Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 9, 1995 TAG: 9505090080
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Think of 1961, when East Germans hustled into West Berlin before the Communists erected the wall. Think of Virginia's state government today, where longtime employees are saying "enough is enough" to bureaucrat bashing and eagerly grabbing the state's buyout offer.
Virginia Tech saw this market-force reaction with the recently revealed drop in out-of-state enrollment, caused in part by rising tuition and continued uncertainty about state cutbacks. Since non-Virginians pay more in tuition than the Old Dominion's daughters and sons, that has contributed to the $12.2 million shortfall Tech administrators have been scrambling to remedy.
Now, it may be Radford University's turn.
Bernard Wampler, rector of the university's Board of Visitors, said Friday that admissions reports so far this spring show a considerable drop. If that trend continues, he warned, it would mean a loss of revenue generated internally through tuition and externally through state funds.
"I think you're going to find that it's going to translate into a lot of jobs next year," Wampler said before the board and more than 80 onlookers, including many faculty and staff members.
It's not good news, but to Radford veterans and even the casual newshound such as yours truly, it cannot be unexpected. (I don't cover Radford, but came off the bench Friday to cover the Board of Visitors for the higher education reporter.) The place has had a solid year of fear and loathing, related to last summer's departure of longtime President Donald Dedmon and the subsequent jockeying for position among those who remain. (Dedmon remains on medical leave and retires officially Aug. 31.)
It's still too early to say if Wampler's warning will become reality. A university spokeswoman said the number of accepted offers of admission is lower by almost 200 students than at the same time last year. But the university won't have solid numbers until the middle of June, when the board will meet again with Douglas Covington, the president-elect, to discuss the state's demand for restructuring operations. So far, the 9,100-student university projects a drop in undergraduates but an increase in graduate admissions, the spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, the Board of Visitors agreed to raise tuition and fees Friday: by 2.6 percent for in-state undergraduates, and by 6.7 percent for out-of-state undergrads.
It's too soon to panic. But with more than 1,200 employees depending on the health of the university for their livelihoods (and the New River Valley's economy depending on it, too), Radford's enrollment situation is worth paying close attention to this summer.
This unsettling news comes just when things finally are beginning to look better for Radford. Covington, the new president, comes on board June 1. At Saturday's graduation, according to onlookers, he showed a sense of humor along with one of leadership.
His smooth confidence and apparent sense of optimism could be just what Radford needs to make people vote with their feet - the positive way.
Brian Kelley, a Roanoke Times & World-News staff writer, covers Montgomery County and local politics.
by CNB