Restoring recent funding cuts to higher education is a top concern of delegates to the joint convention of the Mississippi Association of Colleges and the Mid-South Community Colleges Fellowship this week.

The convention, the 67th for MAC, is being hosted by Alcorn State University, Copiah-Lincoln Community College and the City of Natchez.

Monday’s speakers at the Lorman campus of ASU included Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck and a representative of the American Council on Education.

Dr. Howell C. Garner, Co-Lin president, said Musgrove’s address was one of the highlights of the conference, which will end today.

&uot;(Gov. Musgrove) indicated he was going to work toward the fulfillment of his proposed budget,&uot; Garner said – a budget which includes restoring funds lost to successive budget cuts during the last year.

Garner said he expects another 5 percent cut in funding to higher education to be announced next month.

Dr. Rudolph Waters, ASU executive director, also spoke of Musgrove’s promise to restore funding, saying it is an issue for which individual colleges and universities are constantly lobbying.

Remedying funding concerns are just one of the association’s focal points whose overall goal is to identify the challenges facing higher education in the new millennium, Waters said.

Dr. Ned Lovell, Mississippi State University department head and founder of the community college fellowship, said one of the unique attributes of the association is its diversity.

Membership includes both public and private, secular and religious two-year and four-year colleges and universities.