MH: When people think about SBU, what do you want to come to their minds, first? LP: First? Quality. Service. Quality and Service. Students who come to us….I want them to expect to be taken care of.  I want them to get good advice from advisors.

MH: Unlike the typical enrollment process.

LP: Exactly. Most students that go to college…I mean, the typical thing is, they are shown a piece of paper, and they are pretty much left to figure it out on their own, with little or no advice. I think that advising students, is our number one task. Providing proper advisement. Because it’s their money, it’s their choice. They’ve chosen us, and I think that service to those students is the most important thing. And that means providing them with accurate information so that they can achieve their goals; that is, earn their degree.

     A lot of students come in here, and they don’t know what they want to do. So, our job becomes not just advising on a degree plan, but it becomes advising for life; making decisions, how to decide where to go, which direction to go. That’s a typical college question. But, it takes time. So, I want people to come here because they see a difference in us, and I want that difference to be service to the student

MH: That’s wonderful. Well, you know, even when you walk in the front set of offices  here, there is different feel to this place, this campus. And, I don’t think it is just the fact that it is a smaller town. I think that it is a caring atmosphere.

     People can read all about it in your literature, but what is it that makes SBU different? What is SBU all about? 

LP: Well, first of all, we are Southwest Baptist University. We are a part of Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar. I mean, we are part of their extended campus. Southwest Baptist University, anyone can go to the internet and find SBU’s mission statement, what they are all about. You can find that.

We represent SBU here, yes, we do. We have an obligation to represent that university, here in Mountain View. That’s part of what we’re all about. But we’re also about serving the unique needs of the students who come to us. The students that come to us are not the same kind of students that go to SBU in Bolivar.  So we become a little bit different.

We have to change what we do. We serve, primarily, what people would think is a non-traditional student. They have very different needs than the 18-20 year old. We have a lot of 18-20 year-olds here, but they are usually students who would be classified as non-traditional. They’ve got full-time jobs, part-time jobs, they’ve got a husband or a wife, they may have children. There are circumstances that make it impossible that make it impossible for them to go to a campus like SBU in Bolivar.

MH: Right.

LP: So what we are, is we are serving under the SBU banner in Mountain View, and we’ve tailored what we do to fit the kinds of students that come to us.

MH: That’s really nice to hear. Because you can’t a “cookie cutter” process.

LP: No, you cannot. It can’t be. Education likes to be, in general, “cookie cutter.” Duplicate this every place, and so forth. We do use the same kind of syllabus, the same text books. We use the same goals, the same objectives, the same kinds of standards that are on the Bolivar campus. They are here, when it comes to the academic side, yes. But when it comes to serving the individual student, it’s different. It has to be different. It has to be personal.

MH: Right. Because here, people know immediately whether or not you are being genuine and of a more personal nature.

LP: They can tell when they walk in the door! And they can tell it by the way they are treated by the first person they meet. I believe the first person they meet sets the tone for what happens next. I do. Even if it is on the telephone, a phone call. The attitude, the tone of voice, the courtesy. Did they get what they wanted? Did they get the information they wanted? So the first person they meet, sets the tone for what happens next. It’s critical.

				MH: That’s nice to hear, that you are not only aware of it, but you do something about it. LP: We’ve had to do something about it. We’re small, and it’s tough. It is not easy.   MH: Caring is not easy! Cookie cutter is easy.

LP: That’s easy! There’s a formula for that. It is very important who we employ. How will they treat a student? How will they relate to a student? How will they relate to and treat a faculty member? How will they relate to a faculty member? It has to be consistent. There can’t be favorites. It also takes time. You have to take time to find out about a student. Every student is different. And it’s okay to respond to those differences. In fact, it is important to respond to the differences.

     I don’t know if that is everything that makes us. We are first, Southwest Baptist University. That’s what we are. That’s the banner. That’s what is on the big sign and on the side of the door. So whatever SBU is, that’s we are. And we tailor it to meet our unique needs.  

