Letter to the Editor

Three Rivers appreciates supporters

Monday, September 12, 2011

To the Editor:

On behalf of the faculty, staff, and students of Three Rivers College, I want to thank you, the residents of Southeast Missouri, for helping to make the past 12 months a period of tremendous growth for the college. This has been a year of soaring enrollment, new programs and locations, and increases in external funding and college revenues.

In August, Three Rivers celebrated crossing the 4,000 mark in its enrollment, starting the fall with 4,278 students. Our enrollment has skyrocketed, increasing 39 percent since 2008, as area residents take advantage of Three Rivers' affordable tuition and multiple locations for quality courses. Also contributing to the increase has been our focus on retaining students through enhanced advising and support services directed at improving student achievement. Our outstanding faculty and staff have made this growth possible by being flexible and committed to serving the educational needs of all of our students.

In the past year, partnerships helped Three Rivers open the Center at Dexter, move to a Nursing and Allied Health Center in downtown Poplar Bluff, and bring the Sheriffs' Association Law Enforcement Academy to the Poplar Bluff campus, where we now offer POST certification as a component of the criminal justice degree and have the largest academy class in Missouri.

New degree programs begun this past year are benefitting our students and the area employers who hire them. New programs include Green Diesel Technology, Medical Billing and Coding, Fire Science, and Physical Therapist Assistant (with an Occupational Therapist Assistant program coming soon). We also added a theater component to our excellent fine arts offerings in art and in instrumental and choral music.

Three Rivers' aggressive pursuit of external funding secured approximately $7.1 million in grants last year, an increase of about 6 percent. With a new grant to help this region bridge the digital divide, the college opened Public Computing Centers in Poplar Bluff, Sikeston, Malden and Kennett. We are now pursuing funding to open computing centers in Piedmont and New Madrid and to expand the number of computers at our Doniphan and Van Buren locations. The college also received grant funding for public safety training and for Educational Talent Search, which helps area 6th through 12th graders prepare for college.

The college's many accomplishments this year were achieved despite a 5 percent cut in our state appropriation. Thanks to a well-managed budget, Three Rivers finished FY11 in June with revenues exceeding expectations by approximately 8 percent. We are heading into FY12 with a budget of $19.5 million, 3.87 percent more than last year.

Three Rivers is led by an excellent Board of Trustees, comprised of six outstanding men who represent their constituents with passion and integrity. I want to thank Darren Garrision, Randy Winston, Randy Grassham, Wilbur Thornton, Marion Tibbs, and Phil Davis for their dedication to the mission and vision of the college. We are fortunate to have these quality men guiding our college into the future.

Also to be commended for helping Three Rivers expand and grow is the Three Rivers Endowment Trust, which was established last year to receive and manage donations on behalf of the college. Three Rivers appreciates the efforts of Allen Brooks, Chairman of the Board, and the other board members from throughout our college's service area who are working collaboratively with the college to find resources that will move us forward into a dynamic future.

Exciting times are ahead. However, we do face challenges, including further reductions in state funding and continually rising costs. But I am confident that Three Rivers College, with the help of our partners and supporters, will overcome these challenges and continue to grow and benefit the region.

Three Rivers could not have made such strides in the past year without the many people who support our college, promote our programs and offerings, and invest in the futures of our students. We sincerely thank each of you for your support and we encourage others to take part in helping Three Rivers continue to grow and advance as the economic development engine that is driving Southeast Missouri into a more prosperous future.

Dr. Devin Stephenson,

Three Rivers College President