Cape Girardeau, Missouri - For the fall 2015 and spring 2016 academic year, Southeast Missouri State University is closing Cheney Hall, a residence hall on the Southeast campus.

The closing of this building, at the corner of Cheney Drive and North Henderson Street, is necessary to examine and make structural and infrastructure repairs.

Over the past year, the University, working with outside engineering and architect professionals, has been examining the maintenance needs for multiple facilities across the Southeast campus, University officials said. These efforts have provided opportunities for the campus to plan ahead for future repairs to various academic and non-academic facilities. Cheney Hall is one of the buildings the University has previously identified as a building in need of future renovation for its continued use as a residence hall.

Previous plans had called for Cheney Hall to be open for residence hall students during this year, however, recent assessments of the building have demonstrated a need to consider structural repairs in the coming year, according to Angela Meyer, director of Facilities Management.

A combination of events over the past year, including recent heavy rains, has resulted in some settling of the building foundation and stair-stepped cracking of the northwest corner of the building.

“In order to fully investigate and determine the cause of the movement, the University has made the decision to begin a full structural analysis which may involve soil borings and/or excavation followed by a structural evaluation by a consultant,” Meyer said. “The goal is to stabilize the structure and ensure that the facility can be brought back on-line for future use.”

The work needed to complete structural and other infrastructure repairs will be very disruptive to the building.

“To provide our students the best on-campus living experience, the campus is closing this building for this coming academic year,” she said.

Cheney Hall has been a landmark on the Southeast campus for more than 75 years. Dr. Kendra Skinner, director of the Office of Residence Life, noted, “Students enjoy the on-campus living experience, and Cheney Hall has been part of this experience for more than half a century. While we wish we could have the building open for the coming year, we need to take action now to repair the building and to find the impacted students other places on campus to live this year.”

During this closure, 85 students who were planning to reside in Cheney Hall are being provided other residence hall spaces on the Southeast campus for the academic year. Students who were planning to live in Cheney Hall will be provided alternate campus housing at the same room rate in other residence halls on the Southeast campus, Skinner said. The Office of Residence Life is working with the impacted students to change their room assignments before students return to the Southeast campus on Aug. 20. Additional information for students impacted by this closure is available through the Office of Residence Life at 573.651.2274 or ORL@semo.edu.

Cape Girardeau, Missouri - A new era of leadership begins at Southeast Missouri State University today as Dr. Carlos Vargas takes the reins as the 18^th president of the University.

“I am very proud to have been selected as the 18^th president of the University,” Vargas said. “I am eager … to live up to the expectations of the students, the staff and the faculty of the institution.”

Vargas will hit the ground running with his first day spent with the University’s executive staff who will brief him on numerous University initiatives. During the next couple of weeks, he also will meet with Interim Provost Dr. Gerald McDougall, members of the Board of Regents and Student Government President Peter Jacobsen. He also plans on attending divisional retreats throughout the summer.

“I want everybody to know that I am going to do my absolute best and I am going to work very hard to make sure this institution continues on the path that it has been for a long time. I just want to make sure that we do whatever it takes to help the students be successful.”

Vargas’ presidency at Southeast culminates a comprehensive and wide-ranging search process that began following the announcement in September 2014 that President Kenneth W. Dobbins would retire effective June 30, 2015.

The Southeast Board of Regents announced the appointment of Vargas on March 4. Vargas has been serving as acting president at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania since last July. He previously served as the provost and vice president for academic and student affairs, and had been the school’s chief academic officer since 2006. For more information on President Vargas’ career in higher education, visit http://www.semo.edu/president/about.html.

Southeast also welcomes Vargas’ wife, Dr. Pamela Vargas, who begins her new duties today as the director of the Office of Research and Grant Development on campus. She has served as executive director of the Kutztown University Research Center since 2006. She previously served as the director of Sponsored Programs in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and the Graduate School of Engineering and Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology. She also has served as the director and in several other capacities with The Graduate School, Office of Research with the University of Notre Dame.

President and Mrs. Vargas – the campus welcomes you and wishes you much success here at Southeast Missouri State University!

Cape Girardeau, Missouri – Southeast Missouri State University has announced its Dean’s List for academic achievement during the spring 2015 semester.

Students named to the list earned at least a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and completed at least 12 degree credit hours during the spring session.

