LEADERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSIST MCCLAIN WILL BE MISSED

When it comes to higher education in Missouri, Charles McClain gets high marks from many leaders in the field.

Others are less complimentary, but concede he has had a major impact on education in the state.

The Coordinating Board for Higher Education announced last weekend that McClain will resign as the state's commissioner of higher education by Sept. 1, 1994. McClain has served as commissioner since 1989.

"We are going to miss him greatly," said John Lichtenegger of Jackson, president of the University of Missouri Board of Curators.

Both Lichtenegger and Kala Stroup, president of Southeast Missouri State University, said Monday that McClain has been good for education.

"No one has preached quality more than he has done so in the years he has been in this position." said Lichtenegger. "He has literally formulated the framework for probably the best higher education system in the nation."

The Jackson attorney praised McClain as "a giant in the field of higher education in the area of reforms and innovation."

Stroup said, "He has laid the groundwork for the public college and university system of the 21st century and any successor will find it difficult to equal his record of accomplishment."

She praised McClain as an educator with "rare insight, effective leadership skills and a unique background for his position as head of Missouri's higher education enterprise."

Stroup said there have been "tensions at times" between the goals of individual schools and the coordinating board, but that McClain has turned them "into a creative force for improving the quality of the system as a whole."

Mark Pelts of Kennett, who serves on the Southeast Missouri State Board of Regents, said McClain's resignation could send "a shock wave throughout higher education in Missouri."

There are a couple of vacancies on the Coordinating Board for Higher Education that Gov. Mel Carnahan has yet to fill. New board members and a new commissioner, who will be hired by the board, "will probably significantly change the course of higher education in Missouri," said Pelts.

"There will be a major political shakeup there on the coordinating board because of the Carnahan appointees," he added.

Pelts opposes what he sees as an elitist approach to education. He worries about the statewide emphasis on tougher enrollment standards.

"They are trying to drive the marginal high school student to junior colleges, and maybe that is good, but in parts of this country you don't have a junior college on every corner."

McClain began his career as a teacher in a one-room school at the age of 16 and went on to develop a national reputation as president of Northeast Missouri State University. He oversaw the transformation of the Kirksville school from a regional state university to the state's liberal arts institution.

During his tenure as commissioner, McClain has successfully pushed for higher admission standards. He also has lobbied for more institutional accountability and increased public support for higher education.

McClain's decision to resign was consistent with his pledge to serve as commissioner for three to five years, the coordinating board said.

Lichtenegger said McClain is recognized nationally as "an innovator and a person who will just not stand still for plans that won't work."

With the adoption of core curriculum requirements for admission, Missouri's public colleges and universities are enrolling better prepared students, Lichtenegger said. "He was not willing to tolerate a 40 to 50 percent graduation rate."

Said Lichtenegger, "We are saying, `We know if you take this core curriculum in high school, you will have a 90 percent chance of graduating from college in five years.'"

Under McClain, Missouri's colleges and universities have more clearly defined missions, said Lichtenegger.

"Before he came as commissioner, institutions were just growing at will, so to speak, in any direction they chose to go in."

Lichtenegger said McClain has "raised the expectations and aspirations of students, college professors and institutions across this state."

Improvements, he said, have come despite limited state funding. "He took a situation and didn't just go crying around the state, `Money, money, money.'

"He's not a moaner and groaner," said Lichtenegger. "He is an action-type person."