While Mississippi State administrators expected last week’s announcement by Gov. Haley Barbour to slash the state education budget due to declining revenue, it did not make it any easier to hear.
Barbour released a scaled-back 2010 budget calling for a $171.9 million cut across all state programs with $100 million coming from education. Overall, the budgetary decrease will include a 5 percent cut in state funding for MSU with a warning from the governor: More cuts may be coming.
With less money flowing in and no end to the recession in sight, deans and department heads are facing tough financial decisions on how to cut corners. For university leaders who do not want to cut faculty or stipends, the answer may lie through creative thinking and programs.
The College of Arts & Sciences, MSU’s largest college, is unveiling a pilot program which enables incoming freshmen who score a 28 or higher on the English portion of the ACT to bypass their first composition class. With fewer students taking both composition classes, it could net the college $45,000 in savings annually.
Arts and sciences dean Gary Myers said the program was created to benefit students and the university after correlating student’s composition grades to their ACT scores from the past six years.
“If students are able to score high enough on the ACT; then they are probably capable of doing well in that level of composition,” Myers said. “Students must be able to pass an accelerated [composition] course and then they will receive credit for both comp. classes.”
Myers said the pilot program was created in anticipation of funding cuts and will help offset the near million dollar shortfall seen in this year’s arts and sciences budget.
English department head Rich Raymond said the program will help but worries what may take place if further cuts follow.
“If we must release faculty and make up for their loss by increasing class sizes, then the quality of teaching will decline, especially in writing classes,” Raymond said. “MSU currently enrolls up to 24 in these classes. Raising that ceiling to 26, 28, 30 . would [not] work in writing classes.”
In addition to the accelerated composition program, the college is also looking into different ways to tighten its belt.
Myers said the college will soon convert its curriculum change application process to solely electronic, saving tens of thousands of dollars in paper costs. Myers said discussions have taken place about allowing students to take three to six hours of online courses to decrease the need for instructors and teaching assistants.
If more cuts are needed, Myers said the university should avoid laying off faculty at all costs.
“Once you start cutting faculty and programs, you begin this downward spiral effect that is hard to ever recover from,” he said. “Southern Miss is really hurting right now, and they are a prime example of what can happen when you begin to decrease faculty.”
As funding reductions are felt across the university, only one department was able to come out unscathed: Mitchell Memorial Library.
Dean of university libraries Francis Coleman said it is important to keep funding for the institution at the same levels as the last fiscal year.
“We’re very much involved with teaching and research here at MSU, so we’re fortunate to have a president who recognizes this and pledges his full support,” Coleman said. “Because our budget has not been reduced, we’re being very serious at making sure we spend our funds frugally.”
Mathematics and statistics department head Mohsen Razzaghi said he agrees with leaving the library budget untouched.
“Having a quality library is essential to maintain the caliber of our institution and is a key aspect to recruiting both faculty and students,” Razzaghi said. “While I wish other departments did not have to experience budget cuts, I can understand the library not having their budget cut.”
While efforts are taking place inside the university to maintain academic quality, much is also being done on the outside.
Nancy Loome, executive director for The Parents Campaign, a Mississippi-based educational advocacy group, said the governor should use a portion of the $300 million in reserve funds.
“The reserve funds are intended to keep Mississippi from suffering extremely adverse effects in difficult budget circumstances – for a rainy day,” Loome said. “If ever there were a difficult budget situation, we have one now, and the cuts to school budgets that the governor has implemented will create an even worse long-term problem for our children .”
With Barbour hinting at more budget cuts in the future, Loome said the state, which already ranks 49th in per-pupil funding, cannot sustain much more in downsizing.
“Further cuts would further devastate our schools,” she said. “High quality education requires a consistent, adequate investment; and economic prosperity for our state will never precede a high quality public education.”
Barbour’s press secretary could not be contacted.