MH: All of the classes take place right here on campus in Mountain View, don’t they?

LP: Yes. We have a unique situation here, where we have interactive television. We have supplemented what we are doing here, with this interactive television which is incredible technology. We have three interactive television classrooms which allows us to receive and send classes to other locations. We can receive a class that is taught on the bolivar campus. This really expands what we can do, what we are capable of.

     But, the degrees that we offer here are earned here. Students don’t have to travel to other locations. There may be some courses in some of our majors in which a student might have to go to the Salem campus just up the road to take a few of the upper level courses. But those are usually done in a way that’s fairly convenient for the student. But essentially, those degrees are available here. So yes, that’s a huge advantage. One of the things that a lot of people don’t understand, is that we offer Bachelor’s Degrees, here. There is some misunderstanding that we are a 2 year school, because we are small. We’re small, which, in the minds of a lot of people, equals a Community College.

MH: Yes, and that is the general impression of SBU here in Mountain View.

LP: Yes it is, I know that, and that’s not right. In fact, because we are Southwest Baptist University, again, it goes back to as the beginning,  because we are Southwest Baptist University, we say we offer Bachelor’s Degrees. SBU offers a few Associate Degrees. And we offer a few Associate

Degrees. But, our emphasis is on Bachelor’s Degrees. So, we are a Four year school. In the minds of a lot of people, that’s news! That is a distinction that has been difficult. There has been some confusion over that, because we are small. And, we are located in a very small town.

MH: I know that people can check it out online, Larry, but can you go over what degrees you do have available?

LP: I’m glad you asked that question! Because, we’ve got some new Degrees, for the first time ever. This is big. This is good news for us. SBU started here in Mountain View, in 1986. Summer of 1986. This is almost summer of 2008. In late ’89, I believe we had our first opportunity to offer our first degrees. We offered a Bachelor Of Science in Elementary Education, a Bachelor Of Science in Business Administration, and a Bachelor Of Science in Human Services. We have had those 3 degrees since 1989.

     Starting in the Fall of 2008, we will be adding 3 new degrees! So we have gone all this time, offering only those 3 degrees. Makes it very difficult to compete, when you’ve not had anything new to offer. So starting in the fall of 2008, on our publications and brochures and schedules, you will see in addition to those three Bachelor’s Degrees, a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and a Bachelor Of Science in Criminal Justice. In addition to those six Bachelor Degrees, we have always offered Associate Degrees in General Studies. Sometimes, a student just needs an Associate Degree. It is non-specific. We also offer an Associate Degree in Emergency Medical Technology.

     A student can come to us as an EMT or Paramedic, already having their license, or maybe they are working on their license. They can get an Associate Degree in Emergency Medical Technology, here. SBU will give that student thirty-six credit hours. In other words, they are saying that their Paramedic license is the equivalent of 36 credit hours. Multiply 36 times $135 per credit hour, and that’s significant. So, that’s more than half the degree. SBU is saying, if you are a Paramedic, you have accomplished something. For an EMT, they are awarded nine credit hours.   

MH: That’s very exciting! I see a lot of possibilities.

LP: Oh, I do too! Another thing that we have done, just last August, SBU has entered into an Articulation Agreement with Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, which says to a student at Three Rivers, ‘you can come to SBU, you can transfer everything that you have taken, you can go seamlessly into any of these degrees that we offer here in Mountain View. It’s an agreement that allows those students to go, without hitches, without serious problems. Without any kind of serious transcript problem. There may be some course that will have to be taken, but in general, students transferring from Community Colleges to four year Colleges needs to be done smoothly.

MH: I know that a lot of students don’t realize the problems that can arise with transfers and credits.

LP: There are a lot of difficulties. Transfer students encounter problems. You are right. But this is good for students at Three Rivers, and we hope that it is good for us. That is our very first Articulation Agreement with a Community College, and we need to do more of those.

