By Melissa Dunson

mdunson@joplinglobe.com

Missouri Southern State University’s cash balance is about $200,000 ahead of last year’s.

Linda Eis, MSSU treasurer, told the board of governors Friday that the university has $7.1 million in cash, not counting bond proceeds, compared with $6.9 million at the end of October 2007.

The university has cut more than $500,000 from its budget this year, but will still have to dip into cash reserves for an estimated $2.6 million by the end of this year.

The board’s financial report shows the school has collected nearly $74,000 less in student tuition and fees this year compared with the same time last year. At the same time, Missouri Southern’s operating expenses have increased by $1.6 million.

During last month’s audit report, Dwight Douglas, chairman of the Board of Governors, said the goal is to balance the university’s budget and begin putting money back into cash reserves so the school has 60 to 90 days’ worth of operating expenses, or $10 million to $15 million, in the bank.

One of the strategies university President Bruce Speck will use to accomplish that is a new marketing campaign aimed at boosting declining enrollment figures.

“We need to focus on enrollment and stress the quality of education here,” Speck told the board.

The university also will revise its scholarship policy. Those changes are to be announced. Speck has also initiated a strategic planning process since taking his post as the university president earlier this year, and those results should be presented to the board next year.

Citing a recent hiring freeze at the University of Missouri and the recent layoffs at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Speck said Missouri Southern will have to take further action to cut costs and raise revenues, but did not give specifics.

“We need to make some tough decisions to make sure we’re financially viable,” Speck said. “But I still believe we have a very bright future.”

In other business, the faculty senate adopted a position statement about the university’s international mission during its Nov. 3 meeting. The international mission has been at the center of several controversial meetings since Speck became president, following the retirement of former president Julio Leon, who founded the international mission. Speck said he would respond to that statement at the faculty senate’s next meeting.

A new student representative to the board, Ivy Love, said she believes it is important to preserve the university’s international mission and the Foreign Language Performance Awards that Speck addressed in a handout to the board. Love is double majoring in Spanish and French with a minor in Russian.

She also expressed concern about the safety of Missouri Southern’s campus because of a recent rash of property thefts and because a student was hit by a car at a crosswalk.