Is this the letter (below) you're referring to?

Dear Colleagues,

This has been a busy week that started with a presentation to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning that provided convincing evidence for a six percent tuition increase.  Each of our seven sister
institutions asked for a tuition increase ranging from five to ten percent.  We find ourselves in this unenviable position because of rising operational costs.  While none of us want to increase educational costs, without additional revenues we will be unable to reward our faculty and staff and meet
our fixed financial obligations.  For instance, each year our operating expenses rise due to cost increases beyond our control.  Expenditures for which costs typically rise include utilities, health benefits, tort claims, and FEMA insurance, as examples.

The need for faculty and staff raises was emphasized given that we have been unable to reward our loyal colleagues with raises in excess of one two percent raise in more than four years. Our financial status has not allowed raises beyond the one-year two percent raise, and our staff and faculty deserve better.  As you know, I believe we must pay productive people well for their hard work, and it is time that this be done.  I have not wavered in my position, and I once again have asked the IHL Board for their support of our request. I do want to make it clear that the six percent tuition increase requested will not solve all our financial challenges.  It will, however, provide dollars for merit increases, given the current monetary efficiency and effectiveness of Southern Miss.

Please take a moment to review the PowerPoint presentation I presented to the IHL Board in support of the tuition increase at
http://www.usm.edu/pr/ppt/finaffairspres.html.  If you would like a printed copy, please contact my office at 266-5001.  We want you to be informed, and this is an important IHL Board decision for Southern Miss that will be
made in the next few weeks.

I believe you will see, with dwindling state funding of higher education, why it is critical that we generate monies via tuition and via external sources such as research funding.  Moreover, it is absolutely necessary that we be as efficient as possible with our resources.  The IHL Board should make a decision about our request at their upcoming meeting on June 17.

Tuesday of this week, 18 of us from Southern Miss, including deans, faculty and staff, traveled to Jones County Junior College (JCJC) to discuss issues of articulation. Clearly we wish to have a smooth and effective working relationship that allows students to transfer from JCJC to Southern Miss and to complete their desired degree(s).  We organized ourselves into
groups in order to discuss issues of importance to each individual college.   At the conclusion of the meeting, it was agreed that much progress had been made and that we would meet again in the near future to give additional
thought and refinement to the changes made.  Thus, we will meet with JCJC officials once again to establish a clear, effective and common advisement model for concurrent use by the Junior College and university personnel.  When
this process is completed at JCJC, the articulation model will be expanded to include additional community colleges.  We are pleased with the working relationships we have with these entities and will continue to foster a strong partnership for the future.


I met again this week with the President's Council and the following was decided:

Council meetings will take place the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of every month.  The meetings will continue to be open, and visitors in the audience are welcome to share comments or ask questions with the President's Council members being given first priority to express themselves.  The membership will be expanded to include two representatives from each of the three organizations, Faculty Senate, Staff Council and the Student
Government Association, in addition to the representatives originally appointed by the deans.

The President's Council members will serve one-year terms with one half of the current group rotating off the council at the end of December.  One of the representatives from the elected bodies will serve a 12-month term and
the other a six-month term to begin the rotation, and it was agreed that no representative should serve two consecutive terms.

One item discussed was how to best disseminate this letter to our faculty and staff.  Not everyone on our campuses has access to e-mail messages;therefore, we are looking into alternative ways to disseminate messages to all
of you.  We welcome any suggestions to make distribution of this document a seamless and effective process.

I also shared with the Council the PowerPoint presentation given to the IHL Board and this brought about constructive discussion.  The President's Council will meet again on June 23.

I met this week with officers of the Faculty Senate, Dr. Myron Henry, Dr. David Beckett and Ms. Mary Beth Applin. The meeting is a part of my regularly scheduled meetings with the officers of the Faculty Senate.  I shared with them the same PowerPoint presentation made to the IHL
Board.  Afterwards, I reemphasized my request of the Faculty Senate to provide assistance in three very important ways--first, ways in which the faculty can
assist with student recruitment; second, ways in which the faculty can assist with student retention; and finally, ways the faculty can assist in emphasizing the importance of higher education to our legislature and the population of Mississippi at large.

Student recruitment, retention and legislative support are critical to our continued success and financial health.  If we do not continue to expand our enrollment and retain the students we enroll, our tuition revenues will decline and the opportunity for continued salary increases will be nonexistent.  I expect additional and perhaps continuous discussion for some time about these issues and the ways in which the faculty can assist.

Very truly yours,


Shelby F. Thames

quote:

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Originally posted by: Shelby/AH
"
[...] our fixed financial obligations. For instance, each year our operating expenses rise due to cost increases beyond our control. Expenditures for which costs typically rise include utilities, health benefits, tort claims [...] "

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quote:

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Originally posted by: Michael Kimber
"On Jun 12, 2004, at 9:01 AM, USM Mailout (SFT) wrote:

Afterwards, I reemphasized my request of the Faculty
Senate to provide assistance in three very important
ways--first, ways in which the faculty can assist with
student recruitment; second, ways in which the faculty
can assist with student retention; and finally, ways the
faculty can assist in emphasizing the importance of
higher education to our legislature and the population
of Mississippi at large.

What about FACULTY recruitment? What about faculty RETENTION? As for emphasizing the importance of higher education, first we ought to agree on a definition of what higher education IS and is NOT, and at this point in time we appear to be a LONG way from that.
"

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