THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511160301
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Virginia's public colleges and universities should put more emphasis on teaching, toughen tenure requirements and curb duplication of degree programs, a state commission said.
A draft report the panel issued Wednesday also said some strong schools should be freed from most state oversight and the state should pump more money into all schools to ease tuition costs.
The Commission on the Future of Higher Education plans to complete the report next month and send it to the General Assembly in January.
``Our public colleges and universities must make substantial changes to convince the general public that higher education is operating as efficiently and effectively as possible,'' the report said.
The report said each school must find a balance between research and teaching but ``teaching ought to be front and center in every institution's mission and faculty ought to be rewarded in large part for the attention they give to students.''
Even tenured faculty should be subject to periodic post-tenure reviews that could lead to dismissal if they're not doing their job, commission members said.
``I think that review should be as rigorous as the original tenure evaluation,'' said Sidney O. Dewberry, a commission member.
Traditionally, tenured faculty members have been virtually guaranteed a lifetime job. But Gordon Davies, director of the State Council of Higher Education, said schools already are reviewing tenured faculty. The University of Virginia fired two tenured faculty members for poor performance in the past year, he said.
The report also recommended that Virginia raise faculty salaries to above the national average.
Commission members said the state should not expand the number of schools offering extensive doctoral programs. Six state universities now offer a range of doctoral degrees and Norfolk State University has one doctoral degree in social work. James Madison University hopes to get legislative approval to offer a doctoral degree in psychology.
``How many do we need in a commonwealth of 6.2 million people? They cost money,'' said Sen. John Chichester, R-Stafford and the commission chair.
The draft report said there are too many students enrolled in doctoral programs and perhaps some degrees should be discontinued to ease a glut of Ph.D.s in some fields.
The report questioned whether the state needs more community college campuses, two-year Richard Bland College, three public law schools, three state-supported medical schools and a veterinary school at Virginia Tech. by CNB