Pool prep
Three meets in three days help Bears get ready
Page 7 Tuesday • Jan. 24, 2012 • Vol. 105 Issue 16
Briefs
University changes its student registration policy
Test run for new Bearline route
The Student Government Association has a new weekend trial route that will be running until spring break. The route’s existence will be based on the amount of use during that time. The route will run Friday and Saturdays from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. The stops will include the PSU, Scholars House, Greek Row, Kentwood Hall, Park Central Square and Hammons Student Center.
E-verify Forum hosted by MSU
Missouri State University will host a Springfield E-verify Ballot Initiative Education Forum from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 2 in the Meyer Library auditorium. Jerry Wilson and Jerry Long will represent the Ozarks Minutemen. Joe Robles, a local businessman and Michael Stout, assistant professor of sociology at Missouri State finish the panel. Dr. Kenneth Coopwood, vice president for diversity and inclusion, will moderate the program.
New student housing to open in August
Miller O’Reilly Real Estate Developers, the creators of The Monroe, will open two new apartment developments near campus in August. Like The Monroe, students can choose to rent their own furnished bedroom and private bathroom and not be responsible for roommates’ leases. Deep Elm is located at 701 E. Elm Street on the MSU campus across from Bear Park North parking garage. The Jefferson will be located at 835 S. Jefferson across from Jarrett Middle School. Amenities will include private bedrooms and a bath, fully furnished kitchen, washer and dryer in each unit and utilities, cable, Internet, and WiFi included in rent. The new websites of the two apartments, “Deep Elm” and “The Jefferson,” launch today. For more information, go to http://www.deepelmleasing.com or http://www.thejeffersonleasing.com. Read next week’s issue of The Standard for a full story on the new housing being offered.
Calendar January 24 to January 30
Tuesday
Intersession grades must be submitted, all day Foundations Exhibition, 1 to 5 p.m. at the Student Exhibition Center Habitat for Humanity General Meeting, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Monroe Apartment Complex
Wednesday
Intersession grades available on My Missouri State website, all day Meyer Library Tours, 5:30 to 6 p.m. at Meyer Library lobby
Thursday
Study Away Information Session, 5 to 6 p.m. at Glass Hall 230 Students for a Sustainable Future general meeting, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Temple Hall Pit
Sunday
C. William Young Guest Artist Organ Recital, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at First and Calvary Presbyterian Church Lewis Black, 7 to 9 p.m. at Juanita K. Hammons Hall
Monday
Refund Deadline – Full semester at 75 percent credit, all day Study Away 101 Information Session, 3 to 4 p.m. at Plaster Student Union 315A
Missouri State looks to elevate campus security
By Brandon Corrigan The Standard
Steph Anderson/THE STANDARD
Students who don’t feel safe walking across campus at night can utilize MSU’s Safe Walk program.
By Damien M. DiPlacido The Standard Missouri State’s Department of Safety and Transportation is looking to elevate the level of security in several of the school’s downtown buildings by implementing several student security hosts. The addition of the security positions are due in part to collaboration between the Criminal Justice Society and the Safety
and Transportation Department, the department’s assistant director Jay Huff said. “This is a means of expanding the security presence in the downtown buildings,” Huff said. “We feel strongly committed that a student, faculty or staff person that walks out of a downtown building at 9 o’clock at night can feel just as safe coming out of that building as they do coming out of Hill Hall or
something in the core of campus.” There are several security host positions in the downtown area: one at the Jim D. Morris Center for Continuing Education, located at 301 S. Jefferson Avenue, and one at the Park Central Office Building at 117 Park Central Square, Huff said. The position will also soon move into the Brick City Building at 305 W. Mill St. “The position is really
not much more than what a receptionist would do. They’ll be tied to the university’s security arm,” Huff said. “Their basic function is to be additional eyes and ears. They don’t patrol the building. They just watch who comes in the door and report any problems.” The security hosts will be equipped with a radio in order to contact the local See SAFETY page 2
State budget cuts Missouri higher education By Michael Gulledge The Standard Despite an early loan proposal that possibly could have avoided cuts, higher education across Missouri faces a 12.5 percent cut in state appropriations for fiscal year 2013. The proposed cuts were announced with Gov. Jay Nixon’s budget just before his State of the State address on Jan. 17 and could mean tuition increases for students and no raises for employees at Missouri State. A mid-December proposal called for five state universities to loan funds to the state to help fund appropriations. “If the universities had loaned that money then I think it’s likely that we would have gotten no cut,” MSU Interim President Clif Smart said. The loan proposal called for around $107 million to be loaned to the state from universities, including MSU. The cuts in higher education appropriations were around $106 million. “All of the universities were interested in it,” Smart said. “We didn’t have all the details yet, but we were interested in the concept.” The loan proposal drew criticism from lawmakers such as Sen. Bob Dixon who were concerned that the plan wasn’t presented before the legislature. “I think that issue was framed before it was ready to be framed,” Smart said. “It was discussed publicly too soon and as a result of that the Governor’s office withdrew.” “We were interested in it because it preserved our core funding,” Smart said. With the loan proposal off the table, MSU and other universities have to face a 12.5 percent cut. “It’s a significant blow to us,” Smart said. “It’s $10 million. That’s on top of $11 million the prior two years so when you think about it we’ve lost 25 percent of our state funding over the past three years.“ Smart said that the
budget is around $15 million short for next year. “About $10 million of that is loss in state appropriations and $5 million is in expenses for next year,” Smart said. The $5 million increase in expenses includes around $3 million for a 2 percent pay and fringe benefit increase for employees throughout the past year, Smart said. Nixon, in his State of the State address, called “on all our colleges and universities to continue to look for more ways to cut overhead and administrative costs and run smarter, more efficient operations.” However, many cuts and optimization have already been done at MSU during previous budget cycles. An early retirement program was offered in 2010 to faculty members to help lower payroll. “That’s a huge loss that can’t be filled just by being more efficient or combining jobs or eliminating small programs,” Smart said. “It just can’t be done. We have a huge challenge in front of us, but it’s not impossible.” Other universities may not be so prepared. “This cut could put at least one four-year institution under,” said Rep. Mike Lair, chairman of the House education appropriations committee. Lair wouldn’t name which university was at risk of failure.
