1982-1986

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Junior College Legislative Meeting Hosted at ECJC

- East Central Junior College was the host on Monday for a meeting attended by junior college presidents, state legislators and the board mem– bers of several junior colleges. The topic of di scussion was the 1987 legislative recommendations for state fi scal support of the junior colleges. Clyde Muse, the chairman of the legislative committee for the Mississippi Junior College Association, presented a program outlining seven major recom– mendations the MJCA will make to the legislature in I987. Recommendations will include requests for a general support '

appropriation of $60.5 million ; a vocational-technical ap– propriation of $44 . 1 million; a junior college faculty salary in– crease of $2,000; the establish– ment of resource and coor– dinating unit s for economic development ; fiscal independence for local junior college boards of trustees; retaining the concept of sovereign immunity; and the development of an ethics amen– dment for the state constitution. "The $60.5 million figure is the exact same figure as for fiscal year 1986," Muse said about the general support recommen– dation. "We realize the state has had problems with economics .

All state agencies have had to take reduction s, and that includes the junior colleges." Muse also pointed out that the junior colleges have been-rOrced to take mid-year budget reduc– tions in four of the past five years. Measures taken in the last few years to cope with declining budget support, he said , included an average statewide junior college tuition increase of 16 per– cent, request s to count y boa rds of supervisors for increased local support, a reduct ion in the acqui sition of supplies, equip– ment and library materials, and Continued To Page 88

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Legislative Meeting Dr. Eddie Smith, the president of ECJC, welcomes board members, state legislators and junior college presidents who met at ECJC on Monday to discuss the state junior college system's needs in regard to the 1987 legislative session.