Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 11, 1995 TAG: 9504110131
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
"I think we may have let this out-of-state enrollment problem creep up on us," Torgersen said, adding it was "my fault. We were looking at other issues, including cooperative extension."
But he also said that, given the same circumstances, he would have done the same thing.
More than $14 million in threatened funding was restored to extension during the recent legislative session - and as many as 300 layoffs were avoided.
But Tech administrators said during a round of meetings Monday that they had known a shortfall to the school's $297 million instructional budget was in the offing. They just didn't know the size until state lawmakers finished their work.
Now, everything from closing the school over Christmas to departmental cuts is on the table to pay for the deficit. Administrators believe they've whittled it to $4 million.
Recently crunched numbers show a combination of problems produced the shortfall, including a $4.9 million loss of state funds - which were not recovered during the recent session - and $3.6 million in lost tuition from a drop in out-of-state enrollments.
The university already had to adjust this year to a $1.7 million shortfall, and administrators say they're moving now to put more conservative financial policies in place.
"I don't intend to be here next year or the year after with this problem," Torgersen said.
Tech has lost more than $40 million in state funding since 1990.
"I just believe people felt we were through these reductions," said Minnis Ridenour, the university's executive vice president, explaining how the combination of problems added up.
He and Torgersen spoke during a news briefing sandwiched between two major meetings. More than 500 faculty and staff attended an afternoon session on the budget, a much-discussed topic on campus in recent days. The audience was restrained; some said afterward that the attendance indicated the level of concern on campus.
Physics Professor Alfred Ritter asked about the rumor of furloughs.
"We're looking at all possible solutions," Provost Peggy Meszaros said.
Staff senate president Wyatt Sasser asked about the potential for layoffs.
"It's premature to say what the potential solution is going to be," Meszaros said.
Each of the university's colleges is preparing plans that would show further cuts of 5, 7, and 9 percent for next year. But administrators stress that all options for balancing the books are on the table.
The shortfall comes amid ever-growing morale problems at the school, where 253 rank-and-file state workers jumped on the buyout offered by the state, the Workforce Transition Act. In addition, 115 faculty have taken a separate, Tech-sponsored buyout plan. And the board of visitors on Monday exercised its option to offer the Workforce Transition Act to faculty, if the school's administration decides to do so in the coming months. No decision has been made.
"Certainly, poor morale feeds on itself," Meszaros told the gathering.
"Morale is built by individuals who look in that mirror every day and ask how they are going to face the world. I would ask you, please don't be defeated."
But faculty members such as engineering Professor Ed Henneke, interviewed after the meeting, said they were continually frustrated by the budget cuts.
"I've got classes I'm not going to be able to teach next year" because open positions for teachers to teach those classes have not been filled, he said.
He told of the machinist in his department who builds lab equipment.
"He came in and said, `Look, I've got to take this [buyout]. I can't afford not to,''' Henneke said.
"But he still offered to come back in and work for free, `because I don't want to hurt the department,''' Henneke said.
The deficit includes:
A $4.3 million shortfall from a 530-student drop in out-of-state enrollment over the past five years, plus tuition breaks for graduate students.
A $4.9 million shortfall from reduced state funding
$4.4 million in unfunded mandates and priority fixed costs for such items as satellite feeds for distance learning classes, or compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
That adds up to $13.6 million. But that is reduced by $1.4 million by several measures, including a new $35 recreation fee per student.
During its morning meeting, the board of visitors supported the administration's plans to balance the budget, and eliminate the rest of the deficit, by July 1. Included are a $500,000 merit scholar program paid for by the private Virginia Tech Foundation, designed to draw 250 out-of-state students - who, if they come, will add $2.5 million to the books. Also, all departments on campus will permanently forgo the 3 percent they returned to campus accounts as a one-time deal, saving another $5.5 million.
Board Rector Cliff Garvin said the "only surprise" to the board was the size of the out-of-state tuition drop.
"There was concern the number had grown over 500,'' he said.
As for the university administrators' focus during the stressful General Assembly session, Garvin said, "I think they did all they thought was practical and feasible."
by CNB