THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 8, 1996 TAG: 9610080299
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 117 lines
Virginia education officials voted Monday to take money away from one local university but to keep alive an imperiled academic program at another area school.
The State Council of Higher Education proposed a $1.4 million budget cut for Old Dominion University next year because the university fell short of its enrollment projections this fall.
But the council, meeting at Clinch Valley College in western Virginia, also approved a stay of execution for Tidewater Community College's horticulture program.
During the summer, the agency had ordered the program closed because of low numbers of graduates. After hearing TCC's appeal last month, council members agreed Monday to place the program on probation for two years to see whether enrollment continues to grow.
ODU would lose $1.4 million - or one-third - of the $4.2 million already approved for the 1996-98 budget cycle to hire new faculty to keep pace with enrollment growth.
That would mean that ODU wouldn't be able to hire 49 of the 147 new professors the state had approved for the 1996-98 biennium. Old Dominion has about 620 full-time faculty members now.
Old Dominion had about 17,000 students last year. It had estimated that enrollment would rise to 18,200 this fall, but ODU officials now predict the total will be about 17,700. They have also revised their fall 1997 projection from 19,100 to 17,800, according to state figures.
ODU President James V. Koch said Monday that he wanted to look at the agency's treatment of other colleges before deciding whether to contest the proposed cut. Two other state universities - George Mason and Virginia State - that didn't meet their enrollment projections would suffer smaller cuts under the proposal.
But Koch said he didn't believe the cut - which would amount to roughly one-half of 1 percent of the university's total $250 million budget - would seriously hurt the school.
``If we don't have the students, the money we would have received wouldn't be necessary,'' he said. ``It shouldn't impact student-faculty ratios at all.''
He offered two main reasons that ODU's enrollment projections were off-base this fall. First, tighter admissions standards that were instituted last fall kept out about 250 applicants who previously would have been admitted. Also, Koch said, two Virginia schools with which ODU competes for students - Virginia Tech and James Madison - both posted big gains in enrollment this fall.
The members of the council, who are appointed by the governor, have focused repeatedly on the accuracy of the agency's enrollment projections at recent meetings.
During the summer, they ordered the state Department of Planning and Budget to review the enrollment projections from the state council and the colleges. A state economist in August criticized the enrollment projections, saying they were less accurate than other state forecasts, such as those predicting Medicaid expenditures. Council officials say, however, that although the forecasts may be off, they accurately show a gradual increase in students statewide.
Elizabeth A. McClanahan, an Abingdon lawyer who is chairwoman of the council, said after the meeting Monday, ``The goal of the council is to get the absolute best possible numbers to submit to the General Assembly and the governor for the fair and equitable distribution of public funds.''
The proposed cuts were part of a three-pronged budget recommendation, approved by the council Monday, for Virginia colleges for the next school year. The other items are a proposed $24.9 million increase for student financial aid and an extra $18.6 million for faculty raises.
TCC's associate degree program in horticulture was one of six academic programs across the state that the council ordered shut down in July.
Council analysts said the program - based at the Chesapeake campus - graduated about five students a year, two less than the state's suggested minimum. But in August, TCC administrators argued that enrollment was increasing, partly because of state-of-the-art greenhouses that were added this year. TCC predicts 17 students will graduate next spring.
``It's looking like the trend line is positive,'' said Margaret A. Miller, associate director of the agency. ``Under those circumstances, we're willing to give it another two years.''
TCC must submit an interim report next year, and the council will reconsider the program's status in 1998.
Ken Spencer, the director of the horticulture program, said, ``I'm happy they've given us a reprieve, so to speak. This is about the best we could have expected.''
He said the program's fall enrollment was at a record high - about 100 students. ``The fact that our numbers are on the way up, coupled with the new facility - I think things look good for the program.''
In a review in 1994, the state's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission faulted the higher-education agency for not working hard enough to close poorly enrolled programs. Miller said the turnaround on TCC did not mean the agency wasn't cracking down.
``In the last year, the campuses have closed 82 programs with our encouragement,'' she said. ``This is not an atmosphere in which we feel we haven't been rigorous.''
The council Monday turned down the other appeal it received, from John Tyler Community College outside Richmond to save its automotive program. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
COLLEGE BUDGET PROPOSALS
The proposals recommended Monday must be approved by Gov. George
F. Allen and the General Assembly.
Student financial aid
+$24.9 million Would allow state to meet 50% of students'
need
Faculty raises
+$18.6 million Would bump up 2 percent raises planned for
1997-98 to match 5 percent raises in 1996-97 level
Enrollment penalties
-$2.7 million Would penalize three schools - ODU, George
Mason and Virginia State - that didn't meet enrollment estimates.
Schools would lose money to add 143.5 faculty positions.
TOTAL +$40.8 million
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE COUNCIL OF HIGHER EDUCATION by CNB