ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 11, 1996 TAG: 9601110072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA COLLEGE'S financial condition is so tenuous that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has decided not to renew its accreditation - a decision the Buena Vista school is appealing.
The governing board of Southern Virginia College in Buena Vista will make a tough decision today: Should it close the financially strapped junior college at the end of the spring term?
Board Chairman Harry Warner says the women's school could decide to stay open in the hope it quickly can raise another $1 million to $1.5 million.
Or, he said, the board could vote to transform the 129-year-old institution into something completely different, such as a satellite campus for a college based in another part of the state.
"The prospects don't look bright right now," Warner said. "There's always a chance that an alumna will come out of the woodwork with a big contribution. It would have to be significant."
The college, which was known as Southern Seminary for most of its history, has been working hard the past few years to increase its enrollment and fund-raising.
But last month, it suffered what could be a fatal blow: The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools decided not to renew the college's accreditation. The association said that, despite recent strides, Southern Virginia's money crunch is simply too serious.
The college has appealed, so it still is accredited for the time being. School officials say current students will be able to transfer their credits to other colleges.
But without accreditation, future Southern Virginia students wouldn't be able to transfer to four-year schools after getting their two-year degrees.
The accreditation decision "just about cut our legs out from under us," said Warner, a Lexington financial consultant.
Southern Virginia is in a bind: It pushed back its appeal hearing to May, so that current students would be able to finish and transfer their spring credits before the association's final decision. But, with its future up in the air until the spring, the college is unable to recruit new students for next fall.
"To continue as we are is going to be tough," Warner said this week. But he couldn't predict what the trustees will decide today.
The college has been fighting both history and demographics.
Because it operated as a for-profit institution until 1963, Warner said, a fund-raising tradition never really took hold.
Fewer than one in five Southern Virginia alumnae typically give to its annual fund drives, compared with some private schools that have contribution rates as high as 65 percent. As a junior college, he said, it competes with its alumnae's four-year schools for contributions. At the same time, he said, studies show that graduates of women's colleges frequently focus their giving on their spouses' alma maters.
Meanwhile, Warner said, the pool of potential college students - especially for a single-sex college - has become smaller.
The college has made headway against these handicaps. In 1992, it changed its name from Southern Seminary - which sometimes caused people to think it was a convent - to Southern Virginia College.
Enrollment dropped to 127 during the last school year, but jumped to 165 this school year. That was far below the college's break-even enrollment of 225, but it was still a big turnaround.
There were other hopeful signs. An alumna from Texas gave the college $50,000 last fall and promised another $450,000 over the next three years.
Southern Virginia doubled its fund-raising to about $500,000 a year over the past two years, and received $250,000 in state economic development funds. Gov. George Allen has included another $200,000 for the school in his recent budget proposal.
The school also worked out an agreement with James Madison University: Male and female students who couldn't get into the university could go to Southern Virginia and then transfer to JMU after two years.
But the JMU program produced only six or seven students a year, and the fund-raising has not been enough to overcome the budget shortfall. The college also proposed itself as a women's adjunct to Virginia Military Institute, but lost to a program created at Mary Baldwin College.
"We feel like we have certainly fought the good fight," Warner said. "It's very tragic that we're facing this kind of decision."
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA COLLEGE
Through the years
1985 file photo
1867: Founded as the Home School for Girls in Bowling Green, Va. Provided elementary and high school classes.
1872: Name changed to Bowling Green Female Seminary. In those days "seminary" indicated it offered post-elementary education.
1901: Purchased by Dr. E.H. Rowe and moved to Buena Vista. Located in the former Buena Vista Hotel, a resort built during a short-lived land boom. Renamed Southern Seminary.
1924: Elementary classes dropped and two years of college added. Name changed to Southern Seminary and Junior College.
1961: High school classes dropped. Renamed Southern Seminary Junior College.
1963: Status converted from for-profit to nonprofit.
1992: Name changed to Southern Virginia College.
Enrollment*
*full-time and part-time
1994-95 127
1995-96 165
Current employees: 84
Costs
Tuition and fees $11,100
Room and board $5,400
Total for boarding students $16,500
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1985 file photo.by CNB