As long as legislators in Jackson remain unwilling to budge and fractured supporters in Columbus remain unwilling to unify, Mississippi University for Women is in trouble.
Speaking to The Commercial Dispatch’s editorial board Thursday, Mississippi College Board Commissioner Hank Bounds conceded The W faces the “most difficult financial situation” of any school in the state as appropriations for all state universities in Fiscal Year 2012 figure to be 25 percent lower than 2010. Putting a dollar amount on the cut, Bounds predicted appropriations could be as low as or lower than $286 million in 2012, $108 million less than 2010 before four rounds of budget cuts, and $53 million less than funds received as far back as 2000.
MUW’s situation stands out as the worst for several reasons. As the smallest state school, it will be hit hardest by the 25 percent cut, leaving three options to increase revenue: increase enrollment, increase tuition or increase student retention.
The W already plans to increase tuition 5 percent for 2011 and again for 2012. But MUW Vice President of Finance and Administration Nora Miller says the school can’t afford to go much higher or it will price itself out of the market.
“Over 5 percent might be the tipping point and we might lose enrollment,” she said.
As stated, the legislature has shown no willingness to enact changes as pedestrian as a name change for MUW, which Bounds claims would have given the school a competitive advantage in attracting new students had it not been shot down in committee in February.
“That’s going to hurt the ability of the university to grow, and it desperately needs to,” Bounds said. “You could get the best recruiters in the country in there and they’d have a hard time making it grow. There are still students in state – and it doesn’t matter how much advertising you do – that think MUW is only for women.”
Then there’s the in-fighting among alumni groups to contend with. Even though the disaffiliated Mississippi’s First Alumni Association joined forces with MUW’s current Alumni Association in January to fight a potential merger with Mississippi State University, the groups have a contentious history and continue to disagree on issues such as a name change.
“The fussing among the alumni needs to stop,” Bounds said. “The bickering hurts the university. Folks need to recognize that and rally behind the university.”
Presidential search
Yet another obstacle in MUW’s path is the daunting task of attracting a new president to replace Dr. Claudia Limbert, who retires in June. Bounds said the College Board hasn’t begun a search yet, for MUW or Alcorn State, and it will take meticulous care to find the right candidate.
“A lot of people want me to hurry up with the search,” Bounds said. “I am in no rush to do a search. I will not hesitate to put an extended interim in place. I’m real concerned about financial stability at MUW. We have to find someone really talented when we have all these issues. I’m not prepared to say that will take six months or 10 months.”
Bounds admits the confluence of circumstances at MUW doesn’t make for the most attractive administrative opportunity. Nevertheless, he intends to find a candidate who is a qualified administrator and, hopefully, an innovative businessperson.
“We’re obviously taking a little extra time to make sure they have the financial acumen,” he said of candidates.
Bounds dismissed rumors MSU President Mark Keenum would preside over both universities simultaneously as “nothing more than rumor.”
“Mark has more than he can say grace over at MSU,” Bounds said.
On top of all its personnel issues, MUW is facing the same additional problems as the seven other state universities. In terms of jobs and services lost, state schools are looking at 1,100 fewer jobs – two-thirds of which should be eliminated due to attrition – in addition to 850 fewer courses, 1,000 fewer sections (how many times per semester a course is offered) and consolidation of numerous departments over the next few years.
In January, Bounds asked each school to begin preparing business plans that streamlined operations in preparation for the impending cuts. Miller says MUW identified a number of efficiencies to accompany the loss of roughly 10 percent of its workforce, including bulk purchasing of supplies and remote climate control in campus buildings.
Replacing an outdated boiler system alone stands to save MUW over $300,000 each year.
Cooperative effort
While a merger between MUW and MSU is still being denied by all parties, the universities are researching the logistics of sharing a number of services, including academic programs, to save money.
“A university of 2,400 (students) and a university of 18,000 have to do the same things,” Bounds said. “We’re talking about back-office things: human resources, accounting, technology management. We want to know is there any way MSU can bring their size to bear and do certain functions for MUW as sort of an outsourcing and do it for a fee smaller than the amount MUW would spend doing it alone.”
Both schools are working to identify what administrative functions can be consolidated by July 1 to take effect for the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, the universities have already entered an agreement to share services in their respective nursing and culinology/food services programs.
Students who participate in the joint venture will receive degrees from both MSU and MUW.
The nursing and culinology programs at MUW have long been touted as two of the state’s best and are likely to remain viable, but many programs will be put on the chopping block in coming years. Departments which don’t bring in enough money through attracting students or research grant money may be cut.
At the same time, other programs deemed necessary will remain despite placing a financial burden on their respective schools.
“Nursing programs are very expensive and every one of them is underwater based on tuition alone,” Bounds said. “The faculty is expensive. The labs are expensive. And there are stringent guidelines around teacher/student ratio.
“It’s a lot less expensive to train an English major than an engineer or a nurse, but the state needs 2,000 nurses right now. So we very well can’t afford not to turn out nurses.”
Loss of courses
Universities will also be hard-pressed to turn out graduates in four years due to the loss of courses and sections.
With MSU to its west and the University of Alabama to its east, MUW is in a highly competitive region for attracting students. Miller says the school had hoped to benefit from legislation to reduce or eliminate out-of-state tuition for West Alabama students, but once again, the legislature balked at any such changes.
“We tried to get that to happen during this session. It passed in the senate but failed in the house,” Bounds said.
The argument among opponents, he says, is that Mississippi tax dollars will be spent to educate students from other states. However, all of the bordering states have similar agreements in place. Additionally, he points out that those students will be spending into the local economy while they’re here, and considering the student population in Mississippi isn’t growing, it’s better to have an out-of-state student in a desk than no student.
As far as increasing the number of Mississippi students attending universities, Bounds says it’s up to parents, schools and the media to increase expectations. Through student loans, he says any child in Mississippi can attend college.
“They may not be able to go full time, live in a dorm and join a fraternity, but any student in Mississippi that wants to go to college can,” Bounds said. “If you want a degree, the only thing standing between you and that degree is the will to get it.”
He believes businesses should encourage employees with children in K-12 to become more involved in their child’s education, if only for the fact that
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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