Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 24, 1990 TAG: 9004240683
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES HIGHER EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Officials said it was the smallest year-to-year increase in tuition since 1974.
The increase in tuition and fees includes a "special tuition surcharge" of 2.6 percent, or $60, that will offset part of the General Assembly's cut in the university's base budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. Tech's spending plan for 1990-91 will be $404 million.
Undergraduate tuition for Virginia residents will go from $2,352 to $2,436. Tuition for out-of-state undergraduates will increase from $5,328 to $5,820. Mandatory fees for all undergraduates will go from $378 per year to $411, an 8.7 percent increase.
All undergraduates wanting university room and board will pay 5 percent more for on-campus rooms and 11 percent more for a 19-meal plan. Tuition, fee, room and board will increase 6.3 percent overall for in-state students and 9 percent for out-of-state students, officials estimated.
Tuition and fees for in-state graduate students will rise 3.9 percent, while out-of-state students will pay 9.9 percent more. Tuition for the regional veterinary college will increase 1.7 percent.
The budget contains $4 million for new initiatives sought by the administration of President James McComas, which earlier this year had asked for more than $80 million to launch new programs.
That package includes, among other things, $1 million to manage escalating fixed costs such as utilities, $600,000 for an expanded affirmative action program, $654,000 for library materials and $500,000 for infectious waste disposal.
Mindful of the dire budget talk coming from Richmond - and Tech administrators at Burruss Hall - the past several months, board members girded themselves for the prospect of having to increase tuition substantially.
Some said late Monday that they were pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
"They've done a super job here of controlling the costs and staying within the [state] budget constraints," said Rhea Moore, board member from Tazewell County.
Sue Ellen Rocovich of Roanoke agreed, saying the increase "was a little lower" than she had expected. "It's a bad year for us. We're in a crunch, and they did the best they could."
The increase was unanimously approved.
While the tuition increases are below the 6.5 percent cap imposed this month by Gov. Douglas Wilder, they are the maximum allowed by a complex state funding formula, officials said.
State schools are allowed to assess a tuition surcharge if non-resident undergraduate enrollment is 25 percent or less, but the charge cannot recover more than half of the General Assembly's 5 percent cut from Tech's budget.
"In spite of the surcharge, the university will only be able to recoup approximately $2.97 million" of the $9.2 million trimmed from the 1990-91 budget, said Minnis Ridenour, executive vice president and chief business officer. "Without it, we would see a significant increase in class size and the curtailment of important services to our students."
And, as expected, the budget includes 5.1 percent salary increases for faculty and 5 percent raises for staff - both of which will be given out in two steps. The university also will increase contributions to the state retirement system.
The largest increase in employee fringe benefits will come in medical costs. In 1988-89, the university paid about $1,550 per employee to Blue Cross/Blue Shield. This year, it pays about $1,785 per worker, and next year it likely will be $2,530 per person.
Despite smaller-than-expected raises and the prospect that 130 faculty positions might be eliminated through attrition, Faculty Senate representatives gave university officials high marks for their openness in grappling with the tightening budget.
"I guess the bottom line is we appreciate the opportunity to have been involved," said Lud Eng, a professor of veterinary medicine who is to become Faculty Senate president June 1. "It's not been as demoralizing as it could have been."
Current Faculty Senate President Patrick Scanlon said "there's been great effort to explain what the cuts were." But he described a creeping anxiety among faculty who are likely to face larger classes and increased teaching loads because some colleagues who take sabbaticals or leave altogether may not be replaced.
by CNB