THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250008
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 51 lines
Discord reigned at the normally placid State Council of Higher Education earlier this week.
Circumventing longtime council Director Gordon Davies, six of the council's newest and youngest members installed one of their own as chair and set up an executive committee to monitor policy.
The move appears to be a power play by the Allen administration to tighten control over Virginia's decentralized college and university system.
Administration figures have long expressed frustration over their inability to get a stronger grip on such matters as enrollment projections and staffing levels. Tighter control at the top might make a difference.
But unless great care is taken, the usurping of a time-tested way of doing business will have its price.
Unlike many other states, Virginia has long vested a high degree of decision-making authority in its individual institutions of higher education. Instead of a central office pulling all the strings - deciding which campuses can grow and which cannot, for instance - Virginia schools have been relatively autonomous.
In fact, the move to decentralize has been accelerating in recent years as some of the universities have been given increased latitude to run their campuses on a businesslike basis. The State Council of Higher Education, under Davies' direction, has been a guiding force in this evolution. But its influence has been subtle because Davies has been a master at walking the fine lines amid the wishes of gubernatorial administrations, the legislature and the universities.
The strength of the decentralized system is in the creative energy that it releases. Individual institutions can pursue the visions of their individual boards and leaders.
Whatever its shortcomings, the system has produced a national reputation for merit in Virginia's public colleges and universities. It is a distinction that should not be sacrificed to political trends or fads.
The current structure is not perfect, nor is change necessarily a bad thing. For instance, the council could have been more aggressive recently in ordering closure of several duplicative degree programs around the state.
And Elizabeth McClanahan, an Abingdon attorney who won the surprise victory to become the council's new chair, is known as someone who does her homework and asks tough questions.
That said, we hope that the new policy committee will not undermine the authority of Davies nor the long-standing direction of prior councils. The danger in elaborate fixes to minor problems is that the entire apparatus may crack under the pressure. And a recentralization of power in Richmond would be a step in the wrong direction. by CNB