Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 16, 1994 TAG: 9404180141
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG NOTE: BELOW LENGTH: Medium
The massive reorganization, announced Friday by interim Dean Wayne Worner, may symbolize the extent of change coming to some of the state's colleges.
The College of Education is one of the first at Tech to undergo major restructuring under a university-ordered plan. While all of Tech's colleges are reorganizing, none has had to withstand anything like the bomb dropped on the College of Education in February.
University Provost Fred Carlisle ordered more aggressive change by mandating $1.6 million in cuts from an $8 million budget, even as the college shifts focus toward studies of public elementary and secondary education. Soon afterward, Dean James Buffer left to head a proposed think tank to be located at the renovated Hotel Roanoke.
The upheaval left the college in shock - although judging from the congratulations Worner received Friday after his presentation, workers within the college have gotten used to the idea of change.
"I think part of it is what you go through when you lose a person to death," said Jim LaPorte, a professor in the college. "There's shock, adjustment and acceptance, and I think we're definitely in the acceptance period now."
Programs to be cut include the master's and doctoral programs in adult and continuing education, which could go private; the master's and doctoral programs in community college administration and higher education administration; and the bachelor's and master's programs in community health education.
Also, the university's College of Human Resources will take over the bachelor's and master's programs in exercise science and the doctoral program in exercise physiology.
In all, 20 faculty positions and 20 staff jobs will be lost. Worner said anticipated retirements and job changes should easily allay the need for layoffs.
The news cheered faculty members, many of whom spoke of low morale this winter. The spectre of reorganization at their colleges raised eyebrows among faculty elsewhere in the university, who wondered what might be in store for them.
"Morale of the faculty was down," said Javaid Kaiser, who teaches research and evaluation. "We did not anticipate this outcome. Two months ago, almost all of us felt that 20 of us would be laid off."
In his presentation, Worner also raised the idea of merging with another college.
"I'm much more interested in talking about a merger than annexation," he said, suggesting the issue be explored as the plan is refined.
In the coming months the college also could consider doing away with undergraduate education degrees by 1999, as has occurred at many colleges in Virginia, said Worner. Since 1987, when the state changed teacher accreditation rules, education students have tended to concentrate in their discipline, such as English, for four years, then spend a fifth year gaining a graduate degree in education.
While some students at Tech follow that route, others still gain old-fashioned education degrees in specialty areas that cannot be studied elsewhere. In all, 840 undergraduate students and about 1,500 graduate students are enrolled at the college.
Change is in store elsewhere as the restructuring movement sweeps the state's colleges. Radford University and James Madison University, among others, are shifting toward leaner administration or refocused programs as they reposition their schools to prepare graduates for a changed economy. The General Assembly this session weighed in during budget deliberations by asking colleges to streamline through reorganization.
"The fact of the matter is, a number of schools already were engaging in an examination before the General Assembly took action on the issue," said Steve Janosik, deputy secretary of education. "I think everyone in the higher education community and state government understands the necessity to challenge some basic assuptions and reexamine higher education for the 21st century."
All colleges must have their plans approved by the state.
secretary of education and the Council of Higher Education. for Virginia in the coming months.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***