THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 27, 1994 TAG: 9409270293
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
State-supported colleges, warned two weeks ago of the prospect of further cuts in state funding, got a breather Monday from Gov. George F. Allen.
The colleges will be exempt from reductions next year, Allen said in a statement, if the restructuring plans that the schools submitted to the state this month pass muster.
``As such,'' Allen wrote, ``there will be no across-the-board cuts to higher education.''
College officials were ecstatic. ``We're absolutely thrilled by the prospect,'' said Anthony R. Santoro, president of Christopher Newport University. ``We still plan for 2, 4 and 6 percent cuts, but that's really only a possibility if our restructuring plan doesn't make sense.''
At Old Dominion University, which already faces a cut of at least $3 million for next year, the message reduced President James V. Koch's list of worries. ``One anvil has been removed from above our head,'' he said, ``but we certainly have a large one still up there.''
The letter warmed relations between academia and Richmond after years of acrimony.
Colleges had grappled with Allen's predecessor, L. Douglas Wilder, who cut their budgets by 20 percent, and questioned the state's commitment to universities. But Monday, even faculty members, who had been the most critical, were lauding Allen.
``I don't think there's any question that this administration is more responsive to the needs of higher education than any previous administration since Chuck Robb,'' said Thomas E. Hutchinson, chairman of the Faculty Senate at the University of Virginia.
During the last General Assembly session, Allen approved restoring $23.4 million to colleges, a portion of the aid that was cut by Wilder before he left office.
The praise went both ways Monday. Without naming names, Allen commended ``several institutions'' that ``have been able to reallocate the savings created by their restructuring efforts back into academics rather than wasteful overhead and administrative costs - a clear indication that efficiency can be achieved without any reduction to higher education.''
But like Wilder, Allen offered a few digs at past wastefulness. State aid to colleges, he said, is ``not to be squandered on bloated administrative costs or indefensible overhead expenses. I will not stand for such inefficiency, and the parents and students of Virginia will not stand for it either.''
In the statement, Allen also sought to portray parole reform and education funding as separate issues: ``There are those who seek to instill fear by implying that Virginians must choose between educating their children or protecting their families from violent crime. This is simply false. It's a matter of priorities, and when I ran for governor, I stated that public safety and education should be the top two responsibilities of state government.''
Robert D. Holsworth, chairman of the department of political science and public administration at Virginia Commonwealth University, said he thought the move was partly aimed at shoring up support for the proposal to abolish parole. ``The governor obviously wants to inoculate himself from the charge that some of his opponents are making that his plan on parole would undermine the system of education in Virginia. He really wants to take that ammunition away.''
But Holsworth added that Allen's action was consistent with his campaign stances to promote higher education as a tool for economic development and to avoid punishing colleges if they made significant moves toward restructuring.
Last fall, Wilder chided college presidents in a public meeting for failing to curb extravagance. Legislators, hoping to goad schools to quicker action, passed a law requiring them to submit restructuring plans this year and next. Under the law, the schools could lose 1.5 percent of their funding if their plans don't meet state approval.
The State Council of Higher Education is expected to discuss the restructuring plans in detail at a meeting in Virginia Beach on Tuesday. State Education Secretary Beverly Sgro said Monday of the plans: ``I think many of them are really very, very good, and they've achieved great efficiencies. I think some others have missed the mark. Hopefully, they're salvageable.'' by CNB