By ED KEMP @ HATTIESBURG AMERICAN

Is academic tenure under attack? A number of university professors across Mississippi believe so.

The state College Board gave initial approval in December to policy changes that would reduce how much warning time is required to fire tenured and tenure-track professors for financial reasons.

There’s even in a bill in the Legislature that would eliminate tenure entirely.

The recent developments have some professors on edge.

A group called the Mississippi State Consortium for the Improvement of Education, which represents faculty, students and staff statewide, recently condemned the board’s actions as “a threat to both academic freedom and shared governance.”

“Tenure is at the core of our profession,” said University of Southern Mississippi professor Mark Klinedinst, a member of the group. “We have to do everything to protect it.”

Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds believes the changes are necessary in light of the economy. About 1,000 university employees will be cut statewide if the College Board’s budget projections for the next three years hold true.

ELIZABETH CRISP @ Clarion Ledger

Higher education leaders assured a room packed Thursday with supporters of Mississippi’s historically black universities that there is little support for a merger of the three schools.

“Based on private conversations that we’ve had with members of the Legislature as well as many public comments that we’ve seen by members of the Legislature, we have assumed that the merger idea is dead on arrival in this Capitol, and there is no reason for us to discuss it,” state College Board President Scott Ross said during a Senate committee hearing.

“And we haven’t.”

Hundreds of students and alumni from Alcorn, Mississippi Valley State and Jackson State descended on the Capitol for the system’s budget hearing – hoping to find out their institutions’ fate.

Dressed head-to-toe in purple and gold, Alcorn State alum James Stubbs said he was happy to hear higher education leaders say that they do not believe the merger has a shot.

By Phil West @ The Commercial Appeal

JACKSON, Miss. — A key state Senate committee approved legislation Wednesday that would let university presidents waive some tuition costs to attract more out-of-state students.

The measure is aimed at attracting more out-of-state students and keeping many of them here once they finish their education, said state Sen. Doug Davis, R-Hernando and chairman of the Senate’s Universities and Colleges Committee.

“Statistics have shown that if you come to Mississippi and get an education at one of our eight universities, there’s a 25 percent retention rate, which means that 25 percent of the students who come into Mississippi stay here,” Davis said.

“And I think that’s beneficial. So we want to do all we can to put our universities on a level playing field.”

Davis noted that Alabama recruits Mississippi students along its border, which potentially keeps students from attending four schools — the University of Mississippi, University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi State and the Mississippi University for Women — in the state.

A map presented by Dr. Hank Bounds, commissioner of higher education, showed some Mississippi students who normally would attend those universities are winding up at the University of Alabama, University of North Alabama, University of West Alabama and the University of South Alabama.

The University of Memphis waives out-of-state tuition for some North Mississippi students, including those in DeSoto, if they meet certain qualifications.

The legislation would not require university administrators to waive the tuition, but school presidents support the notion.

“Mississippi’s population is not growing,” Bounds told committee members. “This would give schools the power to attract the best Mississippi students.”

Enrollment at the state’s universities increased last fall by 3.5 percent to 73,699 over fall 2008, according to preliminary figures released by the state Institutions of Higher Learning.

But enrollment dropped by 3.8 percent, from 2,929 to 2,918 at Mississippi Valley State University.

Enrollment dipped 0.8 percent at Delta State University, which borders Arkansas and competes for students with in-state tuition at Arkansas State, from 4,064 to 4,031.

“The University of Alabama treats Mississippi residents along the border as in-state,” Bounds said. “We’re asking you to give us authority to treat those counties the same way.”

Tuition for in-state students at the University of Mississippi is $2,533 for undergraduates taking 15 semester hours, according to the school’s Web site.

Tuition for out-of-state students enrolled for the same courses is $6,522.

The IHL’s board of trustees voted Monday to raise tuition an average 6.8 percent starting this fall.

The tuition increases range from a low of 4.5 percent at Mississippi Valley State to a high of 9 percent at Delta State and Jackson State.

Tuition is due to rise 6.5 percent at the University of Mississippi and 6 percent at Mississippi State, the state’s two largest universities.

IHL board members also approved an average 6.9 percent tuition increase for 2011-12 school year.

