Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 10, 1990                   TAG: 9007100322
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

TWO-YEAR COLLEGES CRITICIZED

"As a result of expansion, there are indications of strain on the system," said Philip Leone, staff director of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

Leone said the state's 23 two-year colleges will have to set priorities among their many programs and better manage their policy of admitting anyone with a high school degree.

"In the absence of sufficient resources to offer additional class sections, the system might have to turn away students rather than exceed its operational limits," he said.

The report singled out a few community college offerings for criticism, including an aerobics class for inmates at the Powhatan Correctional Center and credit courses in vegetable growing and flower arranging.

The report also said the two-year schools rely too heavily on part-time faculty and noted that few community college students transfer to four-year state colleges and universities.

David Pierce, the community college system's new chancellor, called the report "an accurate picture of our system."

Pierce defended the system's courses for prisoners, saying 20 inmates at the Mecklenburg Correctional Center recently told him how much they had benefited from the program.

But the report questioned whether courses should be offered to inmates serving long terms with little chance of parole.

Those off-campus programs are also difficult to supervise, the report said.

The report said eight community colleges have offered credit courses to the general public, in violation of state policy. They include "Introduction to Personal Computers," "Home Vegetable Production" and "Floral Design for Novices."

Gordon Davies, director of the State Council of Higher Education, said schools have given fractional credit for some courses because only credit courses get state funding.

The report said teacher-student ratios have worsened as the community colleges have grown. The ratio of 19 students per teacher exceeds the national median of 17 to one.

Some commission members said they were concerned that the state's top four-year schools accepted few transfer students from the community college system. The University of Virginia accepted 146 community college graduates last fall and the College of William and Mary took 12.

"I would not look for dramatic change," Pierce said. He noted that many community college graduates do not seek a four-year degree.