MH: You have financial aid packages available. Students just need to come in and talk with you about it.

LP: Yes. We have a financial aid office. We have a student services coordinator. Paula Rainey handles all of that. Financial aid is always a major issue. We always recommend that students get their financial aid established before they do any of the other things, because they need that doubt removed. “Can I afford it?” “Are there sources of money I can access, to allow me to do this?” If there is any doubt in their mind, they won’t be here. So yes, we have all the standard financial aid resources here, and we have scholarships. We have scholarship funds. We are very fortunate, here. We have the support of several organizations who provide scholarship money for our students.

			MH: That’s terrific news. LP: Yes, very surprising. First National Bank, for one, and there are others. We have other individual private donors who have set up scholarship funds. We disperse those monies, each year. There is money available for students, and we are very competitively priced.

     So, it is affordable.  It can be done. Money is not a major obstacle.

MH: That does have to be taken care of in the mind of the student. And too, I’m impressed by what you were talking about earlier, regarding students who come, not knowing exactly what they want to do, helping them with a general course of study. A lot of universities will say, well, ‘you don’t know exactly what you want to do, I’m sorry but I can’t really help you.’ They feel unwelcome. They may think gosh, I’m sorry that I wasted your time and I won’t do it again, and I really don’t need a college education, after all. There is no real encouragement.

LP: The one thing that I probably enjoy most, is discussing that issue with students. ‘I think I need a college degree. I want to try, but I don’t know if I can. I don’t even know what I want to do, but I really would like to try. But, I don’t know where to start.’ That’s where I would rather be, in that situation, than in any other situation at work.

MH: The name, Southwest Baptist University, people are naturally going to think first and foremost of religion.

LP: Right.

MH: But what about those people who not only don’t have a particular religion, but it is not the main focus in their lives? Do you want them to feel welcome, as well?

LP: Oh my, yes! We pretty much go out of our way to let them know that they are welcome. One of the things that is a distinctive here, students do not choose to come to Southwest Baptist University in Mountain View primarily because it is a Christian-based university. We are. We have Christian principles, and we show that banner unashamedly. It sets the tone for the principles that we go by. It guides our decisions, it guides our principles. It also determines how we select faculty and staff. But it does not affect the way that students are admitted, at all. We know that students select us primarily because we’re here! We’re here, or we happen to offer a degree that they want. We make sure that our faculty members are Christians. We want them to integrate that instruction into the classroom. We want them to integrate their faith into the classroom in whatever way they are comfortable.

     And we want our students to be welcome, regardless of whether they have other beliefs. And we do. If you look at our make-up, our demographics, you’ll see that students don’t choose us because they are Baptist. They just don’t. And, we know that! We like it. I like that, personally. 

	MH: More diversity. LP: More diversity. I love the fact that we’ve got people from so many different backgrounds. One of the courses students have to take, is Old Testament History or New Testament History. For many students, that is their first introduction to Christianity. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to introduce this to them in an academic setting.

     Our instructors recognize that not all students have the same understanding that they do. I think they do an excellent job.

MH: I’m glad to hear that pressure.

LP: There is not. None.

MH: You know, that if you don’t have a mission for God, then you have no place here.

LP: We welcome students who do, but we also welcome student who do not have that as a part of their life. We hope that while they are here, they will see a difference in our instruction. We hope that they get introduced to Christianity and to a relationship with God. Yes, we hope that. I mean, that is certainly a goal. Of course that’s a goal, and it has happened. It has happened countless times. Students’ lives have been changed because they had to take an Old Testament or New Testament class. And that’s good.

MH: You’re piquing my interest! What don’t I know?

LP: Well, and see! Students come in thinking that it will be like a Sunday School class, and it’s not! They quickly learn, ‘Oh, this is not Sunday School, this is deep. And, they like it. It’s meat. They get some meat, for a change. And if they are a student, they appreciate that. Students appreciate meat. They appreciate real information, real knowledge. That’s what we strive to give them, so that they can make wise decisions.

