Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Delivering on a promise to provide faculty incentives to help increase student enrollment, Mississippi State President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong is presenting a $96,000 check to the university's provost and the chair of the faculty senate.
The funds will be used at the department level to help offset the instructional costs of increasing enrollment.
"We know that increased enrollment results in increased revenue to the university, but we also recognize that larger enrollments place more demands on faculty and require additional instructional resources," Foglesong said.
The land-grant institution's recent strategic planning effort--FutureSTATE 2015--commits MSU to recruiting and retaining qualified students while also allowing an expansion and stabilization of its tuition base, he said.
"One FutureSTATE goal is to synchronize enrollment growth with increases in faculty numbers and other resources," Foglesong explained. "Another goal is to encourage departmental involvement in recruiting and retention by returning a percentage of new net tuition revenue to academic departments and colleges as enrollments grow."
For the fall 2006 semester, the $96,000 distribution is based on an increase of about 73 full-time-equivalent students from the previous fall semester.
"This is the beginning of what we hope will become significant returns to the people in the trenches as we grow enrollment," the chief executive said, adding that a university goal is "measured, reasonable enrollment increases."
The allocation of new tuition revenue will be calculated each spring and fall and distributed proportionately to academic colleges and departments through the Office of the Provost using a formula that takes into account both full-time-equivalent enrollment and student credit hour production.
"This is an outstanding plan that acknowledges the key role faculty members play in attracting students to Mississippi State and that provides resources that will help departments enhance their academic efforts," said Peter Rabideau, provost and vice president for academic affairs.
"We think it's a win-win situation."
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, telephone Dr. Rabideau at 662-325-3742.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.