THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 11, 1995 TAG: 9501110430
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
The State Council of Higher Education voted Tuesday to ask Gov. George F. Allen to rescind 6 percent cuts for six universities, including Norfolk State, that didn't submit suitable restructuring plans by Allen's November deadline.
During its meeting, the council also approved the revised plans of Christopher Newport and Virginia State universities. It had approved the revisions of the four other schools, including NSU, last month.
The council met at Virginia State's campus outside Petersburg.
In Allen's budget briefing last month, he said the six schools should be penalized, comparing them to delinquent students who didn't submit good papers on time.
But Gordon K. Davies, director of the state council, said in an interview Tuesday: ``The council's interest is to help institutions get ready to deal with the changes in Virginia higher education in the next 20 years. It is not to punish them based on when they get the job done.
``The question was not whether they were acting in good faith; the question was the adequacy and detail level of the plans.'' Now, he said, they are all ``up to snuff.''
Beverly Sgro, the state education secretary, said in an interview that she didn't expect Allen to change course.
``The governor's been very clear on the restructuring plans; he's not wavered on that,'' she said.
The cuts for the six schools - which also include Radford University and Longwood and Mary Washington colleges - would total $5.6 million. Norfolk State would lose $1.2 million and Christopher Newport nearly $700,000.
Some presidents have said the reductions probably would produce layoffs. At Virginia State, President Eddie N. Moore Jr. predicted a ripple effect that would hinder the school's aims in its restructuring plan.
Moore said the proposed $850,000 reduction for VSU would require, at the very least, cutting 14 part-time faculty members. But that would make it tougher to get full-time faculty members out of the classroom to give them computer training.
``If we don't have the ability to have adjunct faculty, we don't have the ability to retool existing faculty,'' he said. ``Without the $846,000, I'm not sure the plan is really valid.''
The General Assembly last year required each state-supported school to draft a restructuring plan to streamline operations and reduce administrative costs. Allen upped the ante last fall: He ruled out across-the-board budget reductions to colleges, but said those with unacceptable plans could face 6 percent cuts in 1995-96.
The council found that Christopher Newport's original plan lacked details on the financial benefits of its streamlining. The revision says increased use of technology will save $750,000.
VSU's initial plan was faulted for a lack of details on academic changes. The new plan calls for eliminating six degree programs with low enrollment. by CNB