With the 2027 school year on the horizon, several changes are in the works for Southeast Missouri State University.
The strategic plan “Fearlessly Forward” was approved by the Board of Governors over the summer and, according to SEMO president Brad Hodson, has three primary priorities. He first announced this plan to the Student Government Association on Sept. 21.
“If you think about the big picture talking points for this, it really has three primary elements.
One is a focus on hands-on learning. The second major element is workforce relevance. The third element of the plan speaks to regional prosperity,” Hodson said.
For the first priority, Hodson explained that a more hands-on learning experience could be achieved by implementing more three-year bachelor's degrees, which will result in less student debt and more opportunities in the workforce.
“If we do a three-year Bachelor's degree, what are we doing? We're cutting 25% off of time and cost, which means your investment is going to be greater, because you're going to get out into the workforce earlier. You're going to have incurred 25% less student debt, and you're going to have an extra year to make income more quickly than if you had done a four-year Bachelor's degree,” Hodson said.
SEMO launched a 90-hour degree program in the criminal justice department. Hodson said this was the first program in Missouri to offer such an opportunity.
“Criminal justice here at SEMO is the first three-year Bachelor's degree in the state of Missouri. So we led the way for about an hour and then everybody else piled on. Now you have schools all across the country (Missouri Western State University, Brigham Young University, Northwood University, e.t.c) that are doing this,” Hodson said.
Hodson said that cutting many of the elective credit hours now required for a degree can significantly reduce the time and cost of a degree program.
“There are 30 hours in many degree programs of free electives that we’re cutting because that's what the students and their parents and elected officials and employers tell us. They want students to get out quicker with less debt. This is one way to do it,” Hodson said.
Another option for the three-year degree plans includes more 8-week classes and a bigger push towards summer classes.
“Then you can go to class for eight weeks. You can go out in the industry for eight weeks. You can easily pop back-and-forth between classwork and industry experience so that when you graduate in three years you have a resume that is full of these substantive meaningful industry experiences that make you far more competitive on the job market than if you had just come to school for four years,” Hodson said.
Hodson said he hopes summer classes could become a new normal and an easier way to get students more experience as part of the hands-on learning and workforce-relevant parts of the new strategic plan.
“If I can normalize the summer as a regular part of the calendar, particularly for those co-op experiences, that's going to be a game changer, because again you'll be getting out more quickly, less debt, and earlier entry into the workforce,” Hodson said. “We want to try to use the summer more strategically, instead of it just being a 2-month downtime, where we lose academic progress, we lose momentum as an institution.”
Along with hands-on learning, Hodson explained that regional prosperity would help look into the needs of the areas around Southeast Missouri and how students can help in the surrounding areas or beyond.
“Regional prosperity is not about the university. It's about the people and the employers and the future trajectory of eastern Missouri. It's not about us. It's not about we want to fix these buildings or we want to start this new program, this is about what the people of Eastern Missouri need and how we play a role in that,” Hodson said.
Hodson said SEMO sits in a prime location for many employers across a wide range of job opportunities and requires lots of thought as to how to market for those areas.
“What St. Louis needs is one thing, and they're a major market for us, at the same time, that's a 180° difference from what the folks in Kennett, Poplar Bluff and Sikeston need. We are in a great location. But in many ways, we have to look in two different directions and have different strategies for different employers. That requires strategic thought, but I wouldn't trade this location for anything. It is ideal to serve an entire eastern half of the state,” Hodson said.
Hodson said that the lower enrollment rates and lower International student enrollment are something that might not change soon, but that the university is ready to welcome back students at any time.
“For the next two years, federal policy on Visas isn't going to change. We just have to acknowledge that doesn't mean we turn our backs or stop caring. Quite the opposite, actually. We probably need to engage a little bit more, and make sure those schools and agencies around the world know that we still love them, that it's not us. As soon as they want to send us students and the doors are open, we're ready,” Hodson said.
Some of the new crime cases that have been reported in the Cape area have caused some concern for students, and Hodson said that it is disappointing to hear, as Downtown Cape is a large marketing standpoint for SEMO enrollment.
“Something we have to be very mindful of, particularly the incident that occurred downtown during Family Weekend, was very disappointing to students. Downtown is one of our greatest assets to recruit students. We lean heavily on that in our marketing, but it has to be a safe experience for everybody, faculty, staff, students, visitors, everybody,” Hodson said.
Hodson said that the recent incidents in downtown have caused some concern for the SEMO community but said that they are working closely with the Cape Girardeau Police Department and are communicating with students on how to be safe.
“One is too many. But one will happen in most communities. We'll see where it goes from here, but yes, we are mindful. We don't sense that we're at the point yet where it's negatively impacting enrollment because we've had a very safe environment. The whole first year, I was here, no incidence of that nature occurred. We are monitoring; we are aware; certainly we are communicating with students, particularly those who live on campus how to be safe,” Hodson said.
Along with the need to keep students secure, Hodson said there is also a concern for students' mental health in today's world and wants to focus more on ways to help lighten the stress and burdens of SEMO students.
“We have a heightened mental health crisis. Now it's gone to the point that it is impacting students' ability to complete their degree and their ability to have a fulfilling career. It's a problem and rather than just talking about it yet, again, we're going to dive right in the middle of it and we’ll directly address the mental, physical and financial well-being of our students,” Hodson said.
Hodson said that it is important to focus as much on the mental effects of college as it is the academic side.
“If you graduate from college and you've got the degree, the experience, and you're excited and ready to go, but you do not have the mental, physical, or financial well-being to capitalize on that degree, we have failed you,” Hodson said.
Hodson said that the overall focus is to provide more opportunities, less financial stress and better mental health and support for students with this new strategic plan.
“We want to be the school focused on the outcomes that are going to make a difference. For you, mental, physical, financial and career engagement, all those things that are going to make you a valuable member of society right out of the gate.” Hodson said. “We trust that these changes will make SEMO stand out in people's minds, and they'll say that's where I want to go, because I have a better chance of getting the job, the life, the career I want with a school that's focused on me and not focused on doing things the way we've always done them.”