JACKSON — After three years of predictability on bond funding, officials at Mississippi’s eight public universities are hoping for a new multiyear agreement with lawmakers on the level of funding they can expect.
The College Board voted Thursday to forward university requests for bond money to the Legislature, which newly-elected lawmakers will consider next year as they budget and plan borrowing for the 2017 budget year.
After lawmakers failed to pass a bond bill in 2012, they made a three-year agreement with College Board leaders, promising to borrow a set amount of money each year for universities. In discussions Wednesday before the board’s Real Estate Committee, leaders emphasized what an advantage that had been over year-to-year unpredictability.
Some schools, especially the smaller ones, would wait multiple years until they started construction on large projects before the agreement, said Assistant Commissioner for Facilities Harry Sims.
“We just didn’t know what we would get or when we would get it,” Sims said Wednesday.
That changed after 2012, said Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum.
“They did lay in a three-year plan and they stuck to that plan,” Keenum said. “There was some sense of fairness and parity among the leadership to try to equalize what was given.”
Over those three years, MSU, the University of Mississippi and the University of Southern Mississippi each got $30 million. Jackson State University got $20 million, while Alcorn State University, Delta State University, the Mississippi University for Women and Mississippi Valley State University each got $16.5 million.
Some black lawmakers have criticized the level of investment at Valley and Alcorn, saying the schools have critical needs like decaying dormitories at Valley and a lack of faculty housing at rural, isolated Alcorn.
A list of top five priorities for each university, which the board is sending to lawmakers, totals $551 million. College Board President Alan Perry said universities don’t expect to receive that much.
“We’re basically making recommendations as to how the money should be spent,” Sims said. “This list of projects lets them know what we consider to be the critical list of projects on our campuses.”
Sims said that while lawmakers sometimes include other projects, he believes the list influences what gets included.
The board formerly made one unified list of priorities for all the universities, but stopped doing that several years ago.
“All the universities will get some bond money if there’s bond money given out,” Sims said. “Our concern is that the money goes to the No. 1 most critical project on their campus.”
A glance at proposed university construction projects
JACKSON — Mississippi’s College Board approved the top five construction priorities of the state’s universities Thursday for the Legislature’s consideration when it meets in 2016. Overall, the projects would cost $551 million, far above what university leaders expect to receive in state bond money. Here’s the total amount requested for each institution, as well as the top two projects for each:
Alcorn State University
■ Total for top five projects: $50.9 million.
■ Top projects: 1. Faculty/staff housing $10 million; 2. Disability modifications, $10.1 million.
Alcorn State agriculture units
■ Total for top five projects: $6.2 million.
■ Top projects: 1. Disadvantaged farmers and ranchers policy center: $1.25 million; 2. Child development center, $2.5 million
Delta State University
■ Total for top five projects: $26.4 million.
■ Top projects: 1. Zeigel Hall renovations, $6.6 million; 2. Walter Sillers Coliseum renovation, $6.2 million.
Jackson State University
■ Total for top five projects: $63 million.
Top projects: 1. College of Education & Human Development, $12.5 million; 2. School of Social Work, $20 million.
Mississippi State University
■ Total for top five projects: $88.8 million.
■ Top projects: 1. Music department building, $14 million; Kinesiology building, $30 million.
Mississippi State Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine
■ Total for top five projects: $36.6 million.
■ Top projects: 1. Food science, nutrition and health promotion complex, $12.4 million; 2. Blackjack forest and wildlife research facility, $3.8 million.
Mississippi University for Women
■ Total for top five projects: $23 million.
■ Top projects: 1. General campus renovations, $5.7 million; 2. Demonstration school renovation, $7.1 million
Mississippi Valley State University
■ Total for top five projects: $44.8 million.
■ Top projects: 1. Fire sprinklers, $2.3 million; 2. Edna Horton Residence Hall renovation, $7 million.
University of Mississippi
■ Total for top five projects: $102 million.
■ Top projects: 1. Wastewater treatment facility expansion, $10 million; New science building, $40 million.
University of Mississippi Medical Center
■ Total for top five projects: $18 million.
■ Top projects: 1. LED lighting upgrade, $3.4 million; 2. AHU operating room replacement, $2.8 million.
University of Southern Mississippi
■ Total for top five projects: $66.2 million.
■ Top projects: 1. College of Health Greene Hall renovation, $4.5 million; 2. Johnson Science Tower renovation, $25 million.
University of Southern Mississippi – Gulf Coast
■ Total for top five projects: $21.3 million
■ Top projects: 1. North campus master planning, $315,000; 2. Student resource center, $7.5 million.
Educational Research Center (College Board headquarters in Jackson)
■ Total for top five projects: $3.8 million.
■ Top projects: 1. Campus electrical service replacement, $970,000; 2. Replace hot/chilled mechanical water lines, $500,000.
Source: College Board.
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