HBCUs best at training doctors serving the poor

A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine reveled that medical schools at historically black Morehouse, Meharry, and Howard Medical schools ranked first, second, and third in a study of 141 training institutions that produce the highest percentage of physicians practicing in under served communities.

The study was conducted from 1999 to 2001 by a group of George Washington University researchers led by Fitzhugh Mullan, M.D. and rated the schools in "social mission" categories - the percentages of graduates entering primary care practice, working in areas with shortages in health care providers and serving underrepresented minorities.

Harvard, widely regarded as the nation's most prestigious medical school, was 67th; John Hopkins was 122nd, and the University of Pennsylvania was 29th. Vanderbilt, a top-tier southern school, ranked next to last. No highly ranked school was included in the top 10.

Morehouse, only 35 years old, presented its first class of graduates in 1985.

Reached in his Washington, D.C. office, Mullan said the data was "a bit of a surprise for some people, but we thought we should be upfront and not set the black schools aside with any asterisks that would say, 'Yes, they did well in these categories, but ... '"

Mullan's team didn't use its findings to recommend what other colleges should do to improve their scores, he said, "because they all have different missions; some may choose to say 'This is our mission, and we're fine with it,' but we asked all of them to take a look at the findings and spend some effort to consider or reconsider their mission."

Medical schools, Mullan reminded the study's readers, "are the only institutions in our society that can produce physicians; yet assessments of medical schools, such as the well-known U.S. News & World Report ranking system, often value research funding, school reputation and student selectivity factors over the actual educational output of each school, particularly regarding the number of graduates who enter primary care, practice in underserved areas and are under-represented minorities."

Meharry's president, Wayne C. Riley, said the study's results demonstrate "that there are 20 institutions that excel in training physicians who are African-American, Latino and Native American, and that at the top of that list, graduating students at a much higher rate, are historically black medical schools."

City Council gives thumbs up to new Hampton U dinning hall

The Hampton City Council voted 6-0 to grant Hampton University a use permit for a new $25 million, 115,000-square foot dining hall to serve the campus.

The use permit was granted with five conditions. These include that the sole use of the building will be as a student dining hall and there can be no third-party rental of the building.

Outdoor lighting should face downward to avoid glare to neighboring properties.

According to Joy Jefferson, HU's associate vice president for development, Hampton University will break ground on the waterfront property as soon as it raises the money to build the facility.

The new dining hall will replace the "big caf" and "small caf" eateries in Virginia-Cleveland Hall, a which was built in 1874 and is designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Architectural renderings of the project show a futuristic building with brick and curved glass on the front and an all-glass back facing the Hampton River on Queen Street.

Tuskegee president likely to extend stay for a month

Tuskegee University president Benjamin F. Payton has decided to extend his stay by at least a month while the University searches for his successor.

Payton said the June 30 deadline marking his retirement from the presidency isn’t as set in stone as once believed. “I put a date on the wall,” Payton said. “I told them June 30, but then I considered staying until July 31.”

Though his bags are mostly packed – moving trucks have been seen at Grey Columns – Payton is likely to remain at TU in either an interim or advisory role after the June 30 deadline. Rumors suggest the candidate chosen to replace Payton in the presidency is not yet available to assume the role, though these are unconfirmed at this time.

In fact, the announcement Payton could remain is the only information about the search straight from the horse’s mouth. The TU Presidential Search Committee, headed by board chair Andrew Brimmer, announced at the onset of the search nothing would be released until the end. They weren’t kidding.

Payton did say he and his wife, Thelma Payton, will leave Tuskegee for houses in New Jersey and Florida.

“We’re going to run away from the hurricanes to New Jersey and away from the snow to Florida,” Payton said.

In its 128 years of existence, TU has had only five presidents – Payton, being the fifth, is serving in his 28th year. He announced his intention to retire in March 2009.

“I’m sure whatever decision is made, it will make for a smooth transition,” Payton said. “Things are going to be fine, it’s just going to take a little bit of getting used to.”

Morehouse ranked among "most grueling" colleges

The Huffington Post, one of the nation's leading blogs, has named Morehouse College as one of the nation's "most grueling colleges". Morehouse joins MIT, Johns Hopkins University and the United States Naval Academy on the list of the ‘Most Grueling Colleges.’

