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The Cape Girardeau Partnership for Higher Education Gets New Name

Cape College Center
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Cape College Center
Cape College Center is located in the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center at 1080 S. Silver Springs Road in Cape Girardeau, MO.

The Cape Girardeau Partnership for Higher Education will be known as Cape College Center now. The advisory committee approved the new name on October 6.

Cape College Center is made up of three institutions which includes Southeast Missouri State University, Mineral Area College and Three Rivers College. The partnership allows students to earn an Associate of Applied Science or Associate of Arts degree. Students can also work on their general education studies.

The advisory committee wanted to change the name to reflect the mission of the institution, according to Steve Kurtz, president of Mineral Area College.

“Instead of just having a partnership they wanted to have some type of name that reflects what we’re doing as a collaboration providing services to the region,” he said.

Both Mineral Area and Three Rivers are community colleges, but Southeast is not so he explained that they had to find a name that fits all three schools.

“It’s something that has been in the works for a while,” Kurtz  said. “We just couldn’t agree on a name because according to the bylaws if there is a change or any decision that needs to be made it has to be run by the presidents and it has to be unanimous. So we’ve had a hold up for a while.”

At one of the first meetings with newly appointed President Wesley Payne, they explored the name Cape College Center and came to an agreement.

Kurtz said it took five minutes.

Now that the name is finalized, he says the next phase is to work on a cohesive marketing plan for the institution to inform residents in the region of their mission.

Jessica Penland was an intern reporter for KRCU in 2014.