Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 18, 1995 TAG: 9501180071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
So said the rector, or chairman, of the school's board of visitors in a wide-ranging speech to the faculty Tuesday. Bernard C. Wampler addressed the range of issues that have landed the university in the news in recent weeks.
The $1.6 million, crucial to university operations, is part of the $24 million the state contributes to Radford's $50 million annual operating budget. The funding may be saved even as the university is forced to cut loose its experimental New College of Global Studies.
Gov. George Allen eliminated $2 million for the school in next year's budget, and the board bowed to political reality and opted not to fight in the General Assembly. However, additional funding may be available to take the ideas born from the new college, such as high-tech communications and an emphasis on foreign language, and infuse them into the university's other degree programs, Wampler said.
The new college, which was scheduled to open next fall with 50 students, was about to hire staff, admit students and redesign its first building, Wampler said.
Folks had to know what was going on, which is why the board acted when it did, he said.
``If it's not a global school, what is it?'' Wampler said.
The now-defunct college's $4 million building will become an academic class building.
As for hiring faculty: ``We couldn't let those people give up jobs and come here, and two months later say, `Oh, we should have told you,''' he said.
Likewise, it was pointless to admit students to a school that would not exist by the time they headed off to college next fall.
With a ``clear message'' from Richmond that the governor would not budge from his opposition, the board decided to drop the college.
``To my dying day, I know it was the right thing to do,'' Wampler said. ``We couldn't leave those questions unanswered.''
Also uppermost in the minds of faculty is the search for a new president. Two college presidents from out of state are the finalists, chosen unanimously by the 14-person search committee following weekend interviews with eight finalists, said Karen Waldron, the board's vice rector and chairwoman of the search committee.
The demise of the new college prompted two candidates to drop out of the running, which narrowed the field to eight.
But the two finalists, whose names may be released as early as today, have national political ties and understand the heated political climate in Virginia, she said. Budget cuts in the last five years have dropped the state to 46th in college funding among the 50 states.
by CNB