Missouri Southern’s governing body, the Board of Gov- ernors, convened Wednesday, January 25, 2017, for their first meeting of the new year and unanimously passed two motions concerning future funding and operating costs.

The first motion adopted by the board authorized the ad– ministration to amend a request to secure financing over a ten-year period to provide funding for construction proj– ects up to $5 million. The board passed the motion consid– ering recent budget cuts handed down by newly elected Republican Governor Eric Greitens. The approved funding costs will go toward the Taylor Hall/Child Development Center project as well as Nixon Hall to help offset the cuts.

The second motion established a new cash policy set– ting targets for the universities fiscal year cash on hand to be 15 percent of revenue and to maintain a cash bal– ance of at least $5 million at the end of every month.

Executive Vice President of development Dr. Brad Hodson announced news of continued growth when he stated that 5668 students were enrolled at MSSU as of January 25, 2017, a 7.6 percent increase over last spring. Credit hour enrollment is also up 8.5 percent with transfer applications up 9 percent and transfers admissions up 14 percent over last year’s num–

bers. These figures, however, will be mitigated slightly by the fact that Wednesday was the drop date for students who had not paid their tuition in full or set up a payment plan. As of Wednesday, 501 students fell into this category.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Paula Carson also announced that Missouri Southern’s Large Trumpet Ensemble, led by music professor Fred– dy Green had made the National Trumpet Finals, af– ter auditioning and submitting other materials. The competition will be held this March in Denver, Colo.

“Very few schools our size with our scope of programs and enrolment make the fi– nals, so it is a tremendous honor,” said Carson.

Carson also announced that the first student candidates for the “Yours to Lose” medical school program will be on cam– pus today and will participate in several activities along with their families. Half of the students will tour the campus and local hospitals while the other half begin the interview pro– cess. A separate group of candidates will return next Friday.

In other news, Missouri Southern President Dr. Alan Marble announced the University would seek to recov– er some of the 8 percent of their budget that was cut. Ev– ery School across the state suffered similar cuts. How– ever, according to Marble, there will be consequences.

“Tuition increases of significant size are in store for most students in the state,” said Marble.