JACKSON - Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum said Monday he agrees with former Gov. William Winter's statement that the road to economic development "runs by the schoolhouse."

But Keenum said he also believes the former governor and champion of public education would agree with him that it "also should run by the university campus."

Mississippi is "sixth from the bottom in the percentage of adults with bachelor's degrees. That is a statistic we have to change if we are going to compete" for top-paying jobs, said Keenum, who graduated from Corinth High School and then earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at Mississippi State.

Keenum made the remarks in a talk at the Mississippi State Stennis Institute/capitol press corps luncheon on the nine-month anniversary of assuming the presidency.

He said the public universities would play a major role in helping the state recover from the current economic downturn.

Less than 30 percent of Mississippi State's total operating budget comes from state funds.

"Every dollar the state invests, we are providing $3 dollars in direct returns - not counting indirect returns," Keenum said during the luncheon attended by the media, state political leaders, lobbyists and many Mississippi State supporters.

"Our mission - teaching, research, service - is thoroughly intertwined with the economy of this great state," Keenum said. "... It is going to take education. We're going to do our share at Mississippi State."

Keenum said he anticipated from nearly the beginning of the budget year, which started July 1, that Gov. Haley Barbour would make cuts. He told his staff to plan to spend only 95 percent of the funds appropriated by the state.

So Mississippi State University was prepared in September when Barbour made cuts of 5 percent in the university system.

"I am not prepared for any more cuts ... but I have been put on notice that they might occur," he said.



Contact Bobby Harrison at (601) 353-3119 or bobby.harrison@djournal.com.