MH: Not just this dry, boring, uninteresting nonsense. It’s like most people treat a job, nowadays. “Is it 5 o’clock yet?” “Is it time to go?” And when the customer asks them for something, they in effect say, “what, do you think I work here?” And if you apply that to a student, “well, I guess I’ve got a B or a C, and that’s good enough. At least I’ve got my degree and I can go now.”

LP: You will always have some students like that. We teach to the students who are here because they are students and they want to learn. And, they have a degree and a goal in mind. That’s who we teach to.

MH: That ties in with another question for you: Sometimes, people are pretty cynical about getting a degree. The original idea of a university meant a rounded education of the person. But to many people now, that means parties and a good paycheck. How do you address that?

			LP: That’s a great question. I believe that other people, wiser people, always say it better than me. So in answer to that question, I just point you statement in SBU’s catalogue in their General Education section that says: “Why do we want you to have a wide variety of courses?” There has to be a reason. “The General Education program at Southwest Baptist University introduces students to areas of study designed to foster intellectual inquiry and breadth of knowledge.

     Intellectual inquiry. In other words, the objective is not to get facts. Okay? You can get facts when you take history, government, algebra, and biology. But intellectual inquiry is deeper than that. It goes beyond that. I like that. Inquiry. That implies a question. Why? How? Who? How does that relate to me? What’s the connection between what I have just read, what I am doing, and where I am wanting to go?  I think that nails it. It also says this: “These courses help equip students to be successful and educated citizens.” Citizens. We look at students as citizens of Mountain View, of West Plains, Mountain Grove, all the communities around here. Which means, if you are a citizen, you have a responsibility. That’s the way we look at it. Educated citizens of a global community. In summary it also says, “The General Education program at SBU seeks to provide students with knowledge, experience, skills, and spiritual insights that are foundational to a Christ-centered education and that supports success in academic disciplines.” Education is so much more than parties, games, and things like that. It is preparation for right living. It provides a foundation, and yes, I think it is necessary.

MH: You mean there is still such a thing as right living?

LP: Yes, there is. And students get exposed to a lot of different opinions and views, theories that are very different from their own. They are sometimes forced to examine their own beliefs, their own theories, their own preconceived ideas. They are challenged. I like that, and I think it is important.

MH: You don’t want to just turn out someone who is a good soldier who follows orders.

LP: No. Here again, I still think the key to the whole thing, the answer to the question is, “designed to foster intellectual inquiry.” And, a wide range of knowledge.

MH: That is so important.

LP: It is important! I think it makes you a better employee. So students who say, “Why do I have to take algebra? I’ll never use it.” “Why do I need to take English Literature? I’ll never use it.” I hear that. “What do I have to take government? Government is boring.” Or, “I don’t like politicians.”

     Okay. It all goes back to training students to be educated and successful citizens. You want to be able to make an educated decision on voting. And what principles do you use? Yes, I think it is important. I do.

MH: How can students best use their time? Many people don’t realize what valuable opportunities they have, while they are in a particular situation. They look back on it years later and say, “gosh, I didn’t realize the opportunity I had why didn’t I use that?” How can people best use their time?

LP: The number one thing that a student should do,

It’s really simple. When I look at a student, I say “Okay, here’s where you start. Start with the general education requirements. These are requirements that this university requires you to take, regardless of what major you eventually choose. So the question is, where do you spend your time and how do you spend your time. To begin with, my mission is to complete my general education requirements. What are the general educational requirements? They are in black and white, and students need to know where they are. And, they need to have them in front of them. They need a file, a college file. They need a college box, or a box that says “SBU.” They need to organize everything about “college.” And, they need to put it in one place.

	I need to know exactly how I am going to finance this. You can determine that. You can determine how you are going to finance your education. You can. You have control over that. You also can control where you start. And you also have total control over how fast you attack this mountain.

