Southern Miss Faces Multi-Million Dollar Budget Cuts

The University of Southern Mississippi has proposed 94 cuts to faculty and classes in order to prepare for a possible multi- million dollar budget shortfall next year. MPB’s Phoebe Judge has more.

It’s registration day at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast campus, and all is operating as normal even with the announcement this week of the proposed 10 to 12 million dollars in budget cuts for the next fiscal year. USM on the Gulf Coast has record enrollment numbers in the past few years, and academic dean Tom Lansford says that made the process of recommending budget cuts all the more difficult,

“Higher education in Mississippi right now has been cut to the bone. There really is no fat left, and in fact what we have started to see with this round of cuts, is we have started to cut into the muscle and tissue. Long term that is going to impact our ability to service the educational needs of south Mississippi and the state.”

The recommended cuts include the closing of the Jackson County portion of USM’s Gulf Coast campus, along with the elimination of currently unfilled faculty positions. Lansford says it is not clear how many cuts will have to be made just yet, but any cuts won't be implemented until the next academic year.

For MPB News, I'm Phoebe Judge in Gulfport.