girardeau for a regular meeting. Besides a discussion of the needs analysis, the board took the following action:

• Adopted a plan on a provisional status. The strategic plan outlines goals and objectives, including increasing educational attainment, developing a "global economy" and focusing on affordability. Staff are now charged with collecting baseline data and setting measurable targets.
• Approved a report of the Higher Education Funding Task Force, which uses a business plan approach for meeting funding needs. The board recognized more lobbying efforts and communication is needed to raise Missouri from its status as 47th in per-capita appropriations for higher education.
• Approved the Curriculum Alignment Initiative Report, meant to set entry-level and exit-level competency standards, which outlines what students need to know coming in to a college course and what they should know afterward. Developing assessments for the competencies is the next step.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

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