Southeast Missouri State University officials did not get the $37 million to renovate aging science labs that they had hoped for out of a proposed statewide bond issue that failed in the last legislative session.

But the school is rejoicing over a $2 million grant it has been awarded from the U.S. Department of Education that will at least get it started on fixing up some of the labs.

The five-year, competitive grant will help the school renovate the 50-year-old science labs in Magill Hall. It will also go towards equipment and instruments, faculty development and technology support for improving life science education.

Ken Dobbins, the president of SEMO, said that renovating the science labs has been one of the school’s highest priorities. While the grant money will not cover all of the university’s needs, it will help, Dobbins said.

“We can start to do some of it,” Dobbins said.

SEMO applied for the federal grant last year, but did not get it then. So officials reapplied this year. SEMO is one of 57 schools that received new grants this year, he said.

“This competitive grant generated a great amount of interest from programs all over the nation, so it is a tremendous accomplishment for the University to secure this award,” U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson said in a university news release.

Chris McGowan, SEMO’s dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, said that some of the funds will be used to retrain faculty to use newer teaching techniques, including inquiry-based learning.

“One of the goals of the grant is to increase the retention of students by changing how we teach the science of biology and by replacing old outdated laboratories with new state-of-the-art facilities,” McGowan said in the release.

SEMO is not alone in searching for more dollars to renovate its science labs. Another prominent local example is UMSL, which has been trying for a decade to get state dollars to renovate its Benton-Stadler science complex. While UMSL thought it had finally secured state funding for the project, Gov. Jay Nixon put the project on hold a couple weeks ago to help fill a last-minute state budget shortfall.

And while the statewide bond issue failed, all hope has not been lost. There is still the chance it could be resurrected. Nixon has expressed interest in doing so.

Whatever the money source might be, Dobbins said, “I’m hoping that the next cycle the General Assembly and the governor will be able to fund capital appropriations for higher ed and other needs in the state of Missouri.”

The Grade is the St. Louis region’s premier blog on education and child welfare. To read other recent posts, go to www.stltoday.com/thegrade.