Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 25, 1993 TAG: 9309220311
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES V. KOCH
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
First, the commonwealth expects an additional 65,000 college students to matriculate at its colleges by 2000, and the space to handle these students is not available.
Second, although there is general public recognition that Virginia has developed a superb system of public higher education, many citizens believe the system must restructure and fundamentally change its ways of operation as a condition for receiving additional resources.
Third, whatever Virginians think about public higher education, its share of the state's budget has declined from about 16 percent in 1980 to about 12 percent today. Rising expenditures for Medicaid and corrections have diminished funds for higher education, which increasingly is treated as a residual in state budgets.
The first problem - the impending appearance of an additional 65,000 students - surprises many individuals. Many believe the general-obligation bond issue approved by the citizenry in November 1992 took care of this problem. The bond issue was vitally important, but provided facilities to serve only about one-half of the expected increased in students.
The second problem - the perception that Virginia public higher education is doing "business as usual" - is unfortunate because, by nearly all measurements, the system is far more productive now than 10 years ago. Since the academic year 1979-80, student enrollment in the system has risen 27 percent, but the number of faculty only 16 percent, and the number of administrative and support employees only 3 percent.
Further, individual institutions have developed innovative and cost-efficient ways to serve the public. Old Dominion University's TELETECHNET partnership with the Virginia Community College System distributes the final two years of several bachelor's degree programs via interactive television. Old Dominion and George Mason universities in particular have developed seamless procedures for the registration and transfer of community-college students. Virginia Commonwealth University has developed a biotechnology research park that represents a superb example of a public/private partnership.
The third problem - the deteriorating funding position of Virginia public higher education - has reduced the commonwealth to only 43rd among the 50 states in terms of the tax dollars it provides per full-time-equivalent student. Conversely, the commonwealth's larger public universities now rank eighth among the 50 states in terms of the magnitude of the tuition and fees they charge their students. In 1980, a student at a typical Virginia public college paid about 30 percent of the cost of his or her education; now, he or she pays 50 to 60 percent.
The commonwealth can deal with these problems if its citizens and leaders adopt a "compact" for higher education in the '90s that clearly states the need for additional higher-education funding, but is premised on specific changes occurring inside higher education. What is required is the commitment that the share of higher education in the commonwealth's budget will not decline further, and an action plan for higher education.
Higher education's action plan should include:
Development of innovative ways to educate the rapidly changing Virginia college population, which increasingly is older, commuter, minority, female and employed;
Increased reliance upon the Virginia Community College System to educate students for their first two years, with four-year institutions serving these students as they transfer;
Smoother transferability of highly mobile students between all institutions, but especially between four-year institutions and community colleges;
Increased contact by faculty with students, whether inside or outside of classrooms;
Flattened administrative structures;
More efficient use of existing buildings, for example, by scheduling increased numbers of evening and Saturday classes;
Creation of higher-education centers whose facilities are used by several institutions of higher education rather than only one;
More partnerships with private and governmental agencies that permit colleges to share, and benefit from, the resources and challenges of agencies that may range from the Urban League to the Nature Conservancy;
An incentive system developed in cooperation with the General Assembly that will allow institutions to retain savings they generate when they become more efficient;
Reduced dependence upon centralized state government agencies to perform routine administrative tasks that could be accomplished just as easily on the campuses; and,
An agreement to restrain tuition and fee increases.
I believe that such a positive action plan will appeal to most Virginians and, if implemented, will provide a sound basis for increased tax support for the commonwealth's public colleges and universities. It's time for higher education, the governor and the General Assembly to work together to forge a higher education compact for the '90s.
\ James V. Koch is president of Old Dominion University in Norfolk.
by CNB