ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 22, 1997 TAG: 9702240052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
When the budgetary smoke finally cleared, two high-profile higher education projects emerged with the funding they wanted from the General Assembly's budgetary conference committee.
In Staunton, private Mary Baldwin College gets to keep its funding to pay for a third class of freshmen at the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership, while in Blacksburg, Virginia Tech's futuristic skybridge moves ahead.
Although the conference committee issued its legislative funding agreements Thursday, details became much clearer Friday when the printed version available. The full assembly is expected to take a final vote on the budget today.
VWIL's 70 freshmen and sophomores will be joined by a third class that takes advantage of $7,465 state subsidies for students from Virginia. The money helps make up the difference between VMI's public tuition and fees of $9,485 and the $19,255 private Mary Baldwin charges for tuition, room and board, and fees.
VWIL is the publicly funded program opened by the state in 1995 in an effort to keep VMI all-male. But the U.S. Supreme Court rejected that setup at the same time it ordered women into VMI last June, thus leaving many wondering what would happen to VWIL.
Funding had been in doubt after the House wanted to phase out money for next year's freshmen, although the Senate stood in steadfast support.
The amount appropriated is $701,616 to pay for a total of 94 in-state students, and $224,200 for the unique military appropriation. The appropriation is split among VWIL, VMI and Tech's Corps of Cadets, and pays for military items, such as uniforms, or training needs, such as an obstacle course.
"Whatever went on behind those closed doors turned out good for us," said Brenda Bryant, VWIL's director.
Meantime, a fall groundbreaking for Virginia Tech's $25 million skybridge and advanced communication center remains on track. Legislative budgeters agreed to provide $2.5 million, a key piece of funding for the landmark project.
The $2.5 million comes from the Virginia Public Building Authority's trust fund, which has more money in it that was needed to retire debt from other projects, said Don Finley, associate director of the Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
"From Tech's perspective, it's as good as cash," Finley said.
Still to come for the Advanced Communications and Technology Center: the search for the other $2.5 million Tech originally wanted from the state at the session's start. The school already was looking for $2.5 million to add to the $17 million it has raised.
The conference committee budget "means we have to go back in and assess where we are with the possibility of future appropriations or private gifts," university spokesman Larry Hincker said.
But the groundbreaking date remains penciled in on the university calendar: the same day as the first home football game, sometime in mid-September.
Other university funding includes:
* Faculty pay raises around the state will average 5.5 percent, but Tech and Radford University professors can celebrate 6 percent raises next year.
The state is trying to boost faculty salaries into the 60th percentile of peer institutions by 2000 so the schools can remain competitive in hiring and retaining good faculty. Currently, Tech comes in at the 28th percentile - the bottom third.
Tech will get $3,119,876 for raises; Radford, $490,000. State workers at both universities will get 4 percent raises next year.
* Radford got funding for three projects that send its faculty into the Southwest Virginia community, a major focus for the university these days.
Those amounts include: $100,000, which includes money for two positions, for the popular Business Assistance Center; $75,000 for its joint programs with Virginia Western Community College; and $50,000 for educational programs offered at the Southwest Virginia Center for Higher Education in Abingdon.
"We're pleased we've gotten funding for all three of those projects," university spokeswoman Deborah Brown said.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB