| Wednesday, January 28, 2004
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Colleges delay proposal on funds
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| Gov. Mark Warner has given the proposal a chilly reception. |
By KEVIN MILLER
RICHMOND — Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary will wait another year to push their plan for greater financial flexibility from the state, university officials said Tuesday.
Earlier this month, administrators from the state's three top-ranked public universities announced plans to petition the General Assembly for freedom to set tuition rates and to perform more administrative tasks in-house rather than through the state bureaucracy. The plan would save money and help the universities close their funding gap with peer institutions, officials said.
In return, the schools said they would seek less money from the state, thereby freeing up more taxpayer dollars for Virginia's other public colleges and universities. Altogether, Virginia's system of public higher education is underfunded by more than $400 million annually, according to state estimates.
But the legislation designating the three institutions "commonwealth chartered universities" was likely to face considerable opposition from General Assembly members and Gov. Mark Warner, who already has given the proposal a chilly reception.
The three universities have decided to return to the legislature next year with draft charters.
"One of the things I think all of the universities realized is what a difficult session legislators have this year" because of budget and tax reform issues, said UVa spokeswoman Carol Wood. "We certainly didn't want our initiative to get in the way of other things . . . or for ours to become lost."
Minnis Ridenour, Virginia Tech's executive vice president, said he does not believe the delay will do any harm because the legislation included a one-year waiting period before implementation.
In the meantime, the three universities will lobby lawmakers to support the additional higher education funding proposed in Warner's budget as well as lifting any restrictions on tuition increases, Ridenour said. Tuition increases are necessary to offset the more than $500 million in state aid cut from the public college system, officials said.
Sen. Thomas Norment, Senate sponsor of the universities' charter proposals, said he is "absolutely positive" that the state needs a new approach to funding higher education. But he agreed with the colleges' decision to spend the next year developing the charter language.
"I think they actually need the document that the General Assembly is being asked to endorse," said Norment, R-Williamsburg. "I just don't think the General Assembly is going to embrace this concept in the dark. And I think the colleges and universities can promote their cause if given the opportunity."
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