Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 3, 1995 TAG: 9508030039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE |STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Wednesday, a tax increase was painted as a last resort - but still a possibility - after the Virginia Business/Higher Education Council last week issued a call for $200 million in additional funding from the General Assembly this winter.
With Virginia down to 43rd in the country in state spending per college student, business leaders are worried that further budget cuts could damage the state's economic development, especially if its residents can't compete with neighboring states for high-paying, high-tech jobs.
"A lot of people are concerned about higher education; I think that's a message our elected officials need to hear," said Tom Robertson, president of Carilion Health System and a leader of the drive.
University presidents and business leaders are fanning out across the state to take their message to colleagues or candidates; Wednesday, the region's council members spoke to an audience of about 90 at the Hotel Roanoke.
Millions in state budget cuts, ongoing since the recession of 1990, have pushed up tuition: Increasing tuition by more than 100 percent means that fewer evening students are boosting their job skills at Virginia Western Community College; Virginia Tech, which has lost nearly one-fourth of its funding in five years, is no longer a bargain for out-of-state students who bring more money to university coffers than in-state students.
Dropping state support also affects salaries. Tech faculty, for instance, used to earn paychecks about equal to their peers in nearby states. Now, they've dropped to 17th among 20 similar schools, a problem that hurts recruiting, said Paul Torgersen, Tech's president.
And the academic stars who build research that ultimately pays off in economic development are more easily lured away.
Just what universities can do to foster economic development is not always concrete. Tom Brock, chairman of the Roanoke Chamber of Commerce, pressed Torgersen for what the university can do, given its expertise in high-tech areas.
"Your argument seems to be: Education is one of the cornerstones of economic development," said Brock. "If that's true, what do you think the role of education should be in the economy" - apart from its traditional role as a brainpower trust.
One thing state universities are doing as part of the growing business-higher education alliance is naming internal economic liaisons who can guide businesses to research projects or professors who might be able to help them.
But, as council member and Virginia Tech Board of Visitors member Henry Dekker said, the university's main job is to educate citizens for a lifetime.
"We cannot lose sight of our primary objective," he said.
by CNB