On Southeast Missouri State University
School/University Description
o you see yourself in the White House? Three Southeast students did, and one even worked for the president's chief of staff. Do you see yourself caring for sick patients, assisting athletes on the playing field or running research in a clinical lab? Our students have had internships or clinical experiences with syndicated newspapers, international corporations, major hospitals and innovative school districts.
In academic language, we call it "experiential learning." What it means to you is moving your learning experience out of the traditional classroom, involving you in independent thinking and learning, problem-solving in an area of developing expertise, and activities rather than reading in a textbook, and working on relevant or useful projects. This could cover a broad spectrum of activities: workplace training and development, e.g. internship, discipline-specific research, clinical experiences, training in practical skills, performance and personal growth.
Southeast is distinguished for its intellectual challenges and range of learning opportunities. Our curriculum is structured around the belief that the best possible career training is a broad-based liberal arts education that emphasizes critical thinking, effective communication and other skills that are needed for life. Along with those skills, internships and experiential learning are strongly emphasized with more than 96 percent of all majors having an internship or clinical experience built into the curriculum. This distinctive education Southeast students receive is why they do well in their chosen professions.
Southeast offers an experiential learning component across all disciplines. A third of our departments require an internship for graduation and all departments involve their majors in some form of experiential learning. Our Career Linkages office posts internship opportunities for students from a network of businesses, government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and educational institutions. Job postings are updated daily.
School/Higher Education Center History
# Founded in 1873, Southeast Missouri State University has a proud history of excellence in education. First founded as a teacher's college, the institution has grown into a comprehensive University with more than 150 academic programs in five colleges.
# Academic Hall, the copper-domed building which sits in the middle of campus on the highest hill in Cape Girardeau, was built on the site of a Civil War Fort. Completed in 1905, Academic Hall was constructed to replace the Normal School building that was destroyed by fire in 1902. It was originally the primary structure on the campus, containing classrooms, a gymnasium and the library.
# In 1899, Southeast's fifth president, Willard Vandiver, coined the phrase "show me," which became our unofficial state motto. The most widely known legend attributes the phrase to Vandiver who became a U.S. Congressman after his Southeast presidency. Vandiver served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1897 to 1903. While a member of the U.S. House Committee on Naval Affairs, Vandiver attended an 1899 naval banquet in Philadelphia. In a speech there, he declared, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." Regardless of whether Vandiver coined the phrase, it is certain that his speech helped to popularize the saying.
