Bill Text: MS SB2701 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

Mississippi Senate Bill 2701 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Administrative merger of MVSU with JSU; direct IHL to implement.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Failed) 2010-02-02 - Died In Committee [SB2701 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2010-SB2701-Introduced.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2010 Regular Session

To: Universities and Colleges; Appropriations

By: Senator(s) Davis

Senate Bill 2701

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING TO PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE ORDERLY MERGER OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY WITH JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY; TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-127-1, 37-127-3, 37-127-5 AND 37-127-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO AND TO PROVIDE THAT MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY SHALL BE A DISTINCT CAMPUS OF JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY; TO AMEND SECTION 37-101-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; TO AMEND SECTION 37-101-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DIRECT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING TO STUDY THE SCOPE OF UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS AND CONSOLIDATE PROGRAMS WHICH ARE DUPLICATIVE OR NOT COST-EFFECTIVE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Effective July 1, 2011, the administrative offices of Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Mississippi, shall be transferred to and merged with the administrative offices of Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. The President of Jackson State University shall have immediate supervision and management of Mississippi Valley State University, subject to the general supervision and direction of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning. The campus facilities at Mississippi Valley State University shall remain a distinct campus, and shall be designated as the Mississippi Valley Campus of Jackson State University. All records, personnel, property and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations or other funds for the administration of Mississippi Valley State University shall be transferred to Jackson State University according to the merger of these functions under this section. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall promulgate rules and regulations for the progressive and orderly transfer of administrative functions and the disposition of staff, property and equipment according to the merger of these functions under this section. All personnel actions initiated as a result of this merger shall be subject to personnel procedures of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

SECTION 2. Section 37-127-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-127-1. A body politic and corporate is hereby created by the name of the "Mississippi Valley State College" to have perpetual succession, with power to contract and be contracted with, to receive by any legal method of transfer or conveyance, property of any description, to have, hold and employ the same, to make and use a corporate seal, with power to break or change the same, and to adopt bylaws, rules and regulations for the government of its members, official agents and employees. However, the name of said "Mississippi Valley State College" is hereafter changed to "Mississippi Valley State University," without interference with the rights, powers and prerogatives of said college which continue in all respects. Whenever the name "Mississippi Valley State College" appears, the same is construed to denote "Mississippi Valley State University."

Effective July 1, 2011, the administrative offices of Mississippi Valley State University shall be transferred to and merged with the administrative offices of Jackson State University, and the name "Mississippi Valley State University" shall hereafter be changed to the "Mississippi Valley Campus of Jackson State University."

SECTION 3. Section 37-127-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-127-3. The object of the Mississippi Valley Campus of Jackson State University shall be to train teachers for teaching in the public schools of this state by giving instruction in the art and practice of teaching in the elementary and high school grades and in all branches of study which pertain to industrial training, health and rural and elementary education, and to provide instruction and training in such other subjects as the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, in cooperation with the State Department of Education, may, from time to time, prescribe. It shall also be the object of said college to establish and conduct schools, classes or courses, for preparing, equipping and training citizens of the State of Mississippi for employment in gainful occupations, in trade, industrial and distributive pursuits whether such students are qualified by educational requirements or not.

SECTION 4. Section 37-127-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-127-5. The Mississippi Valley Campus of Jackson State University shall be located at Itta Bena, Mississippi * * *.

SECTION 5. Section 37-127-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-127-7. The President of Jackson State University * * * shall have the immediate supervision and management of said campus in all its departments, subject however, to the general supervision, management, and direction of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

SECTION 6. Section 37-101-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-101-1. The following state institutions of higher learning, namely:

(a) The University of Mississippi;

(b) The Mississippi State University * * *;

(d) The University of Southern Mississippi;

(e) The Delta State College;

(f) The Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College;

(g) The Jackson State University; and

* * *

(h) * * * Any other of like kind which may be hereafter established be established by the state;

shall be under the management and control of a board of trustees to be known as the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

SECTION 7. Section 37-101-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-101-13. On or before July 1, 2010, it shall be the duty of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning to develop a comprehensive study of the role and scope of all of the various institutions under its jurisdiction, including a detailed study of the programs of study, degrees and courses offered, and make a report thereon to the 2011 Regular Session of the Legislature. Following the completion of such study, the board shall make such adjustments as may be found to be necessary in the programs of the various institutions, to the end that the broadest possible educational opportunities shall be offered to the citizens of this state without inefficient and needless duplication of duplicate programs on different campuses which are not cost-effective. The board shall, through such officers of the board and through such procedures as it shall see fit to establish, exercise continuing jurisdiction and control over the establishment of new courses of study, new departments and new functions and activities in each institution so that the growth and development of the program of higher education in the state shall proceed in an orderly and rational manner, inefficient and needless duplication may be avoided, and new expanded programs will be undertaken only as the same may become justified, based upon objective criteria to be established by the board. In carrying out the purposes of this section, particular attention shall be given to the extension programs of the various institutions. The board, in conjunction with the Chancellor and presidents of the institutions of higher learning, shall take such steps as may be necessary to improve and coordinate such programs and shall exercise such direct control over the establishment, organization, operation and granting of credit for such programs as may be necessary to accomplish such purposes.

SECTION 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2011.