Though Mississippi State University still faces budget cuts, the university has a solid plan for coping with the reductions, MSU President Mark Keenum said Wednesday at the General Faculty Meeting.
He said MSU was originally preparing for a 15 percent budget cut next year, but indications from the Mississippi Institutes of Higher Learning and Gov. Haley Barbor’s budget places reductions in the 3 to 4 percent range.
Keenum said in the coming fiscal year, MSU will face rising costs and a decline in state support, although not as large a drop as anticipated.
“If next year’s cut turns out to be in the 3 to 4 percent range, we will have reasonable prospects of being able to fund a salary adjustment and speed up efforts to hire addition faculty to accommodate growing enrollment,” he said.
Keenum said MSU’s top priorities are major renovations to Lee Hall, an expansion of the Wise Center to add more classroom space and a new classroom building. He said he hopes the current legislative session will produce a good bond bill for capital improvements.
He said The Board of Trustees has approved the initiation to plan for Arbor Hall, a new, 388-bed residence hall to be adapted from plans used for South Hall, which is expected to open in the fall of 2012.
“Our need for more campus housing is urgent. Last semester we turned away, for lack of space, about 400 students who wanted to live on campus,” Keenum said. “Obviously, demand for student housing will increase as our enrollment grows.”
Keenum said parking pressure will continue to increase as enrollment does.
“Just to maintain our current ratio of parking spaces to parking permits issued, we will need 1,200 more spaces within the next two or three years,” he said. “I’m told 1,200 spaces is the equivalent of 10 acres. We could perhaps pave another expanse of that size somewhere on the outskirts of campus, but the greatest need is for parking in proximity to the central campus.”
Keenum said in August, the Board of Trustees approved building a parking garage on campus. An architect has been brought on board, but many of the project’s details have yet to be determined. Once a proposal from the architect has been created, MSU will seek broad-based campus feedback on the details.
“Whether we talk about housing, parking, classroom space or any number of other functions, we know that the campus will continue to grow, and we have no choice but to be thoughtful and farsighted as we plan for the growth,” he said.
Keenum said even though MSU is preparing for long-term student body growth, MSU is also focusing on the immediate and future need for more faculty members.
“Our most immediate need, in the wake of last year’s retirements, was to put teachers in the classrooms,” he said. “A little over 25 instructional faculty members on the Starkville campus retired last summer, along with five academic administrators.”
Last month, Keenum met with the House and Senate appropriations committees in the Mississippi State Legislature, he said.
“I reported to them that we’re doing more with less, and squeezing all we can out of every taxpayer dollar,” he said. “I reminded them that our state support has been reduced by more than 13 percent since the start of the 2010 fiscal year, and that we’ve gone almost four years without raises, which, over time, jeopardizes our ability to recruit and retain the faculty and staff who ensure the quality of our teaching, research and service.”
He said he believes the legislature understands the importance of keeping higher education strong, as the state becomes financially stable.
“My hope and intent is that there will be raises for the coming year,” Keenum said. “While we cannot expect any direct help in that regard from the current legislative session, we will do the best we can by drawing on our existing resources and planned growth.”
He said the university’s StatePride, a fundraising initiative started in 2009 to provide student scholarships and faculty support, has raised almost $52 million toward its four-year $100 million goal. He said another round of faculty awards through this program is planned for the fall.
Keenum said if MSU continues to grow at the same rate as the past two years, it will soon reach the upper limits of capacity.
“We anticipate another record enrollment next fall, when we fully expect to surpass the 20,000-student milestone,” he said. “We believe the next freshman class will also be of record size, while ACT scores and high school grade averages continue to improve.”
MSU is on schedule for reaffirmation of accreditation in 2014 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Keenum said.
“The pace of activity will pick up as we go through this year and the next,” he said. “Program assessment is ongoing, and we will soon be structuring a campuswide effort to create a Quality Enhancement Plan focused on improving some aspect of undergraduate education.”
He said Timothy Chamblee, Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness director, submitted the university’s Five Year Interim Report following up on the previous accreditation review and received a positive response from the SACS.
Keenum said it is hard to believe he has recently completed his second year as president and looks forward to more years here.
“My family and I continue to be overwhelmed by the warmth with which we have been welcomed, and as I get to know a wider range of faculty and staff and keep on learning about the operations of this complex institution, I am proud and impressed with the quality and dedication of the people who make up Mississippi State, and more inspired to work as hard as I can to provide the resources you need to continue the outstanding work you do,” he said.