Concerns about poor recordkeeping, inadequate accountability and the possible “unintended” use of restricted dollars led a member of the Jackson State University Development Foundation board to quietly resign earlier this year. In his June 23 resignation letter, Brian Johnson, a 2009 Jackson State graduate who had served on the board for six years, wrote that […]
Molly Minta
Mississippi Today
Higher education reporter at Mississippi Today in partnership with Open Campus.
JSU students call for accountability after on-campus shooting shakes sense of security
The shooting that killed Jaylen Burns, a senior industrial technology major from Chicago, prompted the university to cancel classes Monday and is still under investigation.
Delta State’s future depends on $11 million, multi-year budget cut, president says
About a decade of “emergency-style budgeting” has all but maxed out its credit and created a hole that is poised to be an unavoidable existential threat.
Auditor’s proposal to defund some college majors catches fire online, but are lawmakers interested?
Buoyed by a series of tweets from State Auditor Shad White belittling certain liberal arts degrees as “garbage,” “useless” and “indoctrination factories,” a recent report from his office calls for Mississippi to change how it funds higher education by stripping public money from programs that don’t support the state’s economy in favor of those that […]
IHL system put on federal monitoring after blowing deadline to submit annual audit
For the next five years, when Mississippi universities seek to cover tuition with federal financial aid dollars hey will be required to first provide certain documentation.
‘No one is losing out’ in proposed college financial aid changes, board says
The award amounts of the Mississippi Tuition Assistance Grant – known as MTAG – would be increased to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of colleg
JSU years away from solving housing needs but working on it
There are myriad reasons for this gap between Jackson State’s financial need and the amount of money the historically Black university can realistically expect to receive in state funding.
How a business consultant with a history of domestic violence allegations took over the Delta State music department
After the longtime chair was killed last summer, Delta State hired Kent Wessinger, a self-proclaimed “people scientist,” to help lead the department out of tragedy. Did the university do enough — or anything — to vet his hire?
New academic freedom policy at Delta State is likely its first, emails show
The policy development comes as Delta State faculty are working to start the university’s first-ever chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
IHL taskforce to study disability compliance across public university system
Even before the pandemic, college students have been disclosing disabilities at increasing rates.