Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511170011
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
A draft report the panel issued Wednesday also said some strong schools should be freed from most state oversight and the state should pump more money into all schools to ease tuition costs.
The Commission on the Future of Higher Education plans to finish the report next month and send it to the General Assembly in January.
``Our public colleges and universities must make substantial changes to convince the general public that higher education is operating as efficiently and effectively as possible,'' the report said.
The report said each school must find a balance between research and teaching but ``teaching ought to be front and center in every institution's mission and faculty ought to be rewarded in large part for the attention they give to students.''
Even tenured faculty should be subject to periodic post-tenure reviews that could lead to dismissal if they're not doing their job, commission members said.
``I think that review should be as rigorous as the original tenure evaluation,'' said Sidney O. Dewberry, a commission member.
Traditionally, tenured faculty members have been virtually guaranteed a lifetime job. But Gordon Davies, director of the State Council of Higher Education, said schools already are reviewing tenured faculty. The University of Virginia fired two tenured faculty members for poor performance in the last year, he said.
The report also recommended that Virginia raise faculty salaries to above the national average.
Commission members said the state should not expand the number of schools offering extensive doctoral programs. Six state universities now offer a range of doctoral degrees, and Norfolk State University has one doctoral degree in social work. James Madison University hopes to get legislative approval to offer a doctoral degree in psychology.
``How many do we need in a commonwealth of 6.2 million people? They cost money,'' said Sen. John Chichester, R-Stafford, chairman of the commission.
The draft report said there are too many students enrolled in doctoral programs and perhaps some degrees should be discontinued to ease a glut of Ph.D.s in some fields.
The report questioned whether the state needs more community colleges, two-year Richard Bland College, three public law schools, three state-supported medical schools and a veterinary school at Virginia Tech.
But the report added, ``each has political support that probably is stronger than the impulse to efficiency and cost reduction.''
The report called for more state money for colleges and universities but declined to set a goal.
``We believe that higher education has value, and that we don't need to give it away with bargain-basement tuition rates. On the other hand, we think that low funding per student sends the wrong message to students and the business community,'' the report said.
Without naming any, the report said some strong schools should be freed from state control of their administration as long as they follow state laws.
by CNB