By Molly Parker, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)

Dozens of school superintendents watched from the balcony as House lawmakers passed a measure Tuesday that would restore $100 million to the state budget – a big chunk of it earmarked for K-12 education.

The latest House proposal calls for spending $50 million each from the rainy-day and tobacco settlement funds.

“We appreciate the House standing up for education,” said Steve Thrash, Jones County School District superintendent.

The money would go to targeted agencies, including education, to offset Gov. Haley Barbour’s total $437 million cut to the fiscal 2010 budget.

House Education Committee Chairman Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, said a major goal of the measure is to keep from “devastating the school districts.”

Thrash said he can make ends meet without cutting staff. But other school leaders said they see no alternative unless the Legislature intervenes.

“We’re looking at layoffs,” said Moss Point schools Superintendent Kim Staley. “It’s going to set any school backwards.”

House Republican leaders, who floated their own alternative, accused the Democratic majority of grandstanding. Barbour has said repeatedly he opposes further use of the rainy-day fund.

“We ought to have a magician come out here and do some tricks because this is a show,” said Rep. Mark Baker of Brandon, the House minority leader.

The defeated plan backed by Republican representatives would have used $50 million in tobacco trust funds to offset cuts. Barbour called it an “acceptable compromise.”

In contrast with the House Democrats’ plan, the GOP alternative earmarked little for education and included $17 million for the Department of Corrections. It would have restored a $1.9 million cut to a bonus fund for National Board Certified Teachers.

Supporters of the House proposal said they are acting in good faith regardless of the governor’s expected opposition to the measure.

Said Brown: “I think these people up here in the gallery may have some influence.”

School officials from across the state spent the afternoon at the Capitol as part of the Mississippi Association of School Superintendents’ conference, which began Sunday.

Clarksdale schools Superintendent Dennis Dupree said, “We’ll have to look at cutting personnel” if the governor’s cut sticks.

The House initiative is likely to meet a tougher audience in the Senate. Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant also opposes using more rainy-day funds in fiscal 2010.

Barbour responded Friday to the legislative stalemate by making a nearly 8.2 percent, across-the-board cut to agencies, recalling another $216 million in 2010 appropriations on top of what he cut in the fall.

The House plan would add about $43.4 million back to offset K-12′s cut, leaving the system $151.2 million short of its original funding level.

The Supreme Court, district attorneys, the Department of Mental Health, the attorney general’s office, and the Department of Public Safety would also see their budgets partially restored under the House plan.

The amended Senate Bill 2495 passed 73-47 almost along partisan lines. Two Republicans supported the measure, and two Democrats voted against it.

by Shelia Byrd/The Associated Press

JACKSON — Students will have to pay more this fall to get a college education in Mississippi.

The state College Board on Monday approved multiyear tuition increases at Mississippi’s eight public universities, saying the move is one of many measures in the face of budget cuts.

The tuition hikes range from 4.5 percent for in-state students at Mississippi Valley State University to 9 percent at Jackson State University and Delta State University. Tuition also increased for nonresident students at all universities except the University of Southern Mississippi.

The universities presented to the College Board last week business plans that included tuition increase requests for fiscal years 2011 and 2012. College leaders also have plans to scale back programs and eliminate some jobs.

Gov. Haley Barbour has been slashing what had been a $6 billion spending plan for the state after revenue collections failed to meet projections this fiscal year. Nearly all state programs have been cut, including the universities. Since July, Barbour has cut $437 million from the overall state budget.

Barbour and legislators have said the recession’s impact on Mississippi is expected to linger. Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds said he expects the universities to be operating with at least $182.5 million fewer dollars through fiscal year 2013, based on budget cuts and the loss of stimulus money.

“It is our hope that what was approved today is a worst-case scenario; if we do not see cuts this deep, we can reduce the increases,” Bounds said in a statement. “The board and our universities remain committed to ensuring higher education is affordable in Mississippi and that our degree programs are of the highest quality.”

Average tuition in the state will go from $4,782 to $5,459 by fall 2011.

Currently, the lowest tuition for in-state students is $4,575 at MVSU. The tuition at MVSU will rise to $4,781 in next fall. In fall 2011, that tuition will increase to $4,996.

At Mississippi State University, the largest in the state, tuition will increase from $5,151 to $5,461 next fall. The tuition will increase to $5,805 the next year.