SMSU-West Plains Expands Facilities and Classes in Mountain Grove Southwest Missouri State University- West Plains (SMSU-WP) was accomplishing its mission of providing quality educational opportunities to south-central Missouri, but officials believed more could be done to bring education closer to the people they were serving. An idea was hatched and, just in time for the spring 1995 semester, SMSU-WP established a campus in Mtn. Grove at the SMSU Research Campus. A total of 60 students took the 11 courses that were offered that first semester both at the research campus and at Mtn. Grove High School. The innovative idea took root, and in 1999, as enrollment continued to grow at the Mtn. Grove campus, SMSU-WP was given authority by the Higher Learning Commission to offer the complete Associate of Arts in General Studies degree at Mtn. Grove. With the success of the Mtn. Grove campus as encouragement, SMSU-WP officials worked with officials in Houston to begin offering courses at Houston High School in spring 2000. Once again, the idea took root, and more classes were added to the schedule as enrollment increased and stabilized. The success of the campuses in both communities prompted officials in each to approach SMSU-WP officials last year about further expanding the campuses. In Mtn. Grove, the new facility at 401 E. 17th St. came about with the help of Charles Schumacher and First Home Savings Bank, Silvey said. Schumacher helped secure the former Missouri Division of Family Services facility for the new SMSU-WP campus after DFS moved to its new facility last year. And, Schumacher approached his bank's board of directors and asked them if they would be willing to establish a charitable gift to the SMSU Foundation that would pay the $750 per month rental fee on the former DFS facility through Nov. 1, 2008. They agreed, and with the support of a number of civic leaders who donated over $100,000 toward the building's renovation, SMSU-WP moved into its new Mtn. Grove Campus facility in March. "Had it not been for his foresight and wisdom, this new facility would not have happened," Silvey said. The expansions at Mtn. Grove and Houston come at a very opportune time for SMSU-WP, Thomas said. "At our current growth rates, the West Plains campus will reach full classroom saturation in 2005. With no state capital appropriation on the horizon, it was critical that we find private dollars to help provide needed classroom space. West Plains has been particularly generous to our campus for many years, but there simply was not the private dollars available to help us continue to expand here. Those dollars were available in Houston and Mtn. Grove, allowing us to expand our programs in those two cities and better serve our seven-county region. The additional classroom space in these two communities takes some of the pressure off West Plains, giving us an additional one to two years before we reach classroom capacity." Through the SMSU Academic Outreach Program and the Mtn. Grove and Houston campuses, it is easy to see that the legacy of SMSU-WP's founding fathers remains intact. "The spark that created these three programs is the same spark the people of West Plains had 40 years ago when they established SMSU-WP," Silvey said.