SEMO, Cape Girardeau Public Schools join forces to enhance education, cultural experiences for staff

Cape Girardeau Public Schools superintendent Howard Benyon, middle left, and Southeast Missouri State University president Carlos Vargas, middle right, sign an agreement Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Cape Girardeau Public Schools Administration Office while the district’s deputy superintendent for K-12 education Brice Beck, far left, and SEMO’s vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Success Debbie Below look on.

Courtesy Cape Girardeau Public Schools

Southeast Missouri State University and Cape Girardeau Public Schools officials signed an agreement Thursday, Aug. 8, to enter into an exclusive partnership aiming to increase access for district employees to SEMO’s educational programs, cultural arts, athletics and recreational activities.

The partnership establishes SEMO as the exclusive university the district promotes to employees to further their education. The agreement will provide a 20% tuition discount for district faculty and staff to enroll in online undergraduate, graduate and pathways for paraprofessional programs at the university.

“We approached SEMO about a partnership because we believe deeply in the quality of the university’s educational offerings,” Cape Girardeau Public Schools superintendent Howard Benyon said in a news release from the university. “We feel confident in promoting SEMO education to our faculty and staff and know that education will benefit the district and our students.”

According to Brice Beck, deputy superintendent for K-12 Education at Cape Girardeau Public Schools, the reception from staff has been “overwhelmingly positive.”

“They’re super excited about the partnership and the opportunities ahead that come along with it,” Beck said. “The first thing was the tuition discount. That’s probably what everybody was the most excited about. And then, next to that, I think it’s that understanding of enhancing our existing relationship to strengthen our school community because there’s a huge group of faculty and staff at our school district that heavily support SEMO. This just takes a good relationship and strengthens it even more.”

In addition to a tuition discount, Beck said staff members at Cape Girardeau Public Schools will also be eligible for recreation center membership at the university, discounted tickets for university-produced events at River Campus, complimentary tickets for events at Bedell Performance Hall, discounted tickets to Cape Girardeau schools-themed nights at athletic events and potential eligibility for prospective students to receive credits through SEMO’s Prior Learning Assessment program for professional experience.

“I think one of the things that we are achieving here is to get to know each other better, and by getting to know each other better, the two organizations, it spills over into the student population and the families so that they have a level of comfort,” SEMO president Carlos Vargas said during a news conference announcing the partnership Thursday morning.

Benyon said he believes the partnership will benefit district students by giving them more opportunities to experience Southeast’s campus.

“The partnerships that we have will allow us more access for our students to be on campus, whether we’re taking a grade level to a sporting event or taking them to the cultural center or the performing arts center,” Benyon said. “I think there are lots of different ways that we can continue to do partnerships. This is just the beginning. I think there’s several different ways that we’re going to be partnering with SEMO differently moving forward. …

“I think it’s getting (students) familiar and comfortable with going on to a campus like that because it’s very large and it’s overwhelming for kids. I think that’s going to be our first step for students. We know that they (SEMO) come and have conversations with our students on a regular basis, so I think this just enhances that and gets them on campus to really see the wonderful things that are going on at SEMO.”

Debbie Below, SEMO’s vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Success, said the university plans to partner with other local school districts in the future.

“That’s something, honestly, that we want and that they’ve (Cape Girardeau Public Schools) encouraged,” Below said. “I think we all see the need to encourage individuals to become teachers, and to remain in the profession and to grow in the profession. We want to be the leader for this region in doing that. There’s a lot of competition today for programs, but we aren’t getting enough people through that pipeline, so we’d all like to work together to do that.

“Selfishly, I want to say that we learned through this process that we are seen as the quality provider. People want to work with us and, through this partnership, I think there’s a feeling of competence that we can also say that we’re going to be able to do that at the most affordable rate. We want to be competitive because we want our teachers in this region to be trained at the highest level and we think we can do that.”

According to SEMO’s news release, the university was named the 144th best overall online bachelor’s program out of more than 1,800 in U.S. News and World Report’s 2024 Best Online Programs. Additionally, SEMO’s online master’s in education was specifically recognized on the list of best programs.

Southeast also received recognition as an Apple Distinguished School for the third time in 2022 for integrating Apple technology into its education programs and at its EDvolution Center.

“This coming together of these two organizations, I think, is extremely valuable,” Vargas said. “I think, in the long run, it’s going to be very meaningful for the region.”