THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603170112
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Christopher Newport University has again received the largest percentage funding increase of any public university in Virginia.
This is the second straight two-year budget that Christopher Newport has received a bigger increase.
The General Assembly allocated Christopher Newport 21.4 percent, or $4.8 million, more in operating dollars for the 1996-98 biennium than the last one.
To compare, public colleges received an average of 13.6 percent more this biennium; Old Dominion University received 17.9 percent ($16.6 million) more; Norfolk State University, 14.7 percent ($6.1 million) more; and the College of William and Mary, 11.6 percent ($6.4 million) more.
State Del. Alan A. Diamonstein, D-Newport News, chairman of the House of Delegates' education appropriations subcommittee, said the school deserved the large increase. ``They're a local university in their early stages,' he said, ``and they needed a push.''
Christopher Newport President Paul S. Trible Jr. said, ``It was a very good year for higher education in Virginia and a great year for CNU.''
The increase is especially notable, Trible said, considering Gov. George Allen's proposed budget included a 4.9-percent increase for CNU, the second lowest among four-year colleges.
Some of the money CNU received was earmarked for specific purposes, including:
$2.5 million to buy three mainframe computers.
$1.2 million for faculty salaries, including average pay raises of 6 percent in the first year of the biennium and 2 percent in the second year. CNU's average faculty salary of $45,580 for this school year will rise to $48,315 next school year and to $49,281 during the 1997-98 school year.
$100,000 to build laboratories at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, a particle accelerator in Newport News.
The General Assembly also authorized the state treasurer to sell $5 million in bonds to raise money to build a long-discussed performing arts center at CNU. by CNB