Furnishing a newly constructed building and rescinding a Tax Commission ruling on student meal plans are at the top of Mississippi Valley State University's agenda for the 2006 legislative session.
Dr. Roy Hudson, vice president of university relations, serves as the legislative liaison for Valley. Since the session began Jan. 3, he has traveled to Jackson several times on behalf of the university.
The No. 1 priority is adding furniture and equipment to the recently completed Business Education Building on the Itta Bena campus. "The building is finished, but the job is not done," Hudson said.
Besides desks, chairs and tables, the educators are hoping for state-of-the-art electronic equipment in their classrooms.
Hudson describes long banks of computers with high-speed Internet access, video conferences with Wall Street and Hong Kong, and live updates of the world's stock markets.
Valley's administration wants to take full advantage its first new education building in more than 25 years. "You only get one shot, so you want to do it right," Hudson said.
Hudson projects the total cost of furnishing the building at around $2 million. The best-case scenario opens the building for classes in January 2007.
The university is also lobbying lawmakers to reinsert a longstanding sales tax exemption on student meal plans.
Last year, the state Tax Commission notified all colleges and universities in Mississippi that they would have to begin collecting the state's general 7 percent sales tax on meal plans.
Hudson said a state university is providing a tax-free education, and meals are part of that education.
Hudson said the university was glad to see the House pass early in the session a pay raise plan that would apply to university faculty and staff. The House measure, passed unanimously, would give most state employees a $1,000 raise on July 1 and another $1,000 increase the next year.
Hudson said faculty salaries must be increased in order for Valley to successfully compete for critical teaching positions in subject areas such as math, science and other technical fields. Other states with higher salary scales will buy instructors out from under you, he said.
Hudson expects the size of the pay hike to increase when the bill is considered in the Senate.
He compared the process to the sale of an automobile. The sales pitch may say starting at $20,000, Hudson said, but if the buyer wants the car equipped, it's going to cost extra.
"It's not a one-size-fits-all situation," Hudson said. "We want some more options."
Hudson said the university's agenda represents not just his school, but the area as well.
He applauded the recent efforts by Delta legislators to create a united front. For the last three months, around a dozen lawmakers from the Delta have met together to discuss subjects such as education, work force training, jobs and transportation.
The best way to approach the area's problems is through a team effort, the Delta native said.
Valley and other institutions of higher education in the region, such as Mississippi Delta Community College and Delta State University, play an integral part in providing the Delta with an educated work force, Hudson said.
He said it's important to look beyond the population centers in the Delta and into the small towns such as Tutwiler, Glendora and Minter City. "That's where our students come from."
