THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 20, 1995 TAG: 9512200389
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
The biggest addition for Hampton Roads in Gov. George F. Allen's proposed budget for colleges wouldn't cost the state an extra penny, but it would add a whole new campus to Virginia Beach.
Allen has approved the construction of a ``higher education center'' for Old Dominion and Norfolk State universities adjacent to the Farmer's Market.
Allen's support is expected to be the last major hurdle the universities must clear before getting the 84,000-square-foot building constructed. The project must be approved by the General Assembly, but officials don't foresee any serious opposition.
``We think it's going to be a tremendous benefit; we think the city of Virginia Beach offers a new and exciting market for our programs,'' Clementine Cone, vice president for finance and business at Norfolk State, said Wednesday.
Sen. Stanley C. Walker, D-Norfolk, who is expected to be named chairman of the Senate Finance Committee next month, said: ``I think the way they're going about it is good for the university and good for the Beach and good for the area. I haven't run into much opposition, if any, so far. I'm really inclined to think that will receive support.''
Virginia Beach city leaders have long sought the campus, arguing that the city is among the nation's largest without a four-year public college. The facility will give both universities a permanent site for classes in Virginia Beach.
The universities opened a satellite center in an office building on Little Neck Road in Virginia Beach in 1988, and enrollment has grown to 4,000. Jo Ann Gora, ODU's acting president, said the new campus could draw 7,000 students in the next decade.
David F. Harnage, vice president for administration and finance at ODU, estimated that the building could be finished by 1998.
University administrators say the campus, like the Little Neck Road center, would generally serve adult students with full-time jobs who don't have the time to drive to Norfolk for night classes. ``The center will certainly make it convenient for people in Virginia Beach, one of the largest cities in Virginia, to attend classes and to bring the education to them,'' said Harrison B. Wilson, Norfolk State's president.
Gora said the Virginia Beach campus would attract new students and would not draw many from ODU's main campus. ``We are totally committed to the city of Norfolk,'' she said.
Even though the campus would not get state funds, it still needs the approval of Allen and the Assembly.
The proposed financing would be similar to the method used to pay for the construction of TCC's Norfolk campus: The city of Virginia Beach would sell bonds to finance the construction of the campus. The universities would then lease it and provide annual payments to the city so they could take it over.
Cone and Harnage said that would not cause tuition increases.
Virginia Beach council members have voiced their support for the plan but have not set the details of the bond sale. The cost of the building has been estimated at $15 million.
Though ODU and NSU officials praised Allen for supporting the Virginia Beach campus, their reactions differ on the budget's impact on their own schools.
ODU won Allen's support of many of its requests in the proposal, including a $7.3 million building to house its Teletechnet program, which beams courses by satellite across Virginia. ``The university was well-treated,'' Gora said. ``We appreciate his support of our technology initiatives.''
But Wilson, at Norfolk State, said: ``Suffice it to say, we need more funding than we were allocated.''
Cone said, ``We had hoped the administration would try to address the disproportionate share of cuts we suffered during the 1990-94 period. We've just been disappointed that nothing has been forthcoming in terms of the recommendations.'' Between 1986 and 1994, state records show, Norfolk State experienced a 10.7 percent drop in state aid, more than any other school. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
A ``Higher Education Center''
THE PROPOSAL: Norfolk State and Old Dominion universities want to
build an 84,000-square-foot building next to the Farmer's Market in
Virginia Beach. They now have space in an office building on Little
Neck Road. The new center would serve adult students with full-time
jobs who don't have time to drive to Norfolk for night classes.
ITS HISTORY: Virginia Beach leaders long have sought a campus,
arguing that the city is among the nation's largest without a
four-year public college.
ITS PROSPECTS: Gov. George F. Allen has approved the center's
construction. It must be approved by the General Assembly, but
officials do not foresee serious opposition. The center could be
completed by 1998.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE BUDGET COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES by CNB