Copiah Lincoln Community College officials say final budgetingfor the next school year isn’t possible until economic stimulusallotments have been specified, and that may not take place untilthe Mississippi Legislature meets again in late spring or earlysummer.

“We have some projections, some best and worst case scenariosfor next year,” said College President Ronnie Nettles. “We don’tknow how much the Legislature will give us, but we have aspreadsheet ready for when we get the numbers from the state. We’reproceeding from an administrative standpoint so that when we getthe funding, we’ll know what to do with it.”

Uncertainty about the stimulus funds also made it impossible forthe school to post a list of recommended personnel for the nextyear until the May 2009 board of trustees meeting.

“We don’t have a lot of information, but we anticipate theLegislature will make some decisions around May or June,” Nettlestold the board at the April meeting Thursday afternoon.

The federal bailout money is an issue for entities all over thestate. Gov. Haley Barbour is hosting a stimulus summit is set forApril 16 to discuss uses for the federal stimulus money, of whichMississippi is receiving an estimated $2.5 billion to $2.8 billionthrough the stimulus.

Meanwhile, Mississippi lawmakers have proposed that the stateshould issue more than $282 million in bonds to pay for largepublic projects, and the bill includes $35 million foruniversities. Nettles said it looks like Co-Lin’s share of thatmoney will be around $400,000.

Officials also discussed dormitory needs, with an update on anevaluation done by architects and engineers on whether Ellzey Hall,a men’s dormitory, has seen its best years at Co-Lin. The reportshowed that it is unlikely that Ellzey could reasonably beremodeled in a cost-efficient manner for more dormitory or officespace.

“Long-term, we have a need for male dorms on campus,” Nettlessaid. “That’s what we’re looking at.”

According to the report, several other buildings on the Wessoncampus are also in need of new windows and doors in order to becomemore energy-efficient.

Director of Distance Learning Julia Parker also attended themeeting to update trustees on the success of the program. She saidCo-Lin has more than 1,200 online students this year, which is anincrease of around 18 percent from last year.

Parker said this year’s enrollment puts Co-Lin at number eightof the state’s 15 community college in the Mississippi VirtualCommunity College rankings. The MSVCC is a consortium of communitycolleges that makes it possible for them to leverage their distancelearning resources, including faculty, courses, support servicesand technology.

Meanwhile, more Co-Lin employees have finished teaching coursetraining online than any other community college.

The fall semester should bring five new courses and four newfaculty members, Parker said.

The board also voted to set fall break on the same week asThanksgiving for the 2009 fall semester, giving students a week offat that time. The change was made because the originally scheduledfall break was set for the week of Homecoming.