The student determines when they take, and how often, how much. It depends on their circumstances; whether they work, their family situations; lifestyle decisions. They have control over that, so I tell them that. You are in the driver’s seat over this. We are going to show you the road, but you are going to determine how fast you travel. You need to have all the resources ready to get on that road. Your finances, for example.  You also need to be able to organize your time, before you start this adventure. If you are taking a three hour course, you need to assume that you need to spend another two hours for every one hour in class. What kind of decisions are you going to have to make, in order to allow that to happen? That means you’re going to have to make some lifestyle changes. You’re going to be doing something totally different next semester when you start, than right now. I don’t know. You’ll have to give up something: Change, alter, reschedule. Because, you’re going to have to insert class time, study time, commute time, reading time. Okay? Two hours for every one hour you are in class. Well that’s a lot of time! And that is sometimes a huge shock to a student, they haven’t prepared for that. If you don’t tell them that, you’ve done them a disservice. Here again, that goes back to taking care of the student and telling them, “here is what you’re going to need to do.” Plan these things and prioritize. Okay. So how do you best manage your time while you are a student at SBU? You know what you need to start with. You need to know how to organize your time. You will make changes. You have to. You can’t start this little trip without making a change. Impossible. If you don’t make changes, if you don’t change your priorities, you will become frustrated. And, you might even drop out. Well, you don’t want to do that. And we don’t want them to do that. They came here with the goal of getting a degree. So our goal becomes, how do you best advise that student to get there. You warn them. You prepare them. You give them all the tools that they need. So after they have completed their general education requirements, I tell them, “you’re going to camp out on those two pages!” That makes it easy. Some of those decisions are made for you. Isn’t that nice? You don’t have to figure it out. Well, that’s the whole idea. It needs to be programmed for you. It’s not totally regimented, because you still have control. But we do tell you what you’re going to take.

     Then, the very next best thing I think a student needs to do is, once they decide what their major is going to be, spend a great deal of time with the advisor for that program. You spend time with that advisor, and you get very, very familiar with the requirements of that major. That means talking with that advisor. Spending time with the advisor.  Spending time with those instructors in your chosen major.

     Students that ask questions, do better. “What do I need to do?” “What does this mean?” “Why do I take that?” “When is this going to be offered?” “Can I substitute this course for that course?” Students that ask questions, avoid problems. I also tell students to become very familiar with the University Catalogue. Most people look at this and say, “oh my, it looks complicated, big, and what good is it to me?” Well, it is very important. Many of the questions that students have, they can find the answers to in this catalogue.

     I spend a lot of time with a new student. I go through this catalogue. I tell them about the course descriptions back here, and how to interpret this. It looks confusing to a new student seeing it for the first time. So I give them an example. “Okay, here’s how you use it.” Find out what is required of you. Ask yourself if you need a particular course, if and when the University is offering it and, am I eligible for it? Those are the three questions. You can look that up. I show them where they can find the answer to that. I tell them that eventually, you are going to get comfortable in making some of these decisions on your own, if you ask those three questions. And I show them, here is where you can find the answers to those questions. You give the student all of this information first thing, but then you also prepare them to make the decisions on their own.

MH: So you encourage self-responsibility. LP: Totally. I use the term “taking ownership.” Taking ownership of their degree requirements. MH: How do you get students involved? Sometimes, people who do care, don’t get involved

because they feel that they cannot truly make a difference, anyway.  Any involvement in an activity is almost an outside thing. For engagement with life to be truly meaningful, it has to be on a personal level. And if people feel that well, what I do, or say or think doesn’t really matter, so why should I get involved anyway?