The Huffington Post had the following to say about Morehouse, "the alma mater of Martin Luther King, Jr., Spike Lee and Samuel L. Jackson is committed to upholding standards of excellence. “Morehouse men” must follow a dress code and choose between 35 areas of study. Courses in pre-med biology are notoriously difficult, and many of the Atlanta college’s students opt for pre-law, pre-med or pre-dentistry tracks."

Forbes Magazine recently named Morehouse as one of the “10 Great Schools for Networking".

Howard makes pitch to move its hospital and health colleges to Walter Reed

Howard University has submitted a $1.1 billion plan to move its hospital and health sciences operation to the nearby Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus after the facility closes next year.

University officials say the ambitious proposal would bring a top-notch teaching hospital to an underserved area.

"We're very excited about the possibility," said Eve Higginbotham, senior vice president and executive dean for Health Sciences. "We believe it would be a win-win for the District." A recommendation is expected to be made to the military in June or July.

Higginbotham said that if the bid is successful, the project would be built in three phases, starting in 2012 and ending in 2017.

The new hospital would probably be financed through a partnership with a private hospital management company, according to the proposal. Other money would come from fundraising, leveraging non-core assets and other means.

The university is one of 23 organizations, including charter schools, arts programs and food pantries, that have expressed interest in the land.

When Walter Reed closes, its medical operations will be shifted to a campus at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda and an Army hospital being built at Fort Belvoir.

Tuskegee plans $20M, 500 bed housing complex

Tuskegee University, Sunday, announced plans to construct a new $20 million, 500 bed, dorm named for retiring president Benjamin F. Payton. The new facility will provide living spaces, study halls, labs and lounges for freshmen and sophomore students.

The dorm will have cutting-edge technology throughout, and offer suites as well as more traditional singles and doubles, and includes strong emphasis on physical as well as intellectual fitness.

President Obama delivers Hampton U. graduation address

President Barack Obama returned to the Hampton Unversity campus yesterday to give a commencement speech in which he cited the struggle of African Americans to gain the right to an education.

President Obama's presence at the podium was met with a roar of clapping and cheering and a shout from the crowd: "I love you." "I love you back, that's why I'm here," the President replied.

In his commencement speech, he said the founders of Hampton University and all historically black colleges knew that the inequality wouldn't vanish overnight but that an education was the place to start.

He quoted Frederick Douglass, saying that "education ... means emancipation," and told graduates that their college degrees are more important than ever, because high school diplomas are no longer a ticket to a solid middle-class life.

"All those checks you or your parents wrote to Hampton will pay off," he said. "You are in a strong position to out compete workers around the world."

Obama spoke of disparity in academic achievement, with blacks being outperformed by their white classmates, and rich students outperforming poor students, no matter their skin color. All Americans have a responsibility to change that, he said.

"Be role models for your brothers and sisters," Obama told graduates. "Be mentors in your communities. And when the time comes, pass that sense of an education's value down to your children."

President Barack Obama accepted an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Hampton University after the speecch. He also was given an athletic jersey with "Hampton University" on one side and "President Barack Obama" on the other. "He promised me he's going to wear it, so you'll see it on TV," Hampton University President William Harvey said.

Southern taps JSU's Mason for top job

The president of Jackson State University in Mississippi was picked today to be the next president of the Southern University System.

Ronald Mason Jr. was selected on a vote of 14-2 by the Southern Board of Supervisors.

Mason was one of three finalists for the post. Leonard Haynes III, senior advisor in the U. S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education, got two votes for the job.

The selection followed interviews today of all three finalists. Also considered was Robert Jennings, former president of Alabama A & M University.

Payton takes Tuskegee to new heights

Since coming to Tuskegeee University in 1981 Benjamin Payton he has fostered innovation and academic excellence, playing a key role in helping the University become the outstanding institution of higher learning that it is today. Payton came to then Tuskeegee Institute during its 100th anniversary succeeding Luther Foster, who had served as president for 28 years.

Payton became only the fifth president in Tuskeegee's 129 year history, and his path to the presidency was an unlikely one. He program officer of higher education at the Ford Foundation in New York, NY, and after the search committee had already gone through over 300 applicants and couldn't find anyone they felt was the right fit to continue the the legacy of Booker T. Washinton and his three successors, they approached Payton.

