Jim Borsig is staying in Columbus.
Borsig announced at Mississippi University of Women today that he will remain the university’s president. He was slated to become Mississippi’s new higher education commissioner next Wednesday.
Borsig made the announcement at 11:30 a.m. in Poindexter Hall.
“Yesterday I asked the Board of Trustees to allow me to remain as president here and decline the position of IHL commissioner,” Borsig told a crowd of roughly 80 university employees, staff and faculty this morning. “I felt that it was important that I tell you this in person.”
The crowd gave Borsig a 45-second standing ovation.
The move still needs formal approval by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.
Borsig, in a statement released through the IHL, said he is in “full support” of the IHL board.
“I have enjoyed working with the Board, both as a university president and as Commissioner-Elect,” he said. “The Board is fully dedicated to the success of the university system and I share in this goal. After reflection and prayer, I have realized that my true passion — and my calling at this point in my life — is to serve our state as a university president.”
Borsig, 58, became the 14th MUW president in January 2012. He earns $222,938 a year. His initial contract runs through January 2017.
“When I accepted the opportunity to serve our system of higher education as Commissioner, I told you it was one of the most difficult decisions I’d ever made,” he said. “I was leaving a job I loved and a university that has embraced me and given me a home. Today, I feel that bond more strongly than ever.”
Borsig has offered to continue serving as IHL commissioner-elect through the transition period.
Aubrey Patterson, president of the IHL’s Board of Trustees, thanked Borsig for his service, both as university president and commissioner-elect.
“He has been an outstanding president at MUW and we respect his desire to remain in this role,” Patterson said in a statement.
The move that wasn’t
In early February, the IHL board named Borsig the state’s new higher education commissioner. He was to replace Hank Bounds, who was leaving the position to become president of the University of Nebraska. The move was to become official Wednesday.
In the interim, a firestorm erupted.
On March 20, the IHL board announced it had decided not to renew the contract of University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones. Public reaction to the move was swift and negative, with major Ole Miss donors and alumni blasting the move.
The IHL board said Jones was not doing enough to improve oversight of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, despite years of prodding by the board. They cited numerous examples of contracts that were improperly handled at the medical center, which has 10,000 employees and a $1.6 billion budget. Jones, a 66-year-old physician, ran the medical center before being named chancellor in 2009.
Borsig, while serving as the Commissioner-elect, subsequently met with Jones and individual IHL board members, with Jones unsuccessfully seeking to change their minds. After years of conflict over the financial management of the medical center, Jones, whose contract expires in September, said he no longer had trustees’ confidence and could not remain. His contract expires in September.
In a subsequent letter addressed to the “Ole Miss Family” that Jones released, he said, “Borsig has dealt with me in a candid and transparent fashion. Please remember that he was thrown into the middle of a difficult situation and was not involved in any of the decisions about my future.”
A history of success
Borsig, a Jackson native and University of Southern Mississipi alum, has spent 30-plus years in education.
He became The W’s 14th president in January 2012. To take that post, he left a position with the IHL, where he was serving as associate commissioner for external relations and public policy.
When it was announced in early February that he was leaving his president’s post to lead the IHL, Borsig told The Dispatch he was proud of his accomplishments at MUW but noted that “the work of a university is never done.”
Enrollment has grown under his leadership. There were 2,697 students at The W during the fall of 2014, according to the IHL. That represents the largest student population at the university in more than a decade.
The university has also improved its facilities during Borsig’s tenure. Last year, plans to upgrades three dormitories — Kincannon, Callaway and Jones halls — were announced.
MUW has also expanded programs and increased donations during the previous three years. There are also ongoing plans to return intercollegiate athletics to The W, although those plans are still in the preliminary stages.
Borsig, in a statement, said there is “important and good work” remaining at The W.
“I am committed to making a difference at an institution I love, one with a unique and significant mission.
“I am grateful to The W’s faculty, staff and students for everything they do, quietly and with unwavering dedication,” he said. “There is not another institution in the system like our university.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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