By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostMaintenance at Missouri Western State University which had
been put on the backburner is now back on the front burner.Gov. Mike Parson has released $26 million in higher education
funding he previously withheld due to uncertainty about state revenue.Missouri Western Interim President Elizabeth Kennedy says the
university will get $1.9 million.“The funding we’re going to be receiving is dedicated to some
of our deferred maintenance projects, which is huge for us, because this means that
we’ll be able to do some maintenance items whether you’re talking about a
boiler, HVAC, new roof, roads, those kinds of things, repairs that we would not
have been able to do otherwise,” Kennedy tells St. Joseph Post.Kennedy says she doesn’t like to put off maintenance projects.“When you own a house and need a new roof, but you’ve got to
put it off till next year, this gives us the opportunity to get those things
done and not impact our current budget funds or operations,” Kennedy says.Kennedy acknowledges maintenance might not make a big splash,
but it is vital.“Which will enhance our campus, keep us functioning well, keep
us operational into the future,” according to Kennedy.Parson had originally withheld a total of $449 million after
worries grew about the pandemic impact on state revenue.

MWSU gets $1.9M maintenance boost with state release of money