By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

Missouri Southern State University in Joplin will be moving forward with three proposals aimed to increase revenue by $1.3 million for the next fiscal year.

A plan to raise the cost for students renting textbooks is among the proposals in the works after the Board of Governors’ retreat on Saturday.

The fee for textbook rentals is set to increase from $7 per credit hour to $10 per credit hour, according to Jeff Gibson, MSSU’s director of budget and operations.

That increase is expected to net more than $317,000 in increased revenue.

“It was the consensus of the executive budget committee that the value of (textbook rentals) to the students would still be strong,” Gibson said in his remarks to the board during Saturday’s retreat. “We’ve never approached the rental center as a revenue generator, philosophically. This would be moving us more in that direction. Typically we just try to break even.”

Student reaction

For some students, like Patrick Britt, the increase “is not going to really matter at all” because the alternative, buying your textbooks, can cost hundreds.

“No, I don’t think $3 (per credit hour) is going to hurt anybody,” said Britt, a senior and president of the Asian Studies Club. “That’s something that’s really nice about Missouri Southern — they let you rent their textbooks.”

Rod Anderson, president of the Board of Governors, acknowledged that students would be shouldering more costs for their education.

“I’m sure it’s going to be a little additional cost, but they’re getting a bargain in the textbook rentals to begin with,” he said. “If you crunch the numbers, we’ve got to make up the revenue somewhere. We don’t want to lose our quality in the education product we deliver, so we’re going to have to get that revenue from somewhere.”

The university also plans to raise the fee for distance learning and online courses to $50 per credit hour, and increase out-of-state tuition fee for distance education from $143 per credit hour to $286 per credit hour.

MSSU charges an additional fee of $35 per credit hour to take online courses. The system also allows out-of-state students who are only taking courses online to pay the same amount of base tuition that an in-state student pays.

The increases for the distance and online learning programs are expected to generate an additional $527,000 and $319,000, respectively.

“This will not cover the loss of appropriations we are anticipating, but it makes some headway toward recovering some of that potential,” Gibson said. “And these are things that build a revenue base. That's why these things are coming forth.”

The revenue-increasing moves come in light of expectations that state funding for Southern — and for higher education in Missouri — will decline significantly during the next two budget years.

MSSU officials are bracing for up to a $4 million cut in state appropriations.

Administrators also apprised the board of a plan to hire up to nine new faculty members.

Gibson said the university’s budget includes 15 lines for faculty salaries that are not being paid out because the positions have not been filled because of a hiring freeze.

“From an accounting standpoint, they existed in the budget but we were not authorized to hire within them, so money was allocated but could not be used,” said Brad Kleindl, interim academic affairs vice president.

Kleindl said five faculty positions are likely to be added from the 15 lines, and an additional four positions in health-care-related courses are expected to be added through a Caring For Missourians grant.

Faculty reaction

Faculty senate President Roger Chelf said he was “ecstatic” about the possibility of new hires. He also said the university had made some positive strides to resolving tensions between the faculty and MSSU President Bruce Speck.

“If we see some movement on faculty hires and international mission, it’s a step in right direction,” Chelf said. “I think it was a successful retreat. I really do. I will have a much more engaged opinion at the next faculty meeting.”