After some cajoling by his mentor Benjamin Mays, Payton agreed to be considered. "He told me, 'You know, it won't hurt to have them review your resume,'" Payton, 77, recalled. "He also said 'It won't hurt you and it, won't hurt them.'"

When Payton arrived in Tuskegee in 1981, he knew a big job lay ahead in many areas, but he also was aware that the challenges confronting him paled in comparison with what Booker T. Washington faced when the school opened in 1881

From Institute to University
Replacing "Institute" with "University" was one of Payton's early moves. When an aide returned to campus from a student recruiting trip and told him about problems encountered at the college fair, he knew something had to be done.

"He said students would walk by the table he was at, take one look at the 'Tuskegee Institute' sign and keep walking," Payton said. "Some would stop long enough to say they wanted to go to a university, not a community college."

In 1982, a year after he assumed office, Payton learned first-hand what his recruiter had told him.

He was accompanying then-Vice President George Bush as an educational adviser to Africa and extended to West Germany, Bermuda and Cape Verde islands.

In an interview with Jet magazine, Payton said he found that those he talked to didn't know what kind of school Tuskegee was and often asked Bush why he picked someone from a "community college" as one of his key advisers.

Bush got so tired of hearing those comments that he eventually introduced Payton as president of "Tuskegee University." That quickly got the attention of those who might have dismissed Payton as someone from a small school without nationally known credentials.

It took a few years, but Payton's recommendation to his board of trustees eventually bore fruit and, in 1985, Tuskegee Institute became Tuskegee University.

It would be the beginning of many major changes and improvements on campus.

Much-needed face lifts came quickly, thanks to generous donations and grants. Deteriorating buildings were torn down and replaced with modern dormitories and classroom structures while beautification projects turned the eyes of visitors accustomed to more drab surroundings.

Once his feet were firmly on the ground and he had the solid backing of trustees, Payton launched one project after another and Tuskegee University's star rose higher and higher.

He saw to it that the school, with an enrollment of about 3,000 students, never had problems with accreditation. He restructured TU's academic programs into five colleges, initiated the school's first doctoral programs and led the way for development of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.

Capital campaigns that at times lagged behind optimistic goals soared past them under his leadership with more than $200 million raised. Two of his proudest accomplishments involved establishment of an aerospace science and engineering program and development of a national center for bioethics research and health care.

The bioethics facility, which is housed in a former hospital, came as a commitment from then-President Clinton, who issued a national apology for a controversial study of syphilis-infected men from Tuskegee and Macon County.

"It was a monstrous thing to do," Payton said. "People call it the 'Tuskegee Experiment,' but, it wasn't Tuskegee that did it, it was the United States Public Health Service and it went on for 40 years. The apology was long overdue."

Payton said the result of the study, the apology and the aftermath was a national policy that no experimentation could be done with human beings without that person's consent.

His drive to support doctoral programs has attracted the best and brightest students in the country. They focus on materials science and engineering as well as integrated biosciences.

Those two academic disciplines might be a bit over the heads of people without a clear understanding of basic math, but for Tuskegee University, it put the school on a level with the top schools in America.

"It was clear to me that if Tuskegee University was going to come into its own, it must reach for the stars and seek to be the best in sculpting out new areas of instruction," he said. "It was important to pick areas where we were already strong and engineering was one of them."

Asked if he ever thought he'd spend as much time as he has at Tuskegee University, he broke into a big smile.

"I didn't think of it in terms of time," he said, in a rich baritone voice cultivated through years of public speaking and, as a young man, occasional theatrical work. "I've always been mission-driven, hoping I could make significant contributions in the position that I occupied."

It's also his belief that it doesn't matter how long anyone stays at a job, "it's how effective you are in what you're doing."

"Actually, there was just so much to do that I forgot about the time," he said. "My years here have been driven by a sense of strategic moves in forwarding the development of this university."

Southern finalist down to three

The search for a new Southern University System (SUS) president has been narrowed down to three. Tuesday, SUS interviewed four candidates in public interviews and expects to select a new president on April 30.

The three finalist in rank order are Ronald Mason, president, Jackson State University; Leonard Haynes, III, senior adviser, U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Edcuation, and Robert Jennings, former president, Alabama A&M University.

The search committee is expected to meet with each of the candidates individually, and before deciding on a new leader to oversee Southern's three campuses, law school and agricultural center. The main campus is in Baton Rouge.

