Southeast Missouri State University's changing mission of expanded services to the region is the biggest challenge facing a new provost, said W. Hubert Keen, one of five finalists for the post.

Keen, special assistant to the system provost for the State University of New York at Albany, spoke to about 20 faculty members at a forum Tuesday afternoon in Glenn Auditorium.

Keen also said development of the River Campus arts school and the School of Polytechnic Studies also pose challenges for a new provost.

Keen is the fourth of five finalists to visit the campus. During his two-day visit, he met with faculty, staff and students.

He said the university needs to foster professional development for faculty, even those who are tenured. "I think post-tenure review is a good thing if accompanied by a reward structure," said Keen. Such a system won't work well without pay increases, he said.

Keen said teaching, research and community service are all worthwhile goals for faculty, but the school shouldn't require equal efforts in all areas by faculty members.

Some faculty are more focused on research while others engage in community service, he said.

Keen said many faculty at colleges see community service as an important part of their professional lives.

Southeast's merit pay allocation procedures need to be reviewed, said Keen, explaining that the "sense of community" among faculty members needs to be improved.

Keen said higher education funding isn't as high a priority with the governor and state lawmakers in New York as it is in Missouri. New York state has about 150 private colleges, which hand out most of the undergraduate degrees.

The New York public colleges and universities have experienced a number of budget cuts, he said.

Keen said adjunct professors who teach a few courses provide a valuable resource, but schools shouldn't hire them in place of tenured-track faculty to save money.

Adjunct professors don't provide the services to students and the campus full-time faculty do, he said.

Keen, who has a minor in German, said studying abroad benefits students.

He said colleges and universities have experienced increases in non-teaching staff. "A lot of it has been to provide additional services for students," he said.

Such services, in many cases, have been valuable to students and the schools themselves, said Keen, but the growth of non-teaching staff also is a concern.

The use of the Internet will change college teaching over the next decade, he said.

Although it will continue to be dependent on state aid, Southeast must diversify its funding base by raising more money from individuals, foundations and corporations, said Keen.

The provost candidate said schools shouldn't increase enrollment just for the sake of being bigger. "To me, there is no virtue in being large," he said.

As to minority enrollment, Keen said minority students will attend college where they feel comfortable. Most minority students grew up in urban areas. "They would rather stay there," he said. Southeast is largely a white campus.

"You have to work on the environment," he said.

Keen has served as special assistant to the system provost at State University of New York since last year. From 1998 to 999, he was interim president of the College at Old Westbury, State University of New York. From 1994 to 1998, he served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at York College, City University of New York.

Before becoming an administrator, he served as a biology professor at various schools.

He holds a doctorate with an emphasis in ecology from Kent State University. He has a master's degree in biology from Eastern Kentucky University and a bachelor of arts degree in biology from Pikeville College.