Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum spoke Monday at the Faculty Senate spring meeting about upcoming changes as a result of continued budget cuts.
He said MSU should anticipate an 8 percent cut through this year, and an additional 5 percent by the end of fiscal year 2011. On top of this total 13 percent, MSU should brace for an additional 10 percent cut in fiscal year 2012.
“This is nearly a quarter of the budget,” he said. “These are some tough problems, but I think we have a handle on them.”
With federal stimulus money running low and further cuts coming from the governor’s office, the budget changes were no shock to the senate.
Keenum announced Monday university administrators are seriously considering the merger of the College of Forest Resources and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Also Monday, the Efficiencies and Innovations Committee, a group tasked with finding ways for MSU to cut the unnecessary, has finished its report and will release it next week. Keenum said the committee has found alternatives that may save up to $37 million for MSU, but until its release, it remains to be seen what is to be cut, and what is exactly considered unnecessary.