JSU President throws is hat in the ring for Southern top job

Ronald Mason,Jr. president of Jackson State University is one of two new applicants to lead the Southern University System.

Clarence Newsome, the former president of Shaw University in North Carolina is the other.

The Southern president search committee still must screen their experience and backgrounds before it is certain that Mason or Newsome will be interviewed Tuesday, said Murphy Bell Jr., search committee co-chairman.

“They both have some exciting credentials,” Bell said.

Southern’s stated goal is to choose a new president by the end of April. Interviews were originally scheduled for this week, but were postponed until Tuesday. Bell said it is possible more could still apply.

Mason has headed Jackson State one of Southern’s top rivals for 10 years. The public Mississippi college, along with Southern, is one of the nation’s largest historically black colleges and enrolls nearly 9,000 students.

Mason is currently embroiled in controversy over his support of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s proposal to merge Jackson State, Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State University into one historically black college.

In November, Barbour proposed the merger. Then in January, The Clarion-Ledger obtained a presentation by Mason supporting a merger similar to Barbour’s plan.

He (Mason) has done a lot of impressive things at Jackson State,” Bell said, declining comment on the merger proposal by calling it a Mississippi issue.

At Shaw, Newsome resigned last year with Shaw in the midst of an ongoing financial crisis and more than $20 million in university debt.

Shaw, a private college, has more than 2,500 students.

Southern U. System president search delayed

Southern University is delaying its president candidate interviews until next week in anticipation of new applicants and concerns about the state’s spending freeze on travel, university officials said Monday.

The interviews were scheduled for today.

Southern Board of Supervisors Chairman Tony Clayton said he still have a new system president selected by the end of April.

Interviews are now scheduled for all day April 13 on campus.

Five candidates have made have been advanced to the interview stage. Clayton said he expects at least three more to join the field by then. He declined to give names.

The five candidates scheduled for interviews are:

Carolyn Meyers, outgoing president of Norfolk State University in Virginia.
Leonard Haynes III, senior adviser in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education.
Robert Jennings, former president of Alabama A&M University in Normal, Ala.
Marvin Yates, Southeastern Louisiana University vice president for student affairs.
Yates is a former Southern University chancellor, and Haynes was a Southern executive in the 1980s who has previously applied for the president position.


Ironically, the delay could end up costing Southern more money because of short notice in canceling or postponing travel plans.

Search committee co-chair Murphy Bell emphasized that no one else has officially applied, except for Southern professor and former agriculture dean Leroy Davis. Bell said it is not decided if Davis will be interviewed.

Southern University System spokeswoman Katara Williams also confirmed, “they’re still talking to people. There are some more people who may potentially apply.”

The Southern University System oversees three academic campuses, a law school and an agricultural center.

Kassie Freeman, who has not applied, is serving as interim president.

Morehouse to host it's first gay pride

Students at Morehouse College will host the school's first-ever Gay Pride Week and have invited multi-media "maven" B. Scott a gay African-American TV/Radio personality and Internet sensation.

Scott will be speaking on the “Out & in the Spotlight” panel is one part of the pride week events, hosted by Safe Space, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organization. Scott will be discussing his experiences as being an out gay out man in the entertainment industry; the importance of loving and accepting oneself; and how being gender non-conforming—not adhering to society’s rules about dress and activities for people that are based on their sex—has shown the need to help expand society’s views of what being LGBT is in this country.

“I was honored when Morehouse College asked me to speak at their first Pride Week,“ said B. Scott. “It is encouraging that they have decided to acknowledge the LGBT community in a positive way on their campus, which is the first step in creating an environment of acceptance and equality.”

Tennessee State faces accreditation hurdle

Tennessee State University's accreditation could be at risk this year unless it proves professors adequately test students, administrators make results-driven decisions and instructors have the right credentials to teach their subjects.

The university is in the early stages of its Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation reaccreditation process. Outside groups have issued scathing reviews of TSU and suggested the school lacked an evidence-based culture and does not providing basic services.

TSUl officials maintain that they will have no problem earning reaccreditation, and added the issues raised in the school's initial review are typical of most universities going through the process.

A team of educators from peer institutions will visit TSU later this month to conduct interviews, review documents and verify the information. A final decision will be made in December.

"Just because they have something written in the compliance certification does not mean they are in trouble," said Belle S. Wheelan, president of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
"They have a chance to clean up those things. That's the first blush."

