Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 18, 1992 TAG: 9202180191
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
MORE-THAN-HOPED-FOR BUDGET PLEASES TECH
By the time the General Assembly's money committees finished working with the budget proposal for the next two years, Virginia Tech administrators were pleased.They didn't have all the money they'd hoped for, but it was a start, they said Monday. And it was, at least, more than they'd seen in Gov. Douglas Wilder's original offer.
Included in the amendments that came out of committee Sunday night were amendments that called for a 2 percent pay increase for state workers, including faculty and staff at Tech.
In his State of the Commonwealth speech last month, Wilder had said salaries would be the first thing addressed if, "miraculously," the money was available.
State workers have not received raises in two years.
"My initial reaction is - great, this is a step in the right direction," Leon Geyer, president of the faculty senate, said during a break in the Board of Visitors meeting Monday. "This still won't put us in a competitive position with our peer institutions, but I'm grateful. The good thing about this is that we're moving forward."
This and other amendments will next go before a conference committee so both houses will come to an agreement on total amounts and on how they will provide the additional money.
The Senate Finance Committee agreed to restore $6.5 million to cooperative extension, threatened with a cut of more than $12 million in the original budget proposal - and with it more than a hundred jobs.
The House Appropriations Committee voted to restore more than $5 million to the service, with the funds available in full next year.
"There would still be a chance to go back next year and ask for more," said Darrel Martin, assistant to Tech President James McComas. "This is very good news for extension and for the people who use extension services."
The Senate committee, too, agreed to put $11.5 million back in the budget for the Center for Innovative Technology; the House committee agreed to put $9.7 million back into the center.
The original budget proposal cut $3.5 million from the CIT for the first year of the budget, and eliminated the funding the second year.
Though they don't agree on the funding amounts, both the House and Senate put substantial dollars back into the program.
That's good news for Tech, which has received $59 million from the CIT or in industrial grants through the CIT in the last five years.
"All things considered, this was a good legislative Olympics for our teams," Martin said.
In other business, the board endorsed a resolution supporting a controversial direct highway between Interstate 81 and Blacksburg, and a bypass to U.S. 460 between Christiansburg and Blacksburg.
Both roads are vital to keep traffic flowing and will support the university's mission for education and economic development in Southwest Virginia, the resolution said.
The board had supported a similar statement in 1988.
"We want to reassure the people of Christiansburg that we support both roads," McComas said.
Board members decided to postpone discussion of a tuition increase until the state's budget was finished. A special meeting will be held in April to discuss tuition for next year.
It appears all colleges and universities in the state will have to consider raising tuition to meet with growing budget burdens and rising costs, Martin said. "It's really just a question of how much."
McComas has said he is committed to keep the costs as low as possible.