MSU President Robert “Doc” Foglesong hinted Wednesday at a possible increase in tuition for the upcoming year. The increase would be due to a flat state budget for higher education laced with increases in expenses, he explained at a general faculty meeting at the Colvard Student Union.Foglesong focused on the language of the budget, and said the wording will drive up expenses for the university.
“Hidden in the language of the budget is the requirement for each state agency to pay for the increase in health care premiums,” he said. “That is going to cost MSU about half a million dollars.”
According to Foglesong, the budget does not include accommodations for inflation, which will cost MSU an additional $2 million. Also, he expects that the university will not be able to receive any further revenue from bonds.
“The governor announced that bonds will now only be used in circumstances that create jobs,” Foglesong said. “That does not bode well for university systems.”
In order to counteract the rising costs, Foglesong said while he will focus on finding more revenue through making the university more efficient, tuition might have to be adjusted to accommodate the increased expenses.
“We’ve been asked by IHL [Institution of Higher Learning] to provide what would be a reasonable tuition to counter any deficit,” he said. “I don’t know what that is yet, but my hope is that we have a very small increase, if nothing else, to cover inflation.”
He said the actual amount of state financial assistance MSU will receive will drive the need to raise tuition.
“I hope we can keep it [tuition increase] as low as possible,” he said.
Foglesong said the university cannot afford to be hamstrung by budget concerns.
He also discussed a business strategy based on growth and introduced a structure of two tiers concerning budget priorities that he will give to legislators in Jackson.
“We’re bringing in more students, and therefore more revenue through tuition that is shared with you, the faculty,” Foglesong said.
He said MSU has turned around the stagnant enrollment rates of the past.
The two tiers of budget priorities not only place emphasis on covering the holes in revenue that could come from the state budget but also make hiring additional faculty a top priority.
“This year, my number one priority will be adding on additional faculty,” he said.
The second tier includes other priority spending that Foglesong believes is required for the growth of MSU, including more funding for the Mitchell Memorial Library.
“I intend to go in with a list of things I think are requirements,” he said. “I do not want to cave in to the idea of ‘Well, if you are not getting enough money then don’t tell us what you need.’ We need to go in every year and say what we need, things like money for renovations and repairs.”
Stephen Middleton, director of the African-American studies program, said he hopes MSU can overcome any financial challenges it will be facing.
“We want to keep tuition affordable, but we need the adequate resources to keep the school running,” he said. “In my experiences at other places, schools have worked with legislatures to help find fitting solutions.”
Darrel Schmitz, department head of geosciences, said Foglesong covered all of his points in the address concisely.
“‘Doc’ covered a lot of points that MSU is looking at for the upcoming year,” Schmitz said. “The budget is a worry, but that is in the political realm now.”
Foglesong also addressed the recent weather and the effectiveness of MSU’s Maroon Alert System.
“I can say right now that it is working great,” he said. “I was in Tyler, Texas, the other day when bad weather was rolling through the MSU area. I was even receiving e-mails telling me to duck.”
He said previous incidents have helped officials adapt the Maroon Alert accordingly.
“There was a severe weather incident a while back,” Foglesong said. “When we said to take cover, what that meant to a significant amount of people was ‘get in your car and drive home.'”
An on-campus traffic jam was created. It caused a thirty-minute period in which emergency vehicles would not have been able to navigate across campus if needed, he said.
Foglesong advised faculty to continue to be on alert and prepared for any situation.
“My sense is after last night [Tuesday’s severe weather], we have been lucky,” Foglesong said. “We have dodged tornadoes in the last two months. I am convinced though that if something does happen, we will be ready to respond.