ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 23, 1996 TAG: 9603250046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
note: above
MOST SCHOOL OFFICIALS agree Ferrum College is at a crossroads, but many faculty question where the president is taking them.
As one of his first acts as Ferrum College president, Jerry Boone stood in front of the school's board of trustees and announced that his leadership style called for patience.
Now, a decade into Boone's presidency, some faculty members and alumni say they have no patience left.
Ferrum's 34 trustees will conduct their semiannual meeting today as Boone and his staff are being criticized for many of the problems the college faces: declining enrollment over the past five years, budget cuts, possible layoffs, and a lack of communication between the faculty and the administration.
In response to the criticism, one of the trustees and members of Boone's administration say the private college is redefining its mission and having to make tough decisions that are being forced by changes in higher education across Virginia.
All sides do agree on one thing, however: Ferrum is at a crossroads that will make or break its future.
Total enrollment has dropped from 1,206 in 1989 to 1,093 this year, according to the school's public relations department. Full-time residential enrollment has decreased from 950 in the fall of 1991 to 808 this past fall. Enrollment peaked in 1982 at more than 1,600.
While enrollment has dropped, tuition - including room and board - has risen from $10,800 in 1991-92 to $14,900 in 1996-97.
Boone declined to be interviewed for this story, but Sandra Kidd, the school's vice president for development, said Ferrum's tuition rate remains in the bottom one-third among private Virginia colleges.
Some faculty members and alumni say the school is priced out of its market.
The issue is valid and should be explored, Kidd acknowledged.
Sweeping changes aren't new to Ferrum. The school was founded in 1913 by the Methodist Church as a training school for local mountain folk who had no access to public schooling. Years later, the school evolved into a junior college and found a niche as a place that could cultivate late bloomers.
With the advent of the Virginia's community college system, the school decided to switch to a four-year program and stopped awarding two-year associate degrees.
Ferrum has yet to establish a clearly defined niche since that change was made, said Bev Fitzpatrick Jr., a Ferrum trustee who is director of the New Century Council.
"I believe that a lot of people still perceive Ferrum as a junior college," he said.
Fitzpatrick said he is aware of what's happening at the school.
He said he's received letters from several faculty members expressing concern about the effectiveness of Boone and his administration; Fitzpatrick said the volume has increased and their tone has harshened in the past few weeks.
But he said he's also talked to other professors who aren't critical of the administration.
Fitzpatrick, who attended Ferrum in the 1960s, said the Board of Trustees needs to ask hard questions and make a concentrated effort to guide the school through a difficult time.
"I didn't get involved as a trustee to keep one person in power or to make the faculty happy," he said. "The question is: Who is going to get serious about the most important thing at Ferrum - the students?"
Fitzpatrick said some of Ferrum's problems can be tied to a domino effect from other institutions in the region.
When Virginia Tech recently lowered its out-of-state tuition, that affected Radford University, he said. And when Radford made changes to address its situation, that affected Ferrum.
This part of Virginia has one of the highest student levels per capita than anywhere in the country, which increases the competition, Fitzpatrick said.
Glynn Loope, who holds a trustee seat as president of the school's Alumni Association, also has received faculty letters critical of the Boone administration.
"The faculty is the bread and butter at Ferrum," he said. "Anytime they have concerns, then we as alumni should, too. We need to ask if everything is going the way it should be."
The letters from faculty and memoranda from Boone tell the story of a faculty group that feels ignored and an administration determined to take dramatic steps to keep the college running efficiently.
In a Feb. 26 memo, Boone outlined a voluntary buyout plan to encourage employee downsizing.
"In particular, we must identify present resources which can be reallocated to help make us more distinctive in serving our students," Boone wrote.
On March 14, another memo from Boone sent shock waves through the faculty. It announced a 10 percent cut in salaries and benefits and warned of possible layoffs.
"As you know, we have cut our operational budgets to 'bare bones' levels," Boone wrote. "We cannot cut the operational budgets further, nor can we mortgage our future by taking from our endowment. We are at the end of nonpersonnel-related options."
Boone's memos came after a 2 percent budget cut in operations, which came on the heels of the firing of Bob Bailey, the school's admissions director for 17 years. Faculty members interviewed for this story said they felt Bailey was made a scapegoat for the problem of declining enrollment.
Bailey said he is discussing his situation with an attorney and declined comment for this story.
In response to Boone's memos, Jerry Sumney, chairman of the recently formed Ferrum College Faculty Association, sent a letter to trustees.
Budget-cutting measures are sometimes unavoidable, he said, but the administration's failure to communicate has left faculty, staff and students "discouraged and dispirited."
Sumney, a religion professor, said the buyout plan was enacted without consulting the Faculty Development and Affairs Committee, the officially recognized teachers' group on campus that also includes administrators. Faculty members on the committee also are members of the teacher's association.
The way in which the buyout was announced to the faculty "shows total disrespect" and stands in violation of college rules, Sumney said.
The association is calling for a revamping of the school's governing structure and an open dialogue to develop and implement a long-range plan to guide the college into the 21st century.
Several task force reports have been completed, and there is debate among faculty about the school's liberal arts curriculum and the need to give students on-the-job skills.
One idea: To require that every student complete a job internship as part of his or her stay at Ferrum.
Kidd, the vice president for development, said Boone and members of his staff are ready to work on completing some of those goals.
However, recent letters from Sumney to the trustees say Boone and his people have been slow to act.
The association has discussed taking a vote of no confidence against Boone. No vote has been taken, however, and Sumney said this week that he knows of no petition drive to oust the president.
When asked if he thinks the association will support the ouster of the administration at some point, Sumney said: "Our membership feels that what we need to do on campus should stay on campus. But certainly there are questions."
The association - which includes about 65 of 80 faculty members - was formed because teachers felt their ideas and concerns were being ignored by Boone and his staff, Sumney said.
Kidd said the school's administrators have an open-door policy, and any member of the faculty can talk to the administration at any time.
"The administration is confident that we can settle these issues within the campus community," Kidd said. "And, given what is happening in higher education today, I think it's important that everyone remember that Ferrum isn't operating in a vacuum."
LENGTH: Long : 143 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of Booneby CNB