Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Group makes recommendations to eliminate Mayville State deficit

Group makes recommendations to eliminate Mayville State deficit

Jul 01, 2006 - 02:09:29 CDT

FARGO (AP) - A group working to help Mayville State University solve its financial problems is recommending the school hire a finance officer and use computer software to better track its spending.

The group of higher education administrators says the college can eliminate its deficit in four years without extra taxpayer money.

"With the steps that are being proposed, they'll be on solid ground," said Dave Clark, executive vice president for Bismarck State College and chairman of the group making recommendations for the school. "I feel very confident that it's achievable."

Mayville State officials say much of the school's $900,000 deficit is caused by an enrollment drop and higher fuel costs.

The suggestions from the group of administrators include spending $66,000 a year to hire a finance officer to handle day-to-day accounting and to train staff to use PeopleSoft software to accurately track budgets.

Some of the group's recommendations already are in place, including cutting four employees, eliminating the men's and women's soccer program and reducing travel.

Nine staff jobs and two faculty vacancies will remain unfilled at the college, which has about 625 full-time students and nearly 300 part-time students.

Next year, the university will save $579,801 in salaries and benefits, the report said.

By 2008, the university should eliminate the vice president for enrollment management position, the group said. The job has not met expectations, it said.

Instead of a senior-level position, other support staff could be added to work on recruiting, Clark said.

The group also said Mayville State should get consideration for Legislative funding to offset high fuel costs, but a taxpayer bailout is not a critical need.

Because the campus relies on fuel oil as its only heat source, higher costs affected it more severely than the other 10 schools in the state system, Clark said.

Gary Hagen, Mayville's interim president, said it would be nice to get help for fuel costs, but if the university doesn't, it can adjust.

"We're always going to have something like that, whether the heat goes up or a roof leaks or a steam line breaks," Hagen said. "We have to be prepared to handle those type of things."

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Comments

Olson wrote on Jul 7, 2006 8:37 AM:

" Can someone explain why a school that is losing money should stay open at all? Why is it that the state feels this school needs to be open when we already of 10 other colleges in ND? NDSU should take over Mayville and use it reasearch campus for its Ag program. There is no reason why this campus needs to stay open when it is so close to UND and NDSU. Let's save the taxpayers some money for once and not reward a school that is failing by keeping it open. Then the government could make BSC a 4 year colleg, which would serve a larger city and make money. "

former Bismarck resident wrote on Jul 5, 2006 10:11 PM:

" When your state's educational system was established in the late 1880's, your legislators as part of the politics of the times, spread institutions throughout the state with each campus designed for a specific educational purposes, i.e. to train teachers, to promote technological research in the agricultural sciences, to provide vocational training, to train professionals, etc. The demographics have dramatically altered in the past 125 years, so current residents need to re-evaluate whether certain institutions are needed and whether some are simply redundant. A business appropriately downsizes when economics require it. In education this will translate to hard decisions regarding consolidation and/or elimination. It is baffling to me how a temporary bail-out package for an insolvent institution will advance overall educational goals for the future in your state. It certainly isn't cost effective. I agree with C.J. Schmidt and Let's do IT! Mayville should be closed. Valley City and Dickinson should convert to junior colleges, Minot should revert to a state teacher's college, Wahpeton revert to a trade school. Neither your state population nor budget warrant 11 pseudo-universities. There is currently one centrally located private university and two viable state universities in the eastern half of your state that are nationally recognized. If there are no efforts made to re-allocate soon, even these institutions will suffer consequences. In point of fact, it would be fairly painless to transition displaced faculty and/or staff to NDSU or UND from Mayville, i.e. the town is only about 35 miles away from either location, people can commute for a job. I do it every day! "

Let's do IT! wrote on Jul 4, 2006 10:01 AM:

" So it takes more than a stroke of a pen. We still should close some schools. Let's get it on the ballot the next election, bite the bullet, and do what is right. "

It takes more than the stroke of a pen wrote on Jul 3, 2006 1:28 PM:

" to eliminate these colleges, they are specifically identified in the Constitution of the State of North Dakota. "

C. J. Schmidt wrote on Jul 1, 2006 5:00 AM:

" This problem could be fixed by the stroke of a pen. I strongly feel that Mayville and several other colleges in North Dakota need to be closed. I would start by closing Mayville and then Valley City. These two schools being this close to Fargo, and Grand Forks are not necessary. "

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