From Advance:  Ashton Anderson, Ethan Barr, Kayla McCabe, Collin Ritter, Haley Seger, and Lindsey Sullinger.

From Bell City:  Tommie Davis, Alexandra Eakin, Casey Hicks, and Zachary Weeks.

From Bernie:  Karsyn Abernathy, Katelyn Baker, Alex Beaird, Lindsay Beaird, David Blevins, Heather Brown, Zachary O’Daniel, Selena Poe, Alicia Rasmussen, Andrew Reif, Rachel Tilmon, Jeremy Walker, and Sierra Waller.

From Bloomfield:  Joshua Abner, Becca Bolin, Amanda Graser, Rachel Hankins, Sarah Patrick, Grace Taylor, Rebecca Taylor, Elizabeth Ward, Morgan Wilkinson, and Elizabeth Willard. 

From Dexter:  Madisson Baker, Will Baker, Brittany Becker, Cody Boyer, Tyler Caldwell, Kristopher Chamberlain, Emily Cook, James Deberry, John Durham, Heather Hann, John Hartline, Bryan Hubrecht, Hannah Huls, Emily Hutchcraft, Rilee Jones, Zach Kester, Jeffrey King, Darcie Lane, Jessica Loflin, Corbin Matthews, Tanner Mayberry, Nicholas McCollough, Daniel McCoy, Samantha Midgett, Sarah Mouser, Hannah Noe, Lauren Powers, Tejay Riddle, Sydnie Rinehart, Taylor Robey, Brent Shipman, Bethany Smith, Jessica Snider, Lyndsey Stone, and Garrett Wray.

Cape Girardeau, Missouri - Last month’s collection netted 6,125 pairs of shoes donated to Soles4Souls during the shoe collection drive spearheaded March 27-29 by Southeast Missouri State University.

Soles4Souls is a global not-for-profit institution dedicated to eradicating the impact and spread of poverty. This mission is serviced by collecting donated shoes and clothing and then distributing those items via direct donations to people in need and by assisting micro-enterprise program efforts in creating jobs in lower-income and disadvantaged communities.

“More than 70 students, from Soles4Souls On Campus, all the Agriculture Department student organizations, Gamma Sigma Sigma, and several international students spent many hours preparing shoes for shipment, assembling cartons and loading them onto a 53-foot-long trailer,” said Cheryl Reinagel, Soles4Souls advisor and administrative assistant in the Department of Agriculture. “Bringing students together to serve gives them a chance to make a difference on campus, in the community, and in our world.”

Soles4Souls on Campus in partnership with the Baptist Student Center held the drive with on-campus drop-off locations in the Department of Agriculture office and in the Baptist Student Center. Additional drop-off locations were held at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church and Marcy’s Planet Shoes.

“This is the first year the Baptist Student Center has partnered with Soles4Souls on Campus.  Having two locations, on the campus, has helped us engage more students to serve together,” said Reinagel.

The shoes raised during the collection will further the purpose of Soles4Souls in all 50 states and aboard.

Cape Girardeau, Missouri -  Power to the Southeast Missouri State University campus will be shut down for approximately six hours on Friday, April 3. Please see full details below:

Due to some preventive maintenance repairs needed to the main power transformer in the Boiler Plant switch-yard, Facilities Management staff along with KT Power will be shutting down power to the main campus only for approximately six hours on April 3.

Facilities Management crews will start shutting down equipment (air handling systems, chiller systems, etc.) between 7-8 a.m. in the educational facilities, with power being shut off to campus at 8 a.m. Power should be completely restored to campus by 2 p.m., and Facilities Management crews will be here until all systems return to normal operation.

During the outage, the following facilities on emergency generators (Show Me Center, LaFerla Hall, Johnson Hall, Rhodes Hall, Dempster Hall, Towers Complex, Scully Building, Art Building, Brandt Hall, Crisp Hall, Cheney, Carnahan Hall, GS-1, GS2, Memorial Hall, Serena Building, Vandiver Hall and Merick Hall) will have emergency power available, and personnel will be here to monitor them.

Heating and cooling will not be available during this time except for KRCU and the IT Rooms (Serena Building, Johnson Hall and Memorial Hall) that are on emergency systems.

Facilities Management apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause and will have the power restored to campus as soon as possible. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact Facilities Management at ext. 2214.