The initial report raised questions about the university's financial resources because the school's most recent audit wasn't ready at the time the documents were due. Providing a copy of the audit will clear the school in those categories, TSU officials said.

Other concerns were more complex.

The university came up short in a key area because it didn't show that students are consistently tested on what they have learned. In addition, there wasn't evidence that student assessments were used to make budget decisions or to make programs better.

School officials said almost all degree programs had assessments in place and they were making decisions based on the information collected from those assessments, but the university did not have a uniform system for requiring and collecting that information.

"We have planning and assessments throughout the university, in some areas better than others," said Timothy Quain, TSU's accreditation liaison.

In response to the concerns, the school this year will standardize the assessment process, collect the data and show how they are tied to budgeting and planning. That will happen for the first time in June.

Faculty Qualifications

Another issue involved the qualifications of the school faculty.

In four programs, too few courses were taught by professors with doctorates. In other cases, the university didn't produce proof that instructors had the proper credentials.

TSU officials say they will respond to this concern by recruiting more qualified faculty and by collecting resumes and documents that prove existing faculty have the proper credentials.

Charles Manning, chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents, said the state does not get involved in the reaccreditation process until the on-site team issues its report. He said he believes TSU will correct any issues raised.

Auditors cite Alabama A&M for mistakes

State auditors cited Alabama A&M University this week for $171,316 shown on its books but not found in its bank acount at the end of the 2008 fiscal year.

Auditors also cited the university for bypassing a certified low bidder and buying goods from another vendor and for eight other unresolved issues from previous audits.

The audits were conducted by the State Examiners of Public Accounts. The latest, for the fiscal year 2008, was posted on the examiners' Web site Friday.

The audit found that "the university's General Fund cash account on the general ledger balance did not reconcile with the bank statements at year-end. The reconciliation incorporated adjustments not made to the general ledger at year-end resulting in a difference of $171,316.00."

Auditors recommended A&M "post all adjustments at year-end to ensure that general ledger balances and bank statement balances have been reconciled and are in agreement."

Still unresolved from previous years, auditors reported that A&M:
• Improperly adjusted its general ledger student receivables control account at the end of FY 2008.
• Had not completed a physical inventory of capital assets in recent years.
• Did not support its bank reconciliation with an accurate list of outstanding checks.
• Did not make necessary adjustments to its accounting records in a timely manner.
• Allowed students to register and attend class while still owing unpaid balances from prior semesters.
• Had fixed asset subsidiary account balances that did not support amounts presented in the financial statements.
• Did not keep records of revenue collected for athletic events or deposit them in a timely matter.
• Did not obtain required vendor disclosure statements for all bids and contracts exceeding $5,000.

A&M to offer buyouts to 280 employees

In effort to deal with state budget cuts Alabama A&M University will offer buyouts to nearly 300 veteran employees.

The A&M board of trustees voted unanimously to offer six months' pay to 280 employees who have 25 years' experience or are age 60 with 10 years' experience to leave.

Charles Rucker, vice president for business and finance, said he estimates 43 will take the buyout, leading to net savings of $1.8 million by the end of fiscal 2011 and $2.7 million by the end of fiscal 2012.

The buyout would be paid this year and next to spread the cost, but trustees authorized borrowing up to $1 million from A&M's contingency fund this year if the offer proves more popular.

A&M is coping with a 7.5 percent state budget cut this fiscal year. Combined with drops in enrollment, school President Andrew Hugine Jr. says the university's funding is down $18 million over the past two years.

Groundskeeping to be outsourced
Board members also approved outsourcing groundskeeping, custodial services and facilities management to Aramark, the company now handling food service on campus.

The three-year contract is for $4.86 million, Hugine told the board, but Aramark has promised to make $1 million a year in "retrofits and upgrades" to the campus over the life of the deal.

The first of those upgrades will be installing call boxes around campus to improve student safety, Hugine said.

A&M employs 115 people in custodial, grounds and facilities jobs now. They will meet with Aramark executives and A&M administrators Monday to learn their future.

Administrators said Aramark has promised to give A&M employees a chance to work for the company, but the school expects at least some will retire or seek work elsewhere.

Search for Southern U system president yields 13 applicants

The Southern University System has an initial pool of 13 applicants seeking to become the next system president.

Southern now plans to narrow that list next week with the aid of the DHR International search firm of Chicago.

