Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 11, 1995                   TAG: 9505110064
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

STUDY SAYS COLLEGES NOT MAKING MOST USE OF CLASSROOMS, LABS

A study issued this week by the council shows that four-year colleges are using their classrooms an average of 34 hours a week. That's up from the 33-hour level recorded in 1988 and again in 1992, but below the state's 40-hour guideline.

Radford University exceeds and Virginia Tech is just under the state's guidelines for classroom use.

The four-year colleges also have made only modest headway in better use of expensive laboratories and studios, which last fall were occupied an average of 18 hours a week - nearly a third fewer hours than stipulated in the state's usage guidelines.

Virginia's two-year community colleges, conversely, have seen their classroom occupancy rate increase by more than 50 percent since 1988. That's largely the result of soaring enrollments in urban areas, where community colleges face serious problems of overcrowding.

Yet, on average, the 23 community colleges failed to reach the state's guideline for classrooms. Their laboratory use, however, is up slightly in the latest study and now exceeds the state guideline.

``The numbers show improvement but we have a long way to go,'' said Dr. Gordon K. Davies, council director. ``They have to use space more effectively.''

Several members of Allen administration task forces have recently charged that Virginia's colleges are spending nearly $500 million in taxpayer-approved bonds to construct buildings they don't need.

The higher education council said only five of Virginia's senior colleges fully use classroom facilities. And nine of the four-year schools have classroom usage rates that fall 25 percent below what the state considers appropriate.

Those figures prompted criticism from several council members, who asked how they can prod colleges into making better use of space.

Schools that fail to do so, said Davies, will find it hard to win state support when seeking building funds.

The report indicates that a handful of urban-area colleges - including Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason and Christopher Newport - are pinched for space.

James Madison and Radford also exceed the classroom use rules, and laboratories at JMU and VCU are the busiest in the state.

Virginia Tech falls just shy of the 40-hour-per-week guideline for classroom use, at 38 hours. Lab use likewise falls short, at 20 hours per week instead of the suggested 24 hours per week.

Urban universities generally are making the best use of their facilities, largely because of their huge part-time enrollments.

At Longwood College in Farmville, on the other hand, dozens of its 60 classrooms sit empty much of the day. As a residential college, its classrooms only exceed the usage rules in the prime morning hours from 9 to 11 and after lunch for 2 p.m. classes.

``Longwood simply has capacity into which it hasn't grown,'' said Davies.

Virginia's two oldest campuses - the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary - have many historic buildings that can't be adapted to today's uses. That contributes to their low-usage statistics, said Davies.

All Virginia state-supported colleges, as part of their state-ordered restructuring, have agreed to better use their buildings.

Roanoke Times & World-News higher-education writer Allison Blake contributed information to this report.