Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 3, 1993 TAG: 9309030177
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Cranwell, chairman of the House Finance Committee, was reacting to a directive from the state secretary of education that all colleges and universities make plans for state aid cuts as high as 15 percent.
"My view of the administration's projection of a $500 million shortfall leads me to the conclusion that the figures are being deliberately distorted for political considerations," he said in a letter sent to Virginia Tech President James McComas.
Cranwell, D-Roanoke County, said Gov. Douglas Wilder is underestimating economic growth in the next to years by at least 2 percent - enough to wipe out any deficit.
The letter was little comfort to administrators and faculty on Western Virginia campuses who agreed that budget cuts anywhere close to 10 percent would not only destroy the quality of education offered but cripple the region's economy.
"It would be catastrophic," said Ed Barnes, president of New River Community College. "There is just no other way of addressing budget cuts of that magnitude without eliminating jobs."
David DeWolf, president of Virginia Tech's faculty senate, said the university would be forced to cut programs and lay off workers.
"We're already down to the bare bones right now," he said.
As higher education's portion of the state budget has shrunk from 15.3 percent to 12 percent since 1989, Tech's state funding has decreased 15 percent.
Cutting 15 percent more would mean eliminating $23 million, almost equal to the College of Engineering's $25 million instructional budget.
DeWolf and Bob Denton, head of Tech's communication studies department, agree that continuing budget cuts may influence some top faculty members to leave the university for schools in other states.
"The brain drain has already started," Denton said.
State salaries have been frozen for several years, but a 3.4 percent pay increase for Tech workers was recently approved and Karen Petersen, secretary of education, said the promised state raises won't be part of any budget cuts.
Even so, the morale on Tech's campus seemed low Thursday.
"It just seems like one wave of cuts after another," said Leon Geyer, an associate professor of agricultural economics. "It's quite demoralizing."
Radford University administrators said they hoped budgets cuts won't hurt two new programs planned for this decade.
The university's new College of Global Studies, expected to begin taking students in 1996 or 1997, remains "our highest priority" in new programs, said Charles Owens, vice president for academic affairs.
But Owens also said the new college would lose if it came down to a choice between developing it and maintaining existing programs.
James Nicely, chairman of Radford's department of communications sciences and disorders, said he hopes the university also still can get state approval to offer a doctoral degree in audiology.
"Certainly this will make it more difficult to get it through, but that's five or six years down the road and we're hoping these budget problems will be fixed then," he said.
Mark Emick, assistant to the president at Virginia Western Community College, said budget cuts may force another tuition increase.
"What we have to do is figure out how to adjust so we don't turn away students," he said. "I don't think there is any community college that set out to say the way to deal with this is to tell students they can't come."
If Cranwell's prediction is right, however, the state's colleges probably won't see cuts near double digits.
An answer to the question of how large the state budget shortfall will be varies from politician to politician.
The $500 million shortfall outlined by Wilder actually is smaller than the budget shortages expected by some legislators.
Senate Majority Leader Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton, earlier this year warned that as much as $700 million in spending cuts or tax increases may be needed to keep the budget balanced.
State Sen. Walter Stosch, R-Richmond, said Thursday that he has no reason to doubt Gov. Wilder's $500 million shortfall.
"You can argue that the growth projections aren't correct, but if you do that then you can make the numbers whatever you want," he said. "At the moment I happen to feel there will a significant shortfall in revenues."
But Del. Robert Ball, D-Richmond, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said he thinks the economy is picking up and could split the budget shortfall in half to $250 million.
"If the economy dips more, though, we could be in serious trouble," he said.
Staff writers Leslie Taylor and Kevin Kittredge contributed information to this story.
by CNB