Tuition Increases Expected
“One formula that I proposed is consideration that half of that is taken care of by new revenue and the other half is taken care of by expense cuts,” Smart said. Smart said that while tuition isn’t the only source of revenue, it’s the primary one. Tuition is expected to increase more than the 3 percent U.S. Consumer Price Index increase this year. The index is used to measure change in the market price of a basket of goods. MSU would have to apply for a waiver to increase tuition by more than CPI. Dr. Terrel Gallaway, chair of the Faculty Senate, said that the state trying to keep tuition low while cutting appropriations is “cutting off both legs of funding.” With cut funds, class sizes would increase, corners would be cut and quality would be difficult to maintain, Gallaway said. “We can raise tuition and still have a good deal,” Gallaway said. MSU isn’t alone in needing to raise tuition. “I think that every university is looking at the same model,” Smart said. “I think that it’s unrealistic that if the magnitude of the cuts stay the way they are that people can meet their budgets with just a CPI tuition increase. “I expect 100 percent of the universities will be seeking a waver above CPI,” Smart said.
Enrollment fall 2011 • • • • •
MSU SEMO UCM MU Truman
22,866 11,510 11,637 73,565 5,720
Source: Numbers gathered from respective university websites.
Smart emphasized that tuition increases for MSU have been historically low. The past year brought a 4 percent increase, but the two years before that saw no increase. “Over the last three years combined, we’ve raised tuition 4 percent,” Smart said. “We are $2,600 less than Mizzou.” MSU would still be one of the most affordable options in Missouri even with a tuition increase above CPI, Smart said. A tuition increase is also necessary to maintain the current state of the university. “I think that a lot of students would rather us try and preserve quality than eliminate student services, quadruple class sizes, eliminate sections that a class is offered,” Smart said. Smart added that the legislature will ultimately decide the increase in tuition. “If the legislature brings the cut down, then the tuition increase goes down,” Smart said. See BUDGET page 8
Missouri State University officials have changed a longstanding financial policy which put holds on student registrations when bills as small as $25 are outstanding on student accounts. The new threshold will be at $200 for holds on registrations. “We thought it was a reasonable amount to help facilitate students to be able to enroll in a timely manner,” said Stephen Foucart, MSU Interim Chief Financial Officer. Foucart said that because of the new policy, 149 more MSU students were able to enroll for the spring semester. “It’s an example on the part of the administration to be even more student friendly, I think as a result of the policy change,” Don Simpson, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management, said. The policy Foucart change was made by the Administrative Council, a group chaired by Interim President Clif Smart. The group of central administrators, who work to develop and implement the priorities of the university, tailored the new policy to help students who use financial aid, Simpson said. “One of the advantages, particularly in an economy with a lot of students experiencing difficulties, is to rework the financial aid regulations that we have,” Simpson said. “We would like to allow a student to apply up to $200 of their aid for a future semester to the charges for a previous semester. “But, of course, we can’t give students financial aid for an upcoming semester until they enroll,” Simpson said. “So, now for example, if a student owes $180 on their fall semester charges – and they are allowed to register for the spring because their total is less than $200 – when they do and their aid applies, the first $180 can go to covering their fall charges and the rest of course, would apply to their spring.” After five years of enrollment increases, MSU’s attendance decreased slightly last fall to 22,866 students compared with 23,092 in 2010. Simpson said that it is difficult to estimate whether the effect of the new financial policy might boost future enrollments such as this spring. “It’s hard to know precisely what the effect might be, but I think just generally speaking, it’s a more appropriate more reasonable limit at which to hold students,” Simpson said. “To the best of my knowledge it’s been $25 for many years, and I think it was time in my opinion to adjust a little bit,” he said. Simpson said that official enrollment numbers for spring are not tallied until the fourth week of classes because there are a lot of students who register late. Junior speech and theater education major Bret Higgins, said he respects the efforts of the Administrative Council to help students in a tight economy. “This will a great step in keeping students on track to graduate and complete their requirements. I think this is just one step,” Higgins said. “I encourage the Administrative Council to take a look further into issues that are blocking students from being admitted to or becoming registered for classes that are needed to pursue their higher education goals.”