LP: Okay. That’s a great question. This may take a while to answer. When we talk about getting students involved, here, we are talking about primarily involved or engaged in what is happening with their class, and then in their major field. Because here, we do not have clubs, extra curricular opportunities. Those things don’t exist, here. We don’t have many opportunities for students to exercise service projects, things like that. Schools will tell you that students will identify with a school when they can give and contribute work, be involved in the things that the school is doing. That is a great way to build loyalty at a school. I personally did that when I was in college. That was something that I valued, so I did get involved in a lot of things at my college. As a result, I have a pretty fierce loyalty to the college that I attended.

     For one thing, in this day and age here in Mountain View, our students don’t have the time. Most of our students are full-time parents or full-time employees. They have time to get to class, but then they have other responsibilities that they just left. Usually, when class is over, they’ve got more responsibilities to attend to. Okay, so that’s the nature of what we do here. Still, your point is good and it is important, because you’re not going to value your education if you don’t get involved in those classes. So, how do you get involved in a class? I think it is better to ask, how do you get involved with the major that you have chosen, with your chosen field? Students have an opportunity in most every major that we have here. There is something called an internship. There are opportunities to actually be on the job, to be exposed to that particular major. An internship is a great way to all of a sudden have your eyes open to the fact that this is what you are going to be doing. Education majors are required to do these little internships all through their career. And then they are required to do the major thing, their student teaching. But I think what you are really getting at, is going beyond the classroom requirements. That takes personal motivation. It also takes a student with the insight to know that that is important.

MH: It’s a two-way relationship.

LP: The student has to understand that taking things beyond just the immediate classroom………the big answers are found beyond the classroom. They really are. You’re getting a foundation. You’re getting the basics, in the classroom. I think of our business majors. A Business Major can take more than one internship. When you are doing an internship in a couple of different kinds of businesses, you are going to get a much better idea of what is to be expected, and what it is really like out there. But you’ve got to be motivated to do that. And I can tell you that the students that seek those internships, especially in business, are the ones that it turns out well for. Also, we have for example, in our Human Services Major, we have internships that are available. And students who seem to be really satisfied with their degree, are those students who have gone out and deliberately found an internship doing something that they think they would like to do. A lot of them discover that that’s not what I want to do! And that’s what it is for. That’s the other reason why it is helpful. I really believe that getting involved, becoming engaged what is happening in the classroom in a major, is an issue of personal responsibility and personal accountability. It has to be. I believe that is where the responsibility lies. In the curriculum and the instruction, the opportunities are given. There are many resources out there for students to pursue. It’s not easy. It just doesn’t “come” to the student. They have to go out and seek it. It’s difficult! It honestly is. But I know that the struggle to find it, is necessary.  So, you encourage them to do that.

	MH: Too many people are looking for a savior of the wrong kind. They either want someone to do it for them, or they think, “my perfect opportunity is going to come,” “prince charming or my queen is going to arrive,” something is going to come along and rescue me. That’s a very passive stance.

LP: Unfortunately, even if your personality is not aggressive, there comes a time when you really have to take responsibility for what you do next. You really do. But that’s what we are here for! And, to let them know that that they have to do that. Some students have perhaps never had to do that. Our role is to let them know that, not telling them to do it, but to show them how it is going to benefit them and why it is important.  And not do it from a condescending standpoint, but from a supporting stance. “I know you don’t understand that, and that’s fine that you don’t understand it.”  That’s what my job is. My job is to show you that. To help you get there. And, there are resources.

     One of my best friends, is a physician. One of the things that I admire most about him, is that he knows exactly where his limits are, professionally. He is very quick to recommend, that you go seek advice and wisdom from another person. I have a great deal of respect for him. I try to follow that. It’s been kind of an inspiration to me. I admire that. To recognize your own limits. To not think that you have all the answers, and to even know that you don’t have the answer, but to try to find those sources or other people that you can refer a student to, to get those answers. And it takes a lot of time to do that!  But you have to remember, it is that student, and you want them to be successful and you want them to feel good about their experience at SBU.

MH: Thank you for your time and expertise, Mr. Price!