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University mergers proposed |
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Tuesday, 17 November 2009 |
By BRIAN HAWKINS
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Rumors of a university merger proposal have run rampant for several days amid discussions on the state budget situation, and Gov. Haley Barbour on Monday confirmed he was advocating such a plan.
Barbour’s proposed 2010-2011 state budget aims to reorganize state government, and his proposals include merging the state’s eight public universities into five as a means of streamlining administrative costs and reducing expenses.
Barbour’s proposed FY 2010-2011 budget calls for $5.5 billion in spending, a reduction of $715 million from the current fiscal year. The figure Barbour proposes reflects sluggish state revenues and slow economic recovery.
The proposal includes reorganization of the state Institutions of Higher Learning, namely merging Mississippi University for Women in Columbus with Mississippi State, which is the state’s largest university by enrollment. The proposal also includes merging Mississippi Valley State and Alcorn State into the larger Jackson State University.
“No campus would close, but administration would be unified and a significant savings achieved,” said Barbour in the written budget proposal submitted to the Legislature.
“There would be a rationalization of class offerings at the various campuses, including the three not affected by the mergers (Delta State, the University of Mississippi and the University of Southern Mississippi). Every university would be expected to reduce costs by consolidating or eliminating programs not pulling
their financial weight,” Barbour said.
Barbour said the proposed MSU-MUW merger “is preferable” to closing MUW and “moving select programs to Starkville.” According to current enrollment figures, MUW has 2,478 students (predominantly women) to MSU’s 18,601.
Barbour said the university mergers would not result in significant monetary savings for the 2010-2011 fiscal year that begins July 1, 2010, but said estimates show the university mergers would mean a $35 million in saving in the 2011-2012 fiscal year if the decisions were enacted in the 2010-2011 budget.
Other higher education changes Barbour is proposing include folding appropriations for the MSU and Alcorn State agriculture units — which are currently separate from the main funding for each school — into the main appropriations.
“This administration consolidation will give the leadership of the two universities greater flexibility in spending authority and should result in a better setting of priorities,” Barbour said in his budget proposal.“My budget reduces the FY 2011 agriculture unit appropriation by 15 percent, which the universities can make out of ag unit expenditures or other efficiencies in the greater university budget.”
Barbour is also proposing that MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine — the only veterinary college in the state — save 15 percent of its budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
“The college received funds from the federal stimulus package in FY 2010 (the current year). Stimulus guidelines dictate the state maintain a certain level of funding for the college in FY 2011,” Barbour says in his proposal. “However the college should expect deeper cuts by 2012 and consider raising tuition to be comparable to veterinary programs in surrounding states.”
Any university mergers as proposed by Barbour would have to be approved by the state Legislature. Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds said he will study Barbour’s proposals, including a plan to merge hiring and purchasing for all campuses.
“We want to do everything necessary to protect quality,” Bounds said.
Regarding the possible impact of a proposed merger on MSU, President Mark Keenum said his focus remains on meeting the current budget cut directives imposed by IHL, emphasizing that the IHL Board of Trustees and the Legislature will ultimately make the decision on merging universities as Barbour is proposing. A 28-member Efficiencies and Innovations Committee is currently reviewing all academic and non-academic programs at MSU with the goal of streamlining operations and cutting costs, while maintaining overall academic quality.
“In these difficult times, we understand there will be many recommendations for increased efficiencies and effective use of resources. We have been working hard to make adjustments at Mississippi State that will allow us to respond to the current serious economic conditions while meeting efficiency directives set forth by IHL,” Keenum said in a written statement Monday.
Statements made Monday by the chairmen of state House and Senate Universities and Colleges committees seem to indicate that Barbour’s proposal to merge universities would be one that’s hotly debated.
House Universities and Colleges Committee chairman Kelvin Buck, D-Holly Springs, said he opposes Barbour’s proposal on the grounds that the state’s economic future would be hurt.
“While the state is clearly experiencing some of the most difficult times in our modern history, it is not the time to panic and undermine the very economic engine that can greatly enhance our ability to rise above the recession,” Buck said in a statement Monday.
Senate Universities and Colleges Committee chairman Doug Davis, R-Hernando, who chairs the , said Barbour’s proposal merits consideration. “I’m not willing to say that we will go forward or that we will stop the conversation,” Davis said.
A complete copy of Barbour’s budget proposal — which also proposes consolidation for the state’s 152 public school districts and other state government organizational changes — may be found online at http://www.governorbarbour.com/news/2009/16.11Executivebudgetfor2011.html and clicking the link at the bottom of the page.
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 21 November 2009 )
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