Despite being on the job less than three months, University of Southern Mississippi President Dr. Rodney Bennett has a definite vision to lead the school into the future.
Speaking Tuesday before the McComb Lions Club at Golden Corral, Bennett said there are specific areas at the university which are as competitive as any university in the country.
By the same token, Bennett said there are other programs that need to be improved.
Bennett was chosen the school’s 10th President on April 1. He previously served as Vice President of Student Affairs at the University of Georgia.
USM’s main campus is in Hattiesburg and the university boasts a Gulf Coast campus in Long Beach. Bennett said the university offers 140 undergraduate majors, along with 200 degrees for graduate students.
“We are a research institution. Our students have the opportunity to engage in real-world problems,” he said. “This year one of our students was chosen a Truman Scholar and two were Goldwater Scholars. You hear about all these Rhodes Scholars, but when you begin to identify the quality of higher education, the Truman and Goldwater scholarships are something really important.
“Southern Mississippi is competitive academically in terms of quality education. Our hope and goal is to be characterized like that in growth and development.”
Bennett likened identifying prospective students to a final exam.
“We’re focusing on how we redefine the new learning experience,” Bennett said. “We need to attract and retain college students who want to complete their degrees.”
Bennett said the focus is around four specific areas — recruitment, retention, progression and graduation.
Bennett described how the Mississippi will fund the state’s colleges and universities. He said that starting in 2014, funding will be based on curriculum, graduation rates, programs and the university’s strength of curriculum.
“Our current retention rates at USM are around 75 percent, which isn’t bad,” Bennett said. “Our graduation rates are around 49 percent, not where we want it to be. The best institutions in the country have graduation rates of 85 percent. We should be somewhere around 75 percent. We’re working toward retention and moving students through toward graduation.”
Bennett said the school is using a program called the Pathway to Completion to ensure students have the ability to complete their studies regardless of obstacles.
“If a student tells us they don’t have the money for text books, our response as an institution should be to help them get text books,” he said.
Bennett touched on the school’s successes this past year.
“When support and resources all over the country are limited, the Legislature this past year earmarked $20 million to build our new nursing building,” Bennett said. “The Legislature gave us $1.65 million after the (Feb. 10) tornado for cleanup and another $1.1 million to replace musical instruments lost in the storm. There was also the $1.5 million for the research vessel for the Gulf Coast campus. The Legislature made it very clear the message to Hattiesburg was they like what we’re doing. They’re putting the money in what they believe in.”
Bennett mentioned three major campus construction projects ongoing. They included the new business school, the College of Nursing building and the Century Park South dormitories.
“Those projects definitely change the landscape and traffic pattern on campus,” Bennett said.
Bennett said the university has raised more than $1 million for its beautification project in the wake of the tornado. “Our campus is starting to look like it did when you were last there,” he said.
Bennett boasted about the Gulf Coast campus, which offers major fields of study in science and technology, education, business and psychology.
“At USM, we can do great things,” Bennett said. “We are poised to continue to do great things. I believe our greatest opportunities are ahead of us. When we look forward, we see a lot of hope.”
He also spoke on athletics, including the search for the school’s next athletic director in response to a question from the audience. Shortly after taking over, Bennett did not renew former A.D. Jeff Hammond’s contract.
“We’re looking for someone who has demonstrated experience sitting in the first chair. We’re looking for someone who has worked in depth with a budget, someone who has personal experience with Title IX issues. We want a person with experience with conference realignment. Conference USA is where we might need to be at the end of the day.”
Bennett said the next athletic director should have the athletes’ best interests at heart.
“We’re interested in the person who can help our student-athletes in their sport as well as being young men and women,” he said.
Bennett predicted first-year head football coach Todd Monken will be successful. USM was 0-12 last season under Ellis Johnson, who was fired after his first season.
“(Monken) will win a lot of games,” Bennett said. “We’re excited about Coach Monken’s enthusiasm.”
Bennett said the football stadium turf was recently replaced and drainage was improved.
