Making the Future

Partnerships

We are stronger together. We embrace that philosophy, and we are grateful for our invaluable community partners.

Mercy Hospital Southeast orthopedic and sports medicine physicians provide orthopedic, primary medical care, athletic training and physical therapy services, and invest in the University by providing diagnostic equipment and athletic training supplies, as well as scholarships for students.  

In collaboration between Southeast and the City of Cape Girardeau, Capaha Field has been modernized and a new baseball training facility adjacent to the field has been added.

Southeast’s corporate degree partnership offers TG Missouri supervisors and managers the opportunity to complete Southeast stackable credentials online under a customized Industrial Management Program designed for TG.

Through a partnership with rustmedia, Southeast is a sponsor of both the Next Project and the Shipyard Music Festival. The Next Project shines the spotlight on area youth who are difference makers thinking big and planning for their futures. The Shipyard is a two-day music festival featuring national touring acts, visual arts, and a variety of food and beverage on the Mississippi River in historic Downtown Cape Girardeau.

The University has developed a strong partnership with MidAmerica Transplant (MAT) to save lives through excellence in organ and tissue donation. A component of the relationship is a partnership between MAT and Redhawk Athletics to raise awareness for organ, eye and tissue donation with a focus on honoring donors, their families and transplant recipients. Another component is collaboration with Southeast's Department of Nursing faculty who developed a curriculum on organ transplants, which has been used to train over 1,000 nurses. MAT also has partnered with Southeast to design and build a sculpture at Southeast’s River Campus to honor those in the Heartland who have donated lifesaving organs and tissue to patients in need. In addition, MAT has pledged a $100,000 gift to the Southeast Missouri University Foundation in support of Southeast’s Holland College of Arts and Media and scholarships in the Department of Nursing.

Athletics partnered with Ground-A-Bout to develop Redhawk Roast, the officially licensed SEMO Redhawks coffee.

We are Planning, Preparing, Acting

Under our new Strategic Action Plan, we are:

• Aligning our curriculum with the evolving needs of the marketplace.
  • Bachelor’s degree in horticulture and cannabis
  • Professional Pilot Program
  • We are piloting “Introduction to Virtual Reality” in spring 2023 as we expand educational offerings.
• Exploring New Programs
  • Graduate degrees in data analytics and agribusiness
  • Undergraduate degrees in water resource management and aviation management 
• Creating more flexible learning options
  • In-person
  • Online
  • Hy-flex
• Established a new Economic and Workforce Development division.
• Meeting our enrollment goals:
  • Fall 2022 Graduate enrollment: ↑20%
  • Fall 2022 International enrollment: ↑56%
• Taking actions to improve access:
  • Test-optional admissions
  • Implemented new strategic programs: Copper Dome Scholars and Will To Do Award
• Engaging in important work on diversity and inclusion.
  • Hired new Assistant to the President for Equity Issues and Title IX coordinator

To be good stewards of our resources

• Moved to Self-Insurance
• Partnered with ABM for custodial support.
• Achieved $12 million in savings through a multi-year budget planning model instituted in 2019.
• Awaiting the possibility of a new Missouri higher education funding model that could be considered during the 2024 legislative session.
• Moving forward with the silent phase of a comprehensive campaign, with initiatives such as the Houck Multiuse Complex crossing divisional boundaries.
  • Last year, the Advancement Division raised over $10 million in charitable support, the most successful year in Foundation history.

Adjusting our business practices

Evaluating the ways we teach

• We are studying our online programs to remain competitive in the online education space.
• We are engaging with the Bootheel community to help us to continue to offer our programs in the region in a sustainable manner.

Enhancing the ways we work

• Reviewing remote work policies to attract and retain talent.
• Improved resident security by replacing analog security cameras with new IP cameras in Group Housing, Merick Hall, Vandiver Hall, Myers Hall, and Towers West.
• Improved campus infrastructure by implementing multi-factor authentication for all campus accounts.
• Established a cross-functional Facilities Planning Advisory Committee to improve the planning, prioritization, and execution of facilities investments. A work group also has been established to implement the central scheduling of classrooms.
• Revised the structure and work of the FY24 Budget Review Committee to enhance the transparency of the University’s budgeting process.
• Completed implementation of a salary equity study.
• Completed department and office reorganizations.
• Adjusting employee benefits.
• Implemented a new Employee Assistance Program
• Introduced a new medical travel benefit and free recreation center memberships.