Lawmakers discussed a proposal that would replace the existing College Board and give each of the state’s public universities a board of trustees last week in Jackson.
The 12-member College Board, which oversees the eight Mississippi public universities, would be converted into a board of governors, overseeing budget issues and working as a liaison between the legislature and universities.
Each university would gain a seven-member, non-paid board of trustees. The governor and board of governors would appoint four and three members, respectively. All seven would have to be affirmed by the state Senate.
Faculty Senate presidents and student body presidents would join the trustees, acting as non-voting members.
The proposal, discussed Wednesday and Thursday of last week, encountered some disagreements from College Board members and university presidents.
According to The Clarion-Ledger, presidents of MSU, Delta State University, Jackson State University and the University of Mississippi expressed concerns over changing the system Wednesday, saying they did not see the proposal as beneficial or citing the effectiveness of current system at their respective universities.
MSU interim president Vance Watson went to Jackson last week for the Wednesday discussions and addressed Faculty Senate members about it last Friday.
Watson said all eight university presidents testified the College Board system is adequately working for the state schools.
“It’s [College Board] not an impediment to progress that we make, and it offers the opportunity for us to sit as eight universities and provosts and presidents and all the different things that we do and talk about those areas that are in common that we work hard to make Mississippi a better place,” Watson said.
The College Board helps universities to work together while still maintaining their uniqueness as separate schools, Watson said.
Sen. Doug E. Davis, R-Hernando, said understanding the proposed plan means first understanding the language of the Mississippi Constitution.
“Changing the government structure is the main part of the bill,” he said.
The current constitutional language sets up the 12 College Board members as the overseers of the state’s public universities.
“The system that I would propose would change that,” Davis said. “We would still have a board of governors, which would be the equivalent of the current College Board, but eight public universities would have their own boards of trustees.”
The board of governors would act as a policy oversight committee, watching areas such as accreditation standards, Davis said.
This proposal would change the current system of searching for new university presidents. In MSU’s case, instead of the College Board conducting the search for the university, MSU’s own board of trustees would establish a plan for finding a new president.
“If there were a seven-member board of trustees, those seven individuals could come up with a system by which to find a new president which would match their vision and direction that Mississippi State should go,” Davis said.
He said the board of governors would not have to approve each university’s presidential search system.
“Mississippi State could only look to give blame or credit on their new president to seven members who are charged with looking over the best interests of Mississippi State as their board of trustees under this proposed system,” Davis said. “That’s very different than the system as it is now.”
Davis said he is not surprised the proposal has drawn criticism from university presidents and members of the College Board.
“The College Board does a tremendous job under the system that we have and the eight presidents do a great job representing the campuses that they’re charged with representing; but that said, they work for the College Board. I do not anticipate them to take a different position than their employer,” he said.
Davis said he has enjoyed discussing the proposal with people around the state and has heard positive feedback.
“People are excited about the idea of having more ownership in the university they support,” he said. “Currently, [ownership] is just not there.”
Over the next two months, Davis’ committee will hold public hearings at all eight universities to determine how others view the potential legislation.
He said the committee plans to visit MSU Oct. 6.
Hearings begin today at The University of Southern Mississippi. Further details about MSU’s Oct. 6 hearing will be published as they become available.