FROM ROOSEVELT TO CLINTON, THREE PROFESSERS RESEARCH, TEACH THE MODERN PRESIDENCY

Tom Harte thinks Harry Truman was one of this century's greatest presidents. Russell Renka believes that he was one of the worst. Christopher Schnell thinks Truman is just misunderstood.

Sure, these three Southeast Missouri State University professors disagree, but that is what makes their course on the modern presidency interesting.

Harte, a professor of speech, Renka, a professor of political science, and Schnell, a professor of history, teamed up four years ago to offer the unusual class that evaluates American presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Bill Clinton.

"We bring three different disciplines to this class," said Harte. "We tend to look at things differently. And that's what gives this class an interesting twist."

When the university changed its curriculum requirements in 1990, Schnell came up with the idea for the interdisciplinary class. It might be the only class of its kind in the nation, he said.

During the 50-minute class, all three professors get a chance to lecture. More importantly, they debate, and students get in on the arguments.

"When we're in there teaching, we all think we're in charge," said Renka. "We question, interject and even argue. It's all part of the teaching and intellectual purpose. No one has the ultimate word on a president, and we don't want to give the impression that we know everything."

The students are always asked to write evaluative essays, including recommendations for the current president. The three professors then sit down and grade the essays together.

That is when the real debate begins.

"We learn a lot from each other," Harte said. "Not just about presidents, but we learn a lot about teaching and debating and asking a lot of questions."

Each president gets a different amount of time. Roosevelt and Reagan get the most time because they were in office for so long, and Roosevelt actually started the modern presidency. Gerald Ford, on the other hand, gets 12 minutes and 30 seconds.

"There's no equal time here. We give them what they deserve," said Renka.

In spite of their differences of opinion, the three professors do agree on some of the more fundamental aspects of the modern presidency. First, they believe that a great president is one who eventually is supported and endorsed by both parties. Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Kennedy all are examples. They also agree, without a doubt, that Franklin Roosevelt was the best president. And they even think that in the near future our country will have a woman president.

"The Modern Presidency," also known as UI 320, is part of the "University Studies" curriculum, which means students can take the interdisciplinary course to fulfill a basic requirement. The class also fulfills an upper division major or minor requirement in all three disciplines.

In the past four years, the class has visited several presidential libraries, including the Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower Libraries. There, the students go into the archives and read what has been written by and about the president.

The class won't be offered again until the spring semester. During the summer, the three professors are studying manuscripts and plotting their teaching strategy to prepare for the course. They also are preparing a comprehensive survey that will give American professors of speech, history and political science the chance to evaluate the modern presidents and, possibly, first ladies.

They have even taken the class on the road. Schnell teaches a summer class at Three Rivers Community College, and the other two professors have appeared as guest speakers. They also presented their teaching methods at the Missouri Conference on History earlier this year.

The only regret these presidential scholars have is that they would like to see more business students take the class. People in the business world deal directly with public administration, and what better way to study public administration than to study the nation's most important administrator?

"I think they don't take the class because a lot of them expect to find the stereotypical liberal college professors teaching a class like this, but they are usually quite surprised," said Harte.