RURAL ECUCATION: CENTER PROVIDES BOOST TO BOOTHEEL LEARNING

MALDEN -- Phyllis Biggs finished high school. Then she started raising a family. Now, she's going to college while continuing to hold down a job.

For two years, Biggs has been taking college classes at the Bootheel Education Center in Malden.

Biggs, who lives in Parma and works in Malden, says it would have been hard for her to take college classes at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau or even Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff while continuing in her job.

"When I started I was 39 and I was going to continue my education, but with working full time it was not possible for me to go somewhere else," she said.

"If it hadn't been here, I would not have chosen to go back because it was just not possible."

Since its opening in 1988, the center has continued to expand.

A dedication ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. today, marking the addition of three new classrooms, a science laboratory and a new parking lot for the education center. A number of Southeast Missouri State University officials, including the institution's president, Kala Stroup, are expected to attend the ceremony in Malden.

The administration of the Bootheel center rests with Southeast Missouri State. Classes are offered at the center by Southeast, Three Rivers and the University of Missouri.

The parking lot has been in use since last August; the classrooms since the start of the spring semester in January. The lab is expected to be in use within two weeks, said Karen Wheeler, center director.

Wheeler said the addition will allow for expanded course offerings, particularly science classes.

Previously, labs associated with science classes were taught at other sites such as Malden High School. "We were restricted only to evening use there at the high school," said Wheeler.

The center had also been short of classroom space. "We had eight classrooms," she said.

"We found at the beginning of this fall semester we were greatly restricted in the number of courses we could offer."

Construction of the three classrooms and the science lab cost an estimated $160,000. The city of Malden and its Board of Public Works provided $50,000 to build and equip the science laboratory. Private funds covered the balance of the project cost.

The new renovated space was built inside the north end of the existing shell of the center, a building formerly used as a soft drink bottling plant and donated to the university by Harry L. Crisp II of Marion, Ill.

Private contributions totaling $30,000 were used to finance construction of the new parking lot. The asphalt lot, with a capacity of about 150 spaces, replaces an old cinder and clay lot, which had drainage problems.

"All of the money for this center has come from local funds," said Pat Morehead, chairman of the Bootheel Education Advisory Committee. "That's what this community is so proud of. We're proud of the local people in this entire region. This is an exciting educational opportunity."

With the addition of the lab and new classrooms, the center now has 12 classrooms, computer and library resource areas, a student lounge and an office area with a conference room.

The additional classrooms, which each hold up to 40 students, were needed because of growing enrollment, Wheeler said.

Since its opening four years ago, the center's enrollment has grown from 150 to its current 1,100. The center now offers about 70 classes and also serves about 2,500 participants in non-credit programs, courses, workshops and seminars.

The center receives a state appropriation, but Southeast has been saddled with many of the administrative and operating costs associated with the facility.

"It's a real bargain for the state," said Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast, "but there are some costs there that need to be absorbed by someone other than the university in tight budget times."

Southeast officials have contended the state should provide more than the approximately $280,000 a year it now provides in funding.

University officials have asked the legislature for $663,000 in state funding for the Bootheel center for the 1993 fiscal year.

Wallhausen said the Bootheel center is "a unique institution in Missouri higher education."

He added, "It's a model for how you can deliver higher education services at a relatively low cost in a rural area."

The center has a staff of 15, with only five of those being permanent positions. The rest are funded through federal and state grants.

In addition to college courses, the center offers Adult Basic Education classes. Currently, about 200 students are enrolled in such classes, Wheeler said.

The center assists with the new Bootheel Literacy Coalition, comprising organizations that deal with the problem of illiteracy in the Missouri Bootheel. According to recent statistics, more than 50 percent of Bootheel adults, ages 25-63, have not completed high school and an additional 17 percent have basic literacy problems.

Wheeler said the Bootheel Education Center has also been involved with programs for children, including computer and foreign language programs. "We also have done some theater camps and we're planning to do some creative writing camps this summer for elementary children."

Wheeler said the Bootheel center has provided an opportunity for people to embark on a college education who otherwise would not have done so.

The center generally offers freshman- and sophomore-level courses.

"Usually people start here, and get their education core courses, English and history and math, and those sorts of things," she explained.

"We have many students who say that they would never have started college if it had not been for the Bootheel Education Center."

Said Wheeler, "It makes me feel wonderful and the staff, too, because we can see the results of all the work that has been put into the center. We can really see the payoff."