Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 7, 1991 TAG: 9103070451
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The council's staff recommended that 16 new programs be approved by 1992, five be denied and 17 be delayed indefinitely unless funding is found.
"What we're trying to do is be realistic about the total lack of money in this state," said Gordon Davies, council director.
Several of the programs were at Virginia Tech, but university officials said Wednesday night they had not been notified of specifics.
"We're sure some may well be [delayed]," said David Nutter, Tech spokesman. "We just don't know at this stage."
If schools get private grants or federal funding, they could begin the programs, Davies said.
Margaret A. Miller, associate director for academic programs, said schools may have to drop some programs before they add others.
The delays were the latest hardship on colleges and universities, where students already face hefty tuition increases, faculty cutbacks and no new buildings for the next few years.
The General Assembly this year gave colleges and universities permission to raise their tuition by a total of $89 million to help make up for budget cuts.
Two bills that would have funded more than $500 million in campus construction were defeated.
Davies said colleges and universities also could be hit hard by an early retirement program approved by the assembly.
Nearly 1,600 college and university employees are eligible, including 731 faculty members.
More than 14 percent of the faculty is eligible at Virginia Commonwealth University, the College of William and Mary, Clinch Valley College, Longwood College, Mary Washington College, Virginia Military Institute and Virginia State University.
At Danville Community College, more than 30 percent of the faculty could retire.
Virginia Tech has a relatively young faculty, with the average age being in the mid-40s, Nutter said. But more than 300 staff members, including some faculty, are eligible for early retirement.
Davies said the program may not save that much money if colleges have to undertake expensive recruiting drives to replace senior faculty members.
State employees age 50 and up with more than 25 years of service now can retire by Oct. 1. Faculty members would retire at the end of the 1991-92 school year.
The council also heard a report that Virginia is continuing to attract more students from out of state than it sends to colleges in other states.
A survey of where students go to college showed that the number of students coming to Virginia exceeded the number leaving the state by 7,200.
Most out-of-state students are from Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Virginians going out of state show a preference for colleges in North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. Military academies also are popular, with Virginia ranking second behind California in sending students to West Point and the Naval and Air Force academies.
About 78 percent of the college freshmen from Virginia attend school in their home state. That puts Virginia 37th in that category among the states, many of which keep more than 90 percent of their college-age students.
by CNB