Tom Jorgensen believes the business of teaching business would be on a whole lot better footing at Southeast Missouri State University if a new College of Business building is constructed.

Funding for the $14 million project hinges on passage of a $250 million state bond issue, which voters will decide on Aug. 2. The measure includes $134.2 million for construction and renovation projects on Missouri's college campuses.

"If Southeast wants to be a viable business school and grow and attract quality students and faculty, the business building is a must," said Jorgensen, a business management major from Cape Girardeau.

He and other business students say the building would help centralize the business school, retain quality faculty, attract prospective students and expose students to state-of-the-art technology that will prepare them well for the marketplace.

Carla Zellers, a Southeast senior accounting major from East Prairie, said a new College of Business building could create a ripple effect for the business climate of the region.

"What it starts and what it can attract could have a lasting impact on Southeast Missouri," she said.

The business building would bring together what's currently a scattered business program, placing the departments and faculty of the Harrison College of Business under one roof. Currently, the dean's office is on the third floor of Academic Hall. The departments of management and marketing are in Dempster Hall, a converted apartment building that is proving inadequate to meet today's student needs.

The departments of administrative services and accounting and finance are on the third floor of Academic Hall, and the department of economics is in the basement of Academic Hall. Unfortunately, Academic Hall wasn't designed for today's technology and can't accommodate expansion of microcomputer labs, school officials have said. Southeast is the only public institution in Missouri with a College of Business, but no business building, school officials have repeatedly pointed out.

"The College of Business has many vital parts, but lacks the organization of coming together," Zellers said.

Jorgensen said that with the College of Business departments scattered in different places, it's difficult for students to have a sense of being in a business program.

Michael Anderson, a senior accounting major from Cape Girardeau, agreed. "I don't think you get the interplay of the folks of the accounting mind and maybe those of the marketing mind," he said.

Zellers said students have to walk clear across campus to use the computer lab. "It's almost impossible to make a 10-minute walk from Dempster Hall to the Johnson Hall computer lab," she said.

Zellers added that accounting majors who take most of their classes in Academic Hall are "secluded" from students pursuing majors in other business disciplines.

Anderson said students whose classes are in the Dempster Building "get the short end of the stick."

In addition to the College's disjointed nature, equipment in the College of Business also is outdated. "They are training us to be professionals, many times in unprofessional settings," Zellers said.

Jorgensen said, "As long as we have the facilities we have, my fear is that we will go downhill."

Anderson said that a new business building at Southeast could help attract quality students and faculty in the same way that the Show Me Center helps attract athletes.

"The Show Me Center is a great asset to Coach Ron Shumate when he takes his recruits there," Anderson said. "In the same way, a new business building could aid the University in attracting students and faculty. They could say, `This is where you will teach and learn.' If you are the best and the brightest young educator and you want to start your career, would you want your office to be in an old apartment building like Dempster or a new building? It should be a `no brainer' issue."

Despite inadequate business facilities at Southeast, Anderson said he has received a quality business education.

"I can't say I've been shortchanged by going to Southeast and that is, in part, due to the quality of the faculty here," he said. "I have a great deal of respect for the faculty, but I see the cramped office space they have and worry that they might be moving on. I want Southeast to have a business building. The true measure of excellence of any organization is the people involved. A new business building will allow Southeast to attract and retain quality business students, faculty and administrators."

The 100,000-square-foot College of Business building would incorporate new instructional technology, linking the college to state and international networks. Electronic links also will extend classroom instruction to off-campus sites, and classrooms will be equipped with video links, making interactive learning a strong component of the business curriculum, school officials have said.

"If in an academic setting, we can be exposed to technology in the marketplace, we will have a competitive edge in the job market," Anderson said.