RADFORD -- The budget situation is still bad, Radford University President Penelope Kyle told the faculty senate Thursday in a surprise address.

"But I'm pleased to say it's not as dire as we thought it would be."

Radford will still suffer an overall $16.4 million, or 33 percent reduction in state funding, and faculty and staff will receive no raises for the foreseeable future.

But Kyle said she and Chief Financial Officer Richard Alvarez believe they have found a way to avoid a mandated one-day furlough of the university's work force, and that the state may be able to fund a one-time salary bonus later this year.

The university will simply "buy" the furlough day from the General Assembly by writing the legislature a check for about $200,000, Alvarez said.

Such a move would mean no salary cut for Radford employees. Other state workers will still be required to take the furlough, or unpaid leave day.

Radford's relatively small work force makes such a plan feasible, while it might not work for larger universities and the state's community college system, Kyle said.

If state revenues meet projections, university workers, like all state employees, may also receive a bonus of up to 3 percent of their salaries in December.

Additionally, Radford officials expect to receive about $6.1 million in federal stimulus funds to offset a portion of the $16.4 million cut.

Legislators would still take from Radford and other colleges potentiality millions in interest the schools make off student-fee reserve accounts. But the state will not take many more millions in cash collected from students to fund services and building projects, Kyle said.

In his final budget, much of which was approved by the legislature, former Gov. Tim Kaine had proposed taking that cash from universities and depositing it in the state's coffers. Opponents of that plan called it a backdoor tax on college students and their families.

The budget scenario is not entirely final, however. Gov. Bob McDonnell may amend the bill before the legislature convenes again on April 21.

The challenge for Radford, Kyle told the senators, is for faculty and administrators to work together to plan for the 2012 budget, when federal stimulus money is expected to run out.

While the news for employees was somewhat upbeat, it was not as good for students.

"We can't keep our doors open with the current tuition and fee structure," Kyle said.

In its budget, the legislature placed no limit on tuition and fee increases at universities, a fact Kyle highlighted in her remarks.

She said the administration will work to both increase student enrollment and act to increase tuition by an unspecified percentage.

In other business Thursday, a senate motion to change the university's controversial core curriculum -- devised and implemented during the tenure of former Board of Visitors Rector R.J. Kirk -- was effectively tabled until April.

Debate of that motion, which would affect all new and many current Radford students, exposed some divisions among the faculty.

The senators criticized the board and administrators last year for rushing major academic changes and failing to solicit input from stakeholders across the university.

Some senators, such as Sid Smith, said Thursday that passing the core curriculum motion would be tantamount to circumventing the governance procedures faculty complained were violated last year.

But discussion on that topic was cut short by senate rules requiring its meetings to end at 4:45 p.m. A motion to continue the meeting past that time was voted down.

All pending agenda items not taken up Thursday will be carried over to the April 1 meeting, senate President Steve Owen said.