At the Mississippi State University Robert Holland Faculty Senate meeting on Friday, Mark Keenum, MSU president, discussed plans to implement a $50 building fee for full-time students and build a new classroom building, and Louis D’Abramo, dean of the Graduate School and associate vice president for Academic Affairs, said graduate school enrollment is down about 2.7 percent.
    Keenum said the $50 building fee proposal will be submitted to the Institutions of Higher Learning Board for approval this week. He said the fee will be used for repairs and building maintenance on campus.
    ”We looked at other universities, and most of our peer institutions have some fee for capital needs and improvements-and much higher than $50,” Keenum said. “We do have some very expansive needs for our campus from a facilities’ standpoint, and we think this is just a fair way for us to have the resources that we need to meet those needs and also deal with just day-to-day repairs.”
    Keenum said MSU budgets about $3 million for building maintenance but expenses usually exceed that limit. If approved, Keenum said the fee will generate about $1.7 million per year.
    Also Friday, Keenum said MSU received IHL approval to build a new classroom facility. He said a committee has been appointed with both faculty, staff and student input to help design the building. He said the building will have state-of-the-art, high-tech classrooms with about 180 parking spots underground.
    ”There will be large, auditorium style classrooms to very small meeting rooms and then study rooms for students,” he said. “The students had a big input in helping us design it, so it could be very student-friendly.”
    Keenum said the building will have three stories above ground, and he said he is pleased with the schematic design.
    ”The architectural façade that the architect has done is a beautiful job because the building will resemble what Old Main looked like,” he said.
    Keenum said the estimated cost is around $37 million, and the building will be located directly behind the YMCA building. He said construction is scheduled to begin next year and is expected to take 18 months to two years to complete.
    D’Abramo said MSU’s graduate student population over the past 10 years steadily increased until 2012. This year the graduate school enrollment decreased about 2.7 percent.
    ”One reason for this is that we had a reduction in the number of distance education students, and that’s probably due to the fact that the whole program was in flux,” he said. “But now we have a center for distance education, so I think those applications and the number of students in distance education will accordingly rise.”
    D’Abramo said another reason for the decrease is unclassified graduate students, which are students who enter graduate school without associating with any particular program or discipline. He said the economy contributes to students’ lack of commitment to a program due to lack of funding, but he said he is optimistic that enrollment will rise next year.