USM looking at ways to trim budget
A hiring slowdown, larger classes and reducing travel are among the methods the University of Southern Mississippi may use to cut 4½ percent from its annual budget, administrators say.
The cost-cutting measures — though not instituted yet — are a response to an enrollment decline over the past few years. This fall, the university experienced a 2.6 percent decrease with 14,845 students enrolled — the number is slightly down from fall 2013 when Southern Miss had 15,249 students.
"Our goal is to reduce the budget without impacting the students' experience," Southern Miss Provost Denis Wiesenburg said. "... The cost-cutting measures will have consequences, but we're looking at cuts that will cause the least harm to students or the programs."
Wiesenburg said the university's headcount enrollment figures can be misleading — adding that FTE (full-time equivalent) figures more accurately show the drop.
"We are down 366 students who are FTE, but we are down 2.6 percent in student credit hours," he said, explaining state funding is based on student credit hours and the university receives about $6,000 per FTE student. "We have fewer students taking classes."
Douglas Vinzant, the university's vice president of Finance and Administration, said the budget cuts are not mandated by the Institutions of Higher Learning or the state Legislature.
He said faculty and staff have been instructed to come up with ways they would reduce spending in their respective departments. He said nothing has been finalized at this point, but reports should be back from the departments in 30 to 45 days.
"Anytime we have a two- to three-year decline in enrollment, we must make plans to reduce what we spend," Vinzant said of the university's overall budget.
For FY 2014, the university's budget is $345 million. Of that — the major revenue streams for the Hattiesburg and Gulf Park campuses are tuition, which brings in $116 million, and $81 million in state appropriations. Both revenue streams are enrollment dependent.
Another $68 million is generated from auxiliary enterprises and athletics and $65 million from research funding, he added. He said any cuts or reductions would not impact grants, contracts or auxiliary enterprises.
Vinzant said the university is not considering a hiring freeze — but more of a hiring slowdown where administrators would look closely at open positions to determine if they need to be filled. The university has about 50 administrative, faculty and staff positions now open.
The university is looking at increasing revenue streams, Vinzant said. He listed student retention and strengthening recruitment efforts in-state, out-of-state and targeting community college transfers.
"What USM is dealing with is not unique for public or private institutions," he said. "Higher education — as an industry — is experiencing significant changes. It is a very competitive industry, we have to think and behave differently."
Wiesenburg said students also may see larger classes from the current 17-1 student-instructor ratio.
"We pride ourselves on trying to have a low student-faculty ratio, but that may go up some," the provost said.
However, he said lowering the faculty numbers does present some challenges — noting the nursing program, which has about 600 students, requires a certain number of faculty members per student to maintain its accreditation.
"The nursing program is important to the state," Wiesenburg said.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employment Projections 2012-22 released in December, registered nursing is listed among the top occupations in terms of job growth through 2022. The registered nursing work force is expected to grow from 2.71 million in 2012 to 3.24 million in 2022 — an increase of 526,800, or 19 percent.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the need for 525,000 replacement nurses in the work force bringing the total number of job openings for nurses due to growth and replacement to 1.05 million by 2022.
The School of Nursing at Southern Miss has 41 full-time faculty members and 17 adjuncts, along with 423 students pursuing bachelor's degrees, 110 seeking master's and 77 in the doctorate program.
Wiesenburg added Southern Miss also does not want to hurt its arts programs because the university is one of only 25 in the United States that is accredited in all four of the disciplines — music, dance, theater and art and design.
"We don't have a large number of dance majors," he said, adding there are seven faculty members and 83 dance majors at the university.
Alejandra Galnares, a junior accounting major, said she is surprised at the drop in enrollment.
"I'm a Luckyday Scholar and am really glad I chose USM," said the 21-year-old from Pearl. "The university has a lot to offer, but I do understand that not all college students are earning degrees the traditional way.
"A lot of students often work and decide to take the online route, so that does have an impact on universities like USM."
By the numbers
University of Southern Mississippi enrollment numbers for the past few years show a steady decline:
Enrollment numbers
Total Full-Time Equivalent
Total Headcount
2014-15
14,845
2013-14
15,249
13,331.1
2012-13
16,468
13,293.0
2011-12
16,604
13,970.3
Source: Mississippi Public Universities