Faced with a possible 12 percent cut in state funds for the 2011 budget, Southwest Mississippi Community College trustees on Tuesday increased tuition and fees, suspended four of the school’s athletic teams, and froze employee pay.
Vice President of Business Affairs Grady Smith said the college’s 2011 fiscal budget is being prepared in anticipation of a 12 percent cut.
“There are two bills in the Legislature — one calling for a 7.5 percent cut and another calling for a 12 percent decrease,” Smith said, adding the board’s finance committee agreed to prepare for the worst and plan for a 12 percent cut.
“We can’t wait until the Legislature approves appropriations to do our budget,” he said. “Last year, they didn’t approve an appropriation until June. We can’t wait that long.”
Employee pay, Smith said, is frozen at the current level, with no provisions for step increases.
The board increased the basic tuition for full-time students by $125, from $850 to $975 per semester. They raised the student services and technology fees each by $10 from $25 to $35 dollars.
The tuition for part-time students was increased from $85 to $100 per credit hour, meaning that a person taking a course for three hours of credit would pay $300.
Smith estimated that the full-time tuition increase should produce $487,500 for the 2010-11 academic year.
Trustees also increased fees for online classes, the associate nursing program and the career and technical center lab fee.
The online fee was increased by $5, from $15 to $20, while the associate nursing program fee was increased by $215, from $85 to $300.
The career and technical lab fee was increased from $85 to $100. Smith said technical program students only paid the fee. All students will pay the fee beginning next fall, he said.
TRACK, golf TEAMs SUSPENDED
Besides increasing the tuition and fees, the board suspended SMCC’s men’s and women’s track and the golf and tennis programs for a year, reduced the scholarship funds for cheerleaders and cut other athletic budgets.
Smith said the decision to suspend the programs came after the finance committee looked at all areas of the budget for possible cuts. He said the college has already made several cuts and is running the academic program on a tight budget.
“We were looking for areas to cut without having to cut academics,” he said, adding that athletic programs and student services were the only programs that could be cut without affecting academics.
“We’re at a point this year where we have no place else to go,” Smith said. “We’re the smallest community college in the state and we have more athletic programs than the other schools. We wanted to make the changes now, so the coaches involved in the suspended programs can begin making plans.”
Suspending those programs, combined with the cuts in the cheerleader scholarship funds and in other athletic programs, is expected to shave $452,519 from the 2011 athletics budget.
School board member Jimmie McKennis questioned the decision to cut the track teams.
“This is going to get us criticized because of all the money ($674,620) that we spent on that track,” she said. “To suspend those programs, it’s not going to look very good at all.”
Smith said the track program was originally proposed to attract local athletes and athletes from other areas of Mississippi.
Instead, he said, the men’s and women’s track teams are composed almost entirely of out-of-state students.
Smith said part of the college’s state funding is based on the number of Mississippi students attending SMCC. The college does not receive any state funds for out-of-state students. If the economy improves, Smith said, the board can look at reinstating the programs.
Smith added that North Pike and McComb high schools use the SMCC track for practice and track meets.
In other action, the board:
• Welcomed Bobby Nelson, who replaces Jewel Rushing on the board. Rushing, who served 38 years on the board, resigned in March for health reasons. The board also approved a resolution commending Rushing.
• Elected trustee Tim Scott of Wilkinson County to replace Rushing as board secretary.
• Hired Jeremy Kent Smith, dean of career and technical education at Hinds County Community College’s Raymond Campus, as vice president of career technical education at a salary of $83,000 per year to replace Ken Morris, who retired.
• Approved faculty for the 2010-’11 school year.
• Listened to a presentation on a focus group program for the SMCC Foundation Capital Campaign presented by Rhonda Gibson, director of institutional advancement.
