MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Universities and Colleges; Appropriations

By: Senator(s) Gollott, Woodfield, Lee, Cuevas

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-102-3, 37-102-7 AND 37-102-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING TO DESIGNATE THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST BRANCH CAMPUS AS AN ENHANCED DEGREE-GRANTING BRANCH CAMPUS WITH FULL AUTHORITY TO OFFER UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL FRESHMAN AND SOPHOMORE COURSES REQUIRED FOR COMPLETION OF THE UNIVERSITY'S BACHELOR'S DEGREE PROGRAMS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37-102-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-102-3. (1) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, hereafter referred to as the board, may designate the existing degree-granting university branch campus of the University of Southern Mississippi serving the Mississippi Gulf Coast counties as an enhanced degree-granting university branch campus with full authority to add such lower undergraduate level freshman and sophomore courses that may be required for completion of the university's bachelor's degree programs if each of the following terms and conditions are met:

(a) The University of Southern Mississippi branch campus must have registered an opening head-count enrollment of at least one thousand four hundred (1,400) students in upper level and graduate credit courses at the opening of each of the previous three (3) fall terms.

(b) The political subdivision or the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast counties served by the university branch campus must have assisted in developing or enhancing facilities for the university branch campus site.

(2) In no instance shall the board permit the University of Southern Mississippi to offer lower undergraduate level courses or programs at its Gulf Coast branch campus unless each of the above stipulations have been met.

SECTION 2. Section 37-102-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-102-7. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall submit to the Legislature budget requests with off-campus and branch campus programs being an identified part of the total general support budget request for universities by being a separate item within the budget request of the respective university which offers the program. The budget request shall include: (a) a statement of all actual or estimated receipts and disbursements for such off-campus or branch campus programs; (b) a comparison of the estimated state expenditure per full-time equivalent student studying at the off-campus site or branch campus as compared to the estimated state expenditure per full-time equivalent student studying at the parent university's main campus; and (c) such other information as may be required by the Legislative Budget Office. It is the intent of the Legislature that the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall allocate to branch campuses owning substantial land and buildings state funds adequate to maintain those buildings in addition to such instructional funds that are necessary to provide branch campus students a quality of instruction equal to that available on the parent university campus.

SECTION 3. Section 37-102-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-102-11. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning may permit extracurricular items such as dormitories, gymnasiums * * * and such related items to be constructed for use by off-campus sites of universities for undergraduate physical education and recreation which may be needed for approved courses of instruction or which meet the demonstrated needs of the urban communities they serve. A university branch campus or off-campus site of a university may not develop or implement intercollegiate sports programs or teams that duplicate intercollegiate sports programs or teams on the parent university's campus.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1999.