(Photo of Ole Miss students walking on campus from the Ole Miss Facebook page taken by Thomas Graning/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services - posted January 23, 2023.)
- IHL received a clean audit for Fiscal Year 2024, the Board was told at its recent meeting.
The Board of Trustees for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning added a new degree path to help address the teacher shortage in the state and received a favorable opinion on its most recent audit.
The Board also renamed a center located at Mississippi State University as part of its consent agenda during Thursday’s meeting, removing the term “diversity” from the name.
Holmes Center for Student Success at Mississippi State
With the passage of the consent agenda, the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center at MSU will now be known as the Holmes Center for Student Success, according to IHL’s Board Book for the March 20, 2025, meeting.
The Board Book states the “Center will expand its offerings to include specialized programs dedicated to supporting first-generation, low-income and foster care students.”
According to MSU, the center was named after Dr. Richard Holmes in 1991, who was the first African American student to enroll at the university in 1965. Upon graduation from MSU he served in the Army for two years before returning to earn his master’s degree. Holmes later went on to complete medical school at Michigan State University and had a successful career as a physician.
New master’s degree at MUW
The IHL Board also approved a new graduate degree path at the Mississippi University for Women – the Master of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Education.
Dr. Casey Prestwood, Associate Commissioner for Academic and Student Affairs, told the Board the new degree path will be housed under the School of Education. Since currently available resources will be used to establish the new degree path, there will be no cost to implement the coursework.
The new program is expected to generate more than $800,000 in new revenue over five years.
The 33-hour program will allow those with a bachelor’s degree not based in education to concurrently earn a K-6 teaching license and a master’s degree.
Prestwood said the new degree path can help address the state’s teacher shortage that totaled 2,775 empty positions statewide in 2023-2024, of which 815 were in elementary grade levels.
“Despite legislative efforts, such as the 2022 teacher pay raises, the number of vacancies has continued to rise, indicating that further measures are necessary to address the issue,” Prestwood added.
HVAC improvements at Ole Miss
A fifth phase to ongoing work at the University of Mississippi is aimed to improve the institution’s energy efficiency. This latest phase of the multi-phase project will include upgrading building automation controls in 15 buildings and upgrading four mechanical plants and HVAC systems in several buildings over 18 months, to name a few of the projects.
Buildings to receive HVAC improvements include the university’s library, Peabody Hall, Fulton Chapel and Barnard Observatory.
The scope of work is expected to cost $10.4 million but is promised to bring about more than $550,000 in energy savings annually for 19 years, Brad Rowland, Associate Commissioner for Real Estate and Facilities, told the IHL Board.
An additional $1.4 million is being added to the contract, which will be spread over that 19 years for verification and measurement purposes, Rowland added.
The university’s power company, Tennessee Valley Authority, has offered incentives totaling $500,000 once the project is complete, which Rowland said can be used to help offset the project’s cost.
Clean audit
The Board heard that IHL had received an unqualified financial opinion for fiscal year 2024.
“The system received an unqualified opinion, and for the federal audit the system complied in all material respects with the compliance requirements identified in the (Office of Management and Budget) compliance supplement for federal programs,” Senior Associate Commissioner for Finance John Pearce described to the Board.
As noted, the auditor did not discover significant findings during the audit.