Interviews will begin in March, they said.

Committee Co-Chairman Domoine Rutledge said there are a few “exciting” potential candidates who also could join the list, although he refused to give any names.

“It’s a good pool as far as I’m concerned,” said Rutledge, president of the Southern University Alumni Federation. “Obviously, there are some who are better than others.”

The goal is to select a new president in mid-April.

The Southern University System oversees three academic campuses, a law school and an agricultural center.

The applicants are vying to replace former President Ralph Slaughter, whose contract ended in June and remains in litigation with Southern.

Kassie Freeman, who has not applied, is serving as interim president.

The new applicants are:

Belinda Childress Anderson, former Virginia Union University president in Richmond, Va. She resigned in June.
Mohammad Bhuiyan, director of the Fayetteville State University Center for Entrepreneurship in North Carolina.
Robert Jennings, former Alabama A&M University president in Normal, Ala. He stepped down in 2008.
Gerald “Jerry” Jensen, CEO of the Siskin Children’s Institute in Chattanooga, Tenn. He is a Southern law graduate.
Carolyn Meyers, Norfolk State University president in Virginia. She is leaving Norfolk at the end of June.
Kenneth Reeves, business executive and former assistant director of the Texas A&M University 12th Man Foundation.
Dr. Kevin Stephens Sr., New Orleans Health Department director. He is a Southern and LSU graduate.
The previous nominees and applicants in the pool are Adesoji “Soji” Adelaja, director of the Michigan State University Land Policy Institute in East Lansing, Mich.; Charles Green, former Bermuda College president; Leonard Haynes III, U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education senior adviser; Roosevelt Newson, former Bowie State University provost in Maryland; Karl Wright, former Florida Memorial University president in Miami; and Marvin Yates, Southeastern Louisiana University vice president for student affairs.

Williams resigns as prez of Edward Waters

Claudette Williams, the 28th president of Edward Waters College, has resigned to become a vice president with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

In 2007, Williams became the first female president of the school, where she inherited problems with accreditation and declining enrollment.

"Certainly the college is in a stronger, better place," said Williams from her office Friday afternoon.

Williams says during the past three years the school has made improvements to aging infrastructure and the college's enrollment that had been declining has been stabilized.

This year nearly 900 students are enrolled at Edward Waters College.

Ex-Jacksonville sheriff Nat Glover will serve as interim president. A search committee has been formed to review candidates for the position.

In her new job, Williams will coordinate the development and implementation of programs and policies to aid institutions in meeting accreditation and improving education.

Texas Southern trying to manage $4.9 mil cut

Texas Southern University, like many historically black colleges across the country, is facing new realities in budgetary management. As the State of Texas tightens its belt on spending, TSU projects institutional cuts to reach nearly $5 million.

Proposed cuts include $700,000 through a hiring freeze; $450,000 through reduced business travel; $1.1 million through cuts in office supplies, utility costs and other operations; $1.6 million through a cut of 28 staff positions; $1 million through cutting six faculty positions. Those may be done through attrition or retirements.

Mississippi HBCU merger dies in Legislature

The most controversial part of Governor Haley Barbour’s legislative agenda – the merging of universities – died a quiet and not unexpected death Tuesday.

The proposal was not taken up in committee in either chamber of the Legislature. Tuesday was the deadline for bills to be passed out of committee in the chamber where they originated.

Normally it is not safe to say an issue is dead for the session because of various methods of getting around the committee process, such as amending legislation on the floor of either chamber.

But both the House and Senate Universities and Colleges committees chairs said Tuesday they do not see a mechanism to revive the merger proposal during the 2010 session.

In November, to deal with the state’s budget crunch, Barbour had proposed merging Mississippi University for Women in Columbus with nearby Mississippi State University and placing the three historically black universities – Mississippi Valley State University, Alcorn State University and Jackson State University – all under the JSU umbrella.

In the House, Universities and College Committee Chair Kelvin Buck, D-Holly Springs, said early on he would not consider legislation to merge universities.

On Tuesday, his Senate counterpart, Doug Davis, R-Hernando, said he did not bring up the legislation in his committee because “as of right now at this time, I don’t think the votes are there to pass it.”

The other most notable proposal Barbour made in November called for consolidation of 152 school districts into 100. But the governor has formed a commission to study the issue and to make a recommendation in early April.