Two meetings were held in Corley Auditorium on Wednesday to discuss the financial report for the 2011 fiscal year. 

Rob Yust, vice president of business affairs, prepared several issues to present to attendees of the meeting. 

BKD CPA & ADVISORS conducted the annual audit this year; they have conducted the audit for the last few years after continually having the winning bid. After the six-month audit process is complete and the financial statements have been assessed, the report is presented to the Board of Governors, and then adopted as public record. Appropriations for the school have been cut, leaving the school with a $3 million deficit. On top of a shortage in government funding, enrollment has dropped 5.2 percent this year, leaving the University to face of more adversity.

Student retention is a prevalent issue on the campus of Missouri Southern and many speculations have been made as to the cause.  However, one faculty member in the audience suggested it might be the quality of students being admitted. 

He went on to say that most professors have certain standards that they try to maintain in educating students and that talk of retention often excluded talk of quality.

“On the one side, every student you can retain helps the University financially,” Yust said. “On the other side … we don’t want to do anything to compromise the academic integrity of the institution.”

Partnership with the Joplin school system was also discussed at the meeting, as well as the need for more community support and aesthetic improvements that should be made to the campus. 

The issue of compensation is on the top of the list of issues according to Yust. 

“It’s really frustrating  …  there’s this flat bottom line that people get paid here from custodians to people that do intricate work on budgets and numbers; we all get paid the same and it’s damn near close to poverty level,” Jacquilyn Dorsey, director of budget and operations said.