Mississippi State University President Mark E. Keenum addresses evolving federal and state higher education policies

Feb 285 min read

Mississippi State University President Mark E. Keenum today [Feb. 28] addressed several proposed changes in federal and state higher education policies.

“We all have concerns and questions as these important matters are debated and decided, and I want you to know we are working very hard to address their potential impacts here at MSU. As we have done in the past, leaders from across the university – faculty, staff, and students – have been engaged in discussions and planning,” Keenum wrote in a message to faculty and staff.

He noted: “The most time-sensitive issue we face is the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter sent from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights on Feb. 14. The letter states ‘educational institutions may neither separate or segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race.’ Failure to comply with this directive could result in the loss of federal funding, and such a loss would be catastrophic to our university.”

Keenum said MSU has worked closely with IHL, state, and federal leaders to understand the steps required to comply with the directive “to the best of our ability.” These steps include changes to website language, nomenclature on campus, and policies concerning student organizations.

Colleges and universities were given two weeks to comply with the directive. Today [Feb. 28] is the deadline.

“MSU is participating in the dialogue with national higher education organizations to ensure that the impacts of the Dear Colleague letter are clearly articulated, and we’ve also been in close conversation with our congressional delegation to ensure they fully understand the potential impacts. We’ve had numerous conversations with peer institutions to ensure that our interpretations are reasonable and that we are not over- or under-interpreting, making us an outlier. This process will be ongoing for some time. We are committed to continuing to work with government at all levels as an effective partner. At the same time, we are equally committed to providing a safe and welcoming learning environment on our campus.

Additionally, Keenum said MSU is “working to address significant changes related to federal investments in research. Our research is an incredible success story and an economic engine. The work we are doing – that so many of you are doing – is essential to the growth, health, well-being, and future of our state and nation. We have federally funded research teams supporting our state’s most vital economic sectors and academic expertise that is recognized around our nation and world. Our research programs also provide unmatched hands-on learning opportunities for our students as they work closely with world-class faculty on this research.”

With $342 million in funded research with $162 million from federal sources, MSU is by far Mississippi’s leading research university and is the only Mississippi institution ranked in the National Science Foundation’s “Top 100” research universities. MSU ranks in the “Top 15” in three disciplines—agriculture, natural resources and conservation, and aerospace engineering. MSU research disciplines ranked in the “Top 50” include industrial and manufacturing engineering, materials science, geological and earth sciences, social sciences, business management and business administration, and ocean and marine sciences.

In 2024, MSU announced that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would extend a five-year grant and provide up to an additional $15 million for the university’s efforts to help farmers and fishers in Africa and Asia better utilize aquatic food resources. MSU-led USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish research benefits Mississippi’s best-in-the-nation catfish production as well. It’s just one example of how federally funded research at MSU has both global and local relevance.

“We are extremely concerned about announcements from Washington that pause or interrupt the research of our faculty, staff, and students. We fully recognize the uncertainty that exists for researchers and graduate students in particular,” Keenum wrote.

Keenum, a former Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said he expects these policy discussions to continue between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government over program and funding authority. “As they do, we will work hard to do all that we can do to protect our most valuable assets – our people,” he said.

Another proposed policy that Keenum and his leadership team at MSU are closely monitoring is a proposed reduction of funds for “facilities and administrative” or “F&A” funds – also referred to as “indirect costs” of university research. These are essential costs of conducting research.

The Association of American Universities recently said: “The federal government’s longstanding recognition and payment of its share of these costs has helped U.S. colleges and universities build and support the required research infrastructure that has made the American research enterprise the best in the world.”

MSU Vice President for Finance and Administration Les Potts explained: “The proposed ‘F&A’ rate is an arbitrary 15%. It is currently 46.5% for MSU compared to Harvard’s 69% and MIT’s 59%. For FY 2024 at MSU, academic-organized research costs MSU $78 million. Out of that, the negotiated F&A percentage of 46.5% is applied to $54.5 million (subset of expenditures referred to as “modified total direct costs”). This yields an actual “effective F&A rate” of around 32.8%.

“If you took that 32.8% rate down to an arbitrary 15% (-17.8%), it costs us about $500K per percentage point and will represent a loss of nearly $10 million a year (a >50% reduction in the amounts we actually recover). As far as the MSU central budget is concerned, we depend on around $9 million of F&A flowing into our recurring budget. A 50% reduction in recoveries would likewise result in a $4.5 million hit to the main campus budget,” Potts said.

Keenum wrote, “We are developing contingency plans if indirect costs are permanently reduced. We are also developing plans if additional stays of work or elimination of projects or funding of programs are announced. I want to assure you that we understand the high stakes of these possible situations, and we continue to share the potential impacts to our programs and people with federal and state officials.”

Beyond MSU’s research concerns, the Mississippi Legislature is debating vital legislation regarding the Mississippi Public Employees Retirement System and the associated Optional Retirement Plan (ORP).

“We are closely monitoring developments that could have a dramatic impact on current and future ORP participants. We are having numerous conversations with the leadership in the House and the Senate about the negative impacts the legislation would have. MSU and other state universities and institutions are pushing hard to amend the bill to reduce that negative impact,” Keenum wrote.

While acknowledging the many different changes and the proliferation of news coverage and social media commentaries that can feel overwhelming, Keenum stated: “...we’ve faced great change before and have always found a way to move forward. I have no doubts we will do so again. Throughout our discussions and planning the past few weeks, our No. 1 priority has been our people. We’re committed to doing all we can to protect the people who make everything we do as a major, modern, comprehensive, research university and land-grant institution possible. I am confident that if we all continue to do our part, and if we all continue to work together, we are going to get through whatever changes may come our way. I am honored to work with all of you as we carry out our mission to teach and mentor students, conduct groundbreaking research, and serve communities across our state and beyond.”

Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.