Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 8, 1995 TAG: 9504100086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Students loll on Virginia Tech's drillfield or play volleyball in sand courts, just as you might expect on a sunny Friday afternoon on campus.
But the easygoing scene contrasts with the serious financial shortfall disclosed this week, and faculty, staff and administrators all are worried - and meeting overtime to try to figure out what to do about a $12.1 million deficit for next year.
Compounding the problem is an additional $8 million to be paid out to 243 workers likely to leave May 1 under the state's buyout plan. Their jobs may or may not be filled. Even if the school does get exemptions from the state hiring freeze, administrators say new hires can't be made until the former workers' severance packages are paid.
It's a complicated situation; at the moment, there are no firm answers. Everything from bigger cuts in campus departments - reportedly up to 9 percent of their budgets - to furloughs is up for discussion.
Some answers may begin to emerge after a campuswide meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday in the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center and following a session by the university board of visitors.
Major financial questions in the mix, however, can't be answered for at least a week.
By next Saturday, the state will let the school know if the buyout package is a go. Then administrators will know exactly how many employees have state approval to leave, and what it will cost.
At the same time, a separate payout of several million dollars will go to more than 100 professors who will leave Tech in the next year or so through a university-sponsored buyout, an attempt to trim faculty in specific areas under Tech's reorganization.
Once those figures are firm, administrators say, they'll have a better idea of just what they're dealing with.
"I have not seen - it's being prepared - the actual consequences," said Peggy Meszaros, who took over as provost in January. "Until I look at it all, I frankly can't assess the impact.
"There are a variety of scenarios, and I've got to see the bottom lines."
Peter Eyre, dean of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, agreed.
"The smoke hasn't cleared from all these buyout deals," he said. "Those are costly, because we not only lose the person, we end up having to bankroll all the severance pay. It's difficult for us to react in an accurate way."
Part of next year's $12.2 million deficit comes from a $4.3 million drop-off in tuition from out-of-state students, who pay about $6,500 more than their in-state classmates. Out-of-state enrollment is down from 4,541 in 1990 to 4,104 this year.
Statewide, out-of-state applications to Virginia colleges and universities have dropped from a high of 38,557 in 1988 to 31,383 in 1994, according to the State Council of Higher Education. Applications should start to increase this year as the baby-bust era ends and high schools graduate more students, according to the council.
At Tech, meanwhile, faculty members are wondering how the school dug its $12 million hole.
"What the faculty seems to want is more explanation," said Marshall Fishwick, a communications professor. "With so many lives on the line, we would like a very clear picture of where we are and how we got that way."
Bob Landen, director of the Center for Humanities, put it this way:
"I think this will finally get people's attention."
by CNB