As Delta State University continues to struggle with both enrollment and financial issues, President Dr. Daniel Ennis is working to implement a plan toward a “sustainable future.”
Following a meeting last month with the Institutions of Higher Learning, in which Ennis informed the board that cutting the budget by a necessary $11 million is not currently possible based on the university’s revenue, the president has announced his goal in seeking more state and federal allocations while doubling the school’s centennial campaign goal from $50 million to $100 million.
“We have programs that matter to our federal legislators and state legislators,” Ennis said, per a release from the school. “And we have a story we can tell.”
To further address budget concerns, sources have confirmed to SuperTalk Mississippi News that faculty layoffs, salary cuts, and even department cuts are possible as the release noted that the path forward “is going to be unpleasant.”
“I’m sorry to give you this news, but I think it’s important that everybody know our financial position right now,” Ennis said at a town hall meeting on Sept. 28. The president told those gathered that the budget must be fixed within five years.
As for enrollment issues, Ennis was blunt during a recent campus forum involving students, faculty, and staff. Pointing to the declining population of the Mississippi Delta as a whole, he acknowledged that student population might be a harder problem to solve.
“There are good things Delta State can and will do to increase our appeal to students, but at a certain point, it must be acknowledged that the institution’s DNA, its very ethos, was built around giving educational opportunities to the people from the Delta,” Ennis explained. “And there are just less people in the Delta. The goal is to get Delta State to the point where we have a sustainable future.”
Ennis has also created a committee dedicated to budget sustainability. The committee, which met for the first time on Tuesday and will meet consistently over the next nine to twelve months, is tasked with identifying strategies to reduce the university’s budget by another $5.5 million. That is in addition to a $4.4 million cut that took place earlier this year.
Ennis, in his first year at the helm, was hired from Coastal Carolina to help right a ship that has seen a 48 percent decline in enrollment since 2007. Even with the issues at hand, he remains optimistic that fiscal solutions can be found while protecting the student experience.
“Times will be tough, but the core mission of Delta State will be protected. Our focus on personal attention, faculty and staff who care about the whole student, graduates who are sought after because of Delta State’s reputation in the classroom, a campus filled with excitement and activity, and a university that is committed to this community and region. These essentials won’t change.”
