Recommendations for ways to tighten Mississippi State’s budget were released Wednesday by the President’s Efficiencies and Innovations Committee.
In a previous article in The Reflector on Jan. 29, MSU President Mark Keenum said the committee wants to do what is best for MSU.
“The committee was formed back in October with the charge of coming up with ideas on how we can move our university forward to become more efficient and more focused in what we do, while maintaining the quality of our services and our programs,” he said.
Hart Bailey, MSU Faculty Senate president, said the recommendations made by the committee are aimed at reducing costs for the university and being more efficient.
“The recommendations set up the opportunity for the next step and for us to see how each recommendation will affect the university,” he said.
Some of the major changes noted in the report include the merger of the College of Forest Resources and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the recommendation to develop a multi-year tuition plan to enhance budget planning. The report also proposed reorganization and/or elimination of some programs on campus.
Bailey said all of the recommendations made were consolidated from ideas and suggestions made by the university community. He said the committee is looking for feedback from the MSU to see how the community feels about the possible changes.
“This is just the second part of the process to let the university comment on the recommendations released,” Bailey said.
Outgoing Student Association President Blake Jeter said he thinks the recommendations from the report will benefit the university and will improve MSU over the next few years.
“The result in the end is going to be a leaner university that is more efficient with taxpayer dollars of Mississippi and well-positioned to grow and be a leading university after the cuts,” Jeter said. “I want to encourage, if I can, people to go online and to read through it and understand the magnitude of what we’re facing and if there is something that specifically impacts your program or area to leave a comment and give honest feedback because it will be used in implementation.”
Jeter said he hopes the MSU community will participate in the feedback process to help the committee know what students, faculty and staff want to see change.
“This is a very interesting time and a great time to be at MSU and the recommendations to come out in this committee truly reflect the breadth of the university,” Jeter said. “Make a comment, give some feedback because this is important and will be shaping our university for the next few years so I would encourage everybody to get engaged in the process.”
He said he is excited to be able to be a part of MSU’s community because the university is being proactive to meet the challenges of all the budget cuts.
“I was impressed with the level of commitment of everyone working on the committee,” Bailey said. “Everyone is really trying to make sure we do what is best for the university.”