Ellington

State higher education commissioner Hank Bounds said today that Mississippi's public university system will likely shed 1,000 jobs over the next two years due to budget cuts. Speaking today to the state Institutitions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees, Bounds delivered dire news about the effects of a more than 8 percent budget cut and recommended that the board approve a series of tuition increases.

Bounds presented anticipated budget data from six of the state's eight public universities. Jackson State University and the Mississippi University for Women did not have data ready for today's meeting, IHL Communications Director Leah Rupp Smith said, but the two schools will present their budget plans to Bounds before the board's February meeting.

Bounds projected a system-wide loss of 344 filled positions and 565 unfilled positions between 2010 and 2013. The bulk of those will come in the 2011 fiscal year, which legislators are preparing for during this legislative session. In numerical terms, Mississippi State University expects to lose the most jobs, but Bounds acknowledged that personnel cuts at smaller universities could prove even more painful.

"Thirty jobs at Alcorn State may be more significant than one hundred positions at Mississippi State," Bounds said.

Gov. Haley Barbour has called for a roughly 8 percent cut in the state's IHL budget, but Bounds said that universities should prepare for even deeper reductions.

Bounds also presented requests for tuition increases from university presidents. Presidents from every state university are requesting at least a 4.5 percent tuition increase in both 2011 and 2012. Delta State University and Jackson State University are requesting 9 percent hikes for both years, and the University of Mississippi is requesting a 6.5 percent increase.

The Board must approve any tuition increase, and it did not vote on the requested tuition increases today. Brown asked the board to act quickly, however, and it set a vote on the issue for a Monday, January 25 teleconference.

"For me, there's a real sense of urgency in moving forward," Bounds said. "These presidents need to know how they're going to deal with this."