State Tech to cancel Spring Break

Published on September 22, 2020

During today’s special State Tech Board of Regent Meeting, State Tech has announced it will cancel spring break next semester in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This early decision will give both students and employees time to plan for the change in the schedule. State Tech will begin the spring semester on January 5^th, and end the spring semester one week early with graduation now set for May 1^st.

“The decision to cancel Spring Break hedges on the belief that we will still be dealing with COVID-19 next March.  I hope I am wrong but it just doesn’t look like we will be to a place where we feel comfortable sending students off campus for a full week right before the end of the semester rush.  While we may be the first in Missouri, a number of schools in other states are already doing this.  I suspect this will become the norm for this academic year. We just want to give students and employees time to plan,” said State Tech President Dr. Shawn Strong.

During the meeting it was also announced that all State Tech employees will receive a 3-percent raise. This decision comes after the college experienced 4 straight years of record breaking enrollment numbers.

“The last several years everyone at State Tech has focused on financial sustainability.   I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish that has resulted in the ability to give a much deserved raise.  We have been diligent about looking at our state money as “one time money,” or a funding source that we can’t control, and tuition as “reoccurring money” that we can control and use to give raises.  The cut in state appropriation has hit us hard with regard to one-time expenses like maintenance and will definitely impact our ability to continue to grow.  At the same time it is so important to take care of the employees that make us the best two-year college in the country.  We are able to use our growth in tuition to make giving a raise possible,” said President Strong.

Finally, the State Tech Board of Regents approved a new degree option called Power Generation Technology. The Power Generation Technology program offers students the opportunity to obtain leading edge education that will put graduates in demand by employers in a wide range of power-generating facilities.