Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 18, 1995 TAG: 9507180029
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Out popped Mom in her sensible walking shoes, sensible sun hat in hand. She waited, nostalgic smile on face.
Ah! Those college days!
This is freshman orientation season - ongoing at Virginia Tech in the coming days, packed with 400 or so more students than anyone thought six months ago would show.
Back in the Toyota, Sonny took a few minutes to drag himself out of the back seat; Dad drove off, presumably to find parking. Yours truly, stuck behind them in traffic, thought back to April on campus, when life in university offices seemed decidedly less perky.
The fiscal storm clouds were gathering over news of a $12.2 million shortfall for Sonny's freshman year. Part of it - $3.6 million - was blamed on out-of-state enrollment that had dropped precipitously, driven downward by rising tuition and fees that this year topped $13,000.
In a scheme to recover the shortfall, which included 5 percent cuts to university departments, Tech officials also announced plans to aggressively recruit 250 out-of-state students. Scholarships, they decided, would lure them.
Well, the number crunchers say now they can't be sure how enrollment will shake out come semester's start, but by the looks of it, the plan is working.
Back in January, Tech predicted 4,250 freshmen. In May, 4,900 were accepted. Right now, 4,799 are herding through orientation; 1,302 from out-of-state.
That's close to 150 more out-of-state freshmen than this time last year, and, if they come, they'll pay something like $6,000 more than Virginia students. That's good news. More Virginia kids have driven to Blacksburg lately, too - more than 200 more than last year.
While the numbers change weekly - and the out-of-state students don't entirely solve the shortfall - the influx is creating what one Tech administrator called "an embarrassment of riches."
You see, a university that seemed tired by tough financial news this spring, almost resigned to planning for too little, now is planning for too much.
For one, the incoming students have an average GPA of 3.36 and an average SAT score of 1,074. Last year, the average GPA was 3.33; the average SAT was 1,067.
With the expected freshman crush, the university is expanding basic courses: English composition, math, biology. Expect to see labs scheduled in the evening, said Susan Brooker-Gross, the assistant provost in charge.
With the expanded classes has come - gasp! - hiring. The English department, for example, has hired the equivalent of four new instructors.
"It's kind of an irony, in a way," said Dean of Arts and Sciences Bob Bates. "We did make a very specific and direct effort - faculty, staff, departments - to reach out to students interested in Virginia Tech, and give them a little extra attention."
If everybody who wants a dorm bed this fall enrolled last week, the school would be 156 beds short. Officials are offering a student buyout plan to pay upperclassmen $150 in "dining dollars" (free food, funded from savings), and return their $100 deposits if they'll move off campus. Ed Spencer, head of dining and residence halls, is looking for about 120 more takers to clear out the dorms; he says he expects to find them.
Of course there are caveats to this windfall boomlet. The university, for example, doesn't know how many upperclassmen are returning until they arrive for first semester, check in hand. And it's also quite possible that all of these freshmen won't actually enroll.
But after a long, slow winter and spring - not to mention early summer's endless rains - the sun's out. It's summer in the green hills around Blacksburg.
Why not look